How we became the New Lines Institute
Since its inception, New Lines has evolved as an organization. Here is a look back at how we got here.
Our origins
This story began in 2016, when three independent researchers and policy experts planted the seeds of a new organization called the Center for Global Policy, CGP. That organization was the first independent, non-partisan American think tank working exclusively on issues at the intersection of U.S. foreign policy and geopolitics in the Muslim world. Its aim was to enhance U.S. security and global stability by empowering U.S. foreign policy decision makers with pragmatic recommendations grounded in informed and nuanced analysis.
Philosophical foundations
In 2019, our founder Dr. Ahmed Alwani, inherited CGP, as the center was in the process of being wound down. Inspired by his life experience – and the prospect of putting research and evidence at the service of U.S. foreign policy, he formulated a vision for a principles-driven think tank.
Hence, the idea of the New Lines Institute was born.
Dr. Alwani’s belief was that value systems are the result of the interaction between the human mind and the “life conditions” at play locally. Rather than being positive or negative, world views are responses to local conditions and social dynamics. They are anchored in place and time.
The new organization would meld its existing innovative approaches to research and analysis with a broadening of the scope of its activities beyond the Muslim world, to the rest of the world
Crucially, it would channel its endeavors in support of a vision: “a world that fulfils its potential and in which people and nations can thrive.” This vision is inspired by a holistic view of the world, one that recognizes human interconnectedness and aims to achieve harmony and balance.
First steps
A year into Dr.Alwani’s tenure, he and Hassan Hassan – a journalist turned director at CGP – launched New Lines Magazine. In line with the new philosophy, New Lines Magazine was set up as a global affairs magazine seeking to offer news reporting and commentary from a local perspective.
“Many of our staff cut their teeth covering revolutions, wars, and terrorism across different countries in the Middle East — often from the perspective of someone born and raised in places on which they were reporting.”
Over the following year the New Lines brand continued to develop, and in 2021, the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy was formally registered as a new organization. The institute sees a universal connection among people based on core principles regardless of race, color, religion, origin, ethnicity, or any other factor.
New horizons
Since the official launch, both New Lines Magazine and the New Lines Institute have reached far beyond the original focus on the geopolitics of Muslim countries and regions. From Mexico to Myanmar, from Syria to South Africa, we address the foremost issues which affect international affairs.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Trans-Caspian Corridor. China’s treatment of the Uyghurs. Gender issues worldwide. Legal definitions of genocide. Tech sovereignty.
These are all issues we have covered recently through pioneering research methodologies, via new formats, and importantly, with approaches that are – in the words of the magazine – “both globally minded and grounded in local perspective.”