Essays & Reflections
14 essays on politics, society, technology, and systems
★ Featured Essay
Should Pregnant Women Be Prosecuted for Endangering Their Child?
Examining the legal and ethical dimensions of fetal protection laws — and what the abortion debate reveals about bodily autonomy, criminal liability, and the rights of the unborn.
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The 4 most recent essays
On the Homeland
Somalia, Somaliland, and the Horn
Of Potential Interest
Research proposals and programme write-ups
AJ × Erasmus For Young Entrepreneurs
About my participation in the EU's EYE programme and SmartQure — a modular telemedicine platform for emerging markets.
AI-Enabled Leapfrogging in Fragile Economies
Subnational governance and public-private partnerships in Somaliland. Includes download links for the full proposal and condensed supervisor pitch.
More Pieces
Politics, culture, psychology, and business
#SwedenInDenial — A coronavirus story
A Twitter data analysis of who was actually angry at Sweden's pandemic strategy — and what the data reveals about polarisation, national identity and online outrage.
Biases in Decision-making: The Availability Heuristic
Why the risks we fear most are rarely the risks most likely to harm us — and what the availability heuristic reveals about how our minds (mis)judge probability.
Macron's Grandstanding
On Macron's handling of the Charlie Hebdo affair — and the hypocrisy at the heart of French secularism.
Socialization — Path to a Winning Culture
How organisations embed values and why most culture programmes fail before they begin.
Tips for the Survival of a Social Enterprise
On operational prioritization when your mission and your margins are always in tension.
The Leadership of Entrepreneurs
What distinguishes founders who scale from those who stall — and the mindset shifts required to lead beyond the startup phase.