Research & Writing

Assad’s Syria
Assad’s Syria examines more than five decades of authoritarian rule under Hafez and Bashar al-Assad, alongside over a decade of conflict marked by widespread atrocities and human suffering. Drawing on field experience inside Syria during the Assad regime, Kajs offers a grounded, firsthand perspective on patterns of violence, civilian targeting, and the realities behind widely reported crimes. Written from a humanitarian and investigative lens, the book connects lived experience with broader questions of accountability, justice, and what meaningful recovery could require in a post-Assad Syria.

Stories from Yemen: A Diary from the Field
Based on 17 months spent in Yemen between 2018 and 2021, Stories from Yemen: A Diary from the Field documents the lives of more than one hundred Yemenis navigating one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. Through firsthand accounts, Kajs captures the layered realities of displacement, food insecurity, economic collapse, and the constant threat of violence faced by civilians. Blending personal narrative with field observation, she examines both the human cost of the conflict and the conditions sustaining it, while also recounting her own near-fatal experience during coalition airstrikes that left her and others trapped beneath a collapsed building for three days

Beyond the Veil: Afghan Women and Girls’ Journey to Freedom
Beyond the Veil examines the lived realities of Afghan women and girls under Taliban rule, focusing on the systematic restrictions placed on their freedom, education, and participation in public life. Drawing on field-based insight and firsthand accounts, Kajs documents how these policies are experienced at the individual and community level, moving beyond headlines to capture both constraint and resilience. The work situates these experiences within broader questions of rights, agency, and the long-term implications of exclusion in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Forthcoming, 2026.

State Terrorism in MENA: Libya, Egypt, and Lebanon
State Terrorism in MENA examines how governments and ruling authorities in Libya, Egypt, and Lebanon have used violence, coercion, and fear as instruments of control. Drawing on historical and contemporary analysis, Kajs explores patterns of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and repression, situating state violence alongside—and at times intertwined with—non-state actors. By comparing these cases, the work highlights how authoritarian systems sustain power, the role of international influence, and the broader implications for human security and accountability.
Expected release, 2026

Homeless in Conflict
Homeless in Conflict explores the direct relationship between armed conflict, state violence, and the loss of home. Kajs examines how bombing campaigns, persecution, and systemic instability deliberately or predictably destroy civilian living spaces, leaving millions displaced within their own countries. With a focus on internally displaced populations, the work exposes the gaps in protection, the prolonged nature of displacement, and the reality that for many, homelessness is not temporary—it is the lived condition of modern conflict.
Expected release, 2027.