**Diaspora of the Middle East and North Africa** is a portrait of communities who have planted roots in adoptive cities into which they have now blended. Iranians in Los Angeles, Kurds in Nashville, Yemenis in Singapore: this collection of essays, interviews, architectural profiles, urban memories, Q&As, photo essays, and travel stories highlights the diverse young and old diaspora communities of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) around the world.

Drawing on topics from the 10-year archive of *Brownbook* magazine―a publication dedicated to covering stories on the contemporary culture of the wider MENA region and its diaspora, including people, architecture, and more than 50 cities―the book is driven by the magazine’s expansive research and content. In light of the recent refugee crisis, it is an urgent testament that migration from the region isn’t something new.

**Diaspora of the Middle East and North Africa** is a gateway to the communities who have planted roots in adoptive cities where they now seamlessly blend. From the nine million strong Arab community in Brazil that arrived from modern-day Lebanon and Syria in the late 1880s, to the Singaporean descendants of Yemen who have helped shape the city-state’s urban fabric through trade and development for nearly two centuries, the book covers a wide range of experiences. It also covers the small but significant diaspora communities who have formed enclaves across the world, such as the Kurdish residents with barber shops and food joints in Nashville and the Assyrians in Södertälje, Sweden, who place equal importance on integration and preserving their history through local institutions and social clubs.

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The twin brothers Ahmed and Rashid Bin Shabib were born and raised in Dubai. Both studied economics and property development in Boston and graduated from Oxford University with a focus on urbanism and sustainability of urban areas. Back in Dubai, in 2007, they began publishing *Brownbook*, a magazine dealing with modern society in the Middle East and North Africa, aiming to clear up false stereotypes. Since 2017, after the magazine was discontinued, they have actively participated in urban design and sustainability in Dubai by redesigning old buildings and factories for social and cultural purposes and making them accessible to the public.