Lety ElNaggar was born to and raised by a Mexican mother and Egyptian father near Philadelphia, USA. She completed her BA in Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies at Columbia University in New York. She is interested in the history of international mobility, migration, the rise of the nation state and regional cooperation, particularly in North Africa and the Levant in comparison with the “Global North.” Her interest mostly stems from her experience living and performing “World Music” as a saxophonist, clarinetist, and flutist in New York, Cairo and Beirut.