In Berlin, the past division of the city seeps into every concrete curve. As I walk with my dad beside the remains of the wall, I think of the past. I think of my own, of the city’s. I think of barriers and division between past and present, life and death. And I wonder if, like the Berlin Wall, hastily erected to solidify separation, the barriers we enforce between life and death might not also be too firmly cemented.

Middle East and Africa Editor Josh Moreton reflects on a year spent in Egypt and the lessons he’s learnt.