In 1994, Hulsman became a correspondent for several Dutch media outlets in Egypt, and with his Egyptian wife Sawsan Gabra Ayoub Khalil, founded in 1997 the "Religious News Service from the Arab World".

[4] In 2000 and 2001, Hulsman was the adjunct affiliate assistant professor in journalism and mass communication at the American University in Cairo, and in 2002 he organized a workshop for Egyptian journalists about reporting on human rights.

[5] Hulsman decided to devote his attention to developing an Egyptian institute for inter-cultural understanding, and in 2003 he changed the name of the electronic digest RNSAW to Arab-West Report.

CAWU then applied for Egyptian Non-Government Organization (NGO) status, which was granted after a long bureaucratic process in January 2008.

[6] Because of the delays in forming an Egyptian NGO, in 2005 Hulsman and his wife founded the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Translation (CIDT).

n March 2008 Hulsman coordinated efforts by the Center for Arab-West Understanding in a successful attempt to defuse the crises provoked by Dutch Member of Parliament Geert Wilders' film “Fitna,” through organizing a visit of a delegation of Dutch church representatives and Muslim organizations to Egypt which was widely reported on in the Netherlands, asking Egyptian scholars to write reports explaining the Qur'anic texts that Wilders addressed and discussing the crisis on Egyptian TV and in public meetings at Cairo University.

Meinardus (1925–2005), Egyptian thinker Dr. William Qilada (1924–1999), and Athanasius, Metropolitan of Beni Suef (1923–2000)[15] influenced Hulsman's outlook on Coptic Christianity and traditions.

Hulsman has in turn influenced hundreds of students, many of whom have been interns at Arab-West Report and the Center for Intercultural Dialogue in Cairo.