Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Routes to Disruption—Supply Chain Sabotage and Israel's War on Gaza
Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Port of Oakland to demand an end to US support of Israel’s actions in Gaza and to oppose US aid to Israel, January 13, 2024 in Oakland, CA. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty ImagesActivists installed a banner at Souda Bay, 2024. Courtesy the authors.
MER Article

Routes to Disruption—Supply Chain Sabotage and Israel's War on Gaza

Since October 7, at least three shipments of military-grade jet fuel (JP-8) have reached Israel from the United States, powering the fighter jets and Apache helicopters that have, for more than nine months now, continued to decimate Gaza. Each shipment carried 30,000 barrels of fuel—enough to
Elia El-Khazen, Charlotte Rose • 6 min read
Extractive Agribusinesses—Guaranteeing Food Security in the Gulf
An irrigation system waters an alfalfa field in Butler Valley, Arizona belonging to Fondomonte, a subsidiary of the Saudi dairy company Almarai, 2023. Caitlin O’Hara for The Washington Post via Getty ImagesSatellite images show the expansion of irrigated land in the Toshka lakes area of Egypt from 2019 to 2023. Images sourced from the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center.
MER Article

Extractive Agribusinesses—Guaranteeing Food Security in the Gulf

The 2022 Food and Agriculture Organization report on food security and nutrition in the Arab region makes for bleak reading. Between 2014 and 2021, the total number of Arabs suffering from moderate to severe food insecurity increased from 120 million to 154 million.[1] This insecurity, however, was not distributed
Christian Henderson • 9 min read
Fossil Fueled Comfort—The History and Cost of Air Conditioning in Bahrain
A building with many air conditioners, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2018. Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis via Getty ImagesAn aerial view of Awali, Bahrain. Official image from Bapco’s website. Date unknown.A Kuwaiti campaign to raise awareness of the risk delivery people face during the summer. By artist Talal Al-Maian, 2019.
MER Article

Fossil Fueled Comfort—The History and Cost of Air Conditioning in Bahrain

How AC has reshaped the urban landscape and labor politics of the Gulf.
Marwa Koheji • 9 min read
Desert Solar—A Spectacular Fiction, Not a Spectacular Future
Rendering of the Al Maktoum Solar Park distributed for official publications by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority.Cover of the Middle East Solar Industry Association’s Solar Outlook Report 2019, with a view of Morocco’s Noor Laayoune Solar PV Park.Masdar Future Energy display at COP28. Author’s photo, December 2023.Portrait of Mustapha, the man responsible for the distribution of water in the oasis. January 2021, Tighmert, Morocco. By artist Seif Kousmate, from his project Waha about the relationship of humans to the environment in oases. Mixed technique using fire on a paper print.
MER Article

Desert Solar—A Spectacular Fiction, Not a Spectacular Future

On the visual power, and pitfalls, of solar mega projects.
Natalie Koch • 10 min read
The Uneven Politics of Decarbonization in the Middle East and North Africa
An aerial view of technicians completing the construction of a wind turbine in the Golan Heights, Israel, 2020. (David Silverman/Getty Images)
MER Article

The Uneven Politics of Decarbonization in the Middle East and North Africa

According to Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy, Norway’s state-owned Statkraft, “A lesser known positive aspect of the green energy shift is that more renewable energy leads to more peace and democracy!” It is tempting to formulate such grandiose arguments about the possibilities of a transition to
Benjamin Schuetze • 8 min read