Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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The Evolution of Conflict Medicine in the Middle East - An Interview with Ghassan Abu Sittah — Ghassan Abu Sittah working at Al-Awdah Hospital in Jabalya refugee camp, in the Gaza Strip, May 14, 2018. Photo courtesy of Medical Aid for Palestinians.

MER Article

The Evolution of Conflict Medicine in the Middle East - An Interview with Ghassan Abu Sittah

During his tenure at AUB, Ghassan Abu Sittah’s work radically transformed the practice of medicine and surgery. As the chair of the plastic surgery department at AUB Medical Center, he singlehandedly redefined the workload of the hospital from a focus on cosmetic surgery to one on reconstructive sur

Ghassan Abu Sittah, Omar Dewachi, Nabil Al-Tikriti • 17 min read

MER Article

Health and the Body Politic

This issue of Middle East Report explores the interactions of the body politic with health and medicine and examines the entanglements of physical bodies in the institutional and political processes that govern them. Articles in this issue explore a range of different landscapes and ecologies of pol

The Editors of Issue #297 • 5 min read

Masdar City 2020 — The new City Centre mall next to Masdar City anchored by the French supermarket chain Carrefour. Photograph by the author.

MER Article

Masdar City 2020

In February 2020, shortly before the COVID-19 lockdowns, I visited Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). I had not been there in five years.

Gökçe Günel • 4 min read

“Turkey Wants to be Part of the Nuclear Club” An Interview with Can Candan — Can Candan. Photo by Christian Bergmann.

MER Article

“Turkey Wants to be Part of the Nuclear Club” An Interview with Can Candan

Kenan Behzat Sharpe spoke with Candan about his latest film project Nuclear alla Turca, a documentary on the history of atomic energy in Turkey, a country on the verge of building its very first nuclear plant despite a growing anti-nuclear movement.

Kenan Behzat Sharpe • 12 min read

"Algeria is not for Sale!" Mobilizing Against Fracking in the Sahara — Demonstrators carry national flags and banners during a protest against a proposed new hydrocarbons law in Algiers, Algeria, October 13, 2019. Ramzi Boudina/ReutersProtesters hold signs that read “National sovereignty is the red line,” “Shale gas is a patriotic cause,” and “We are all In Salah” on March 14, 2015, in the city of Ouargla. Photo by the author.Protesters with a sign that says “No to shale gas.” March 14, 2015 in the city of Ouargla. Photo by the author.

MER Article

"Algeria is not for Sale!" Mobilizing Against Fracking in the Sahara

Although Algeria's 2019 Hirak uprising came as a surprise to many, previous instances of popular mobilization, like the impressive protests against fracking that emerged in several southern Algerian cities in 2014 and 2015, not only highlighted the intersection of political and environmental questio

Naoual Belakhdar • 9 min read

The Lost Wetlands of Turkey — Salt marshes in the Gediz Delta wetland conservation area. Photo by author.Fishermen set off in the morning in one of the Kızılırmak Delta’s brackish lakes, in the wetland conservation area. Photo by author.

MER Article

The Lost Wetlands of Turkey

Every year around World Wetlands Day on February 2, Turkish news outlets report that the country has lost between 1.3 and 2 million hectares of wetlands since the mid-twentieth century. Since the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923, over 1.3 million hectares of wetlands have been drained and tr

Caterina Scaramelli • 14 min read