MER Article Editor's Picks (Spring 2014) Abunimah, Ali. The Battle for Justice in Palestine (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2014). Adib-Moghaddam, Arshin. A Critical Introduction to Khomeini (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014). Aidi, Hisham D. Rebel Music: Race, Empire and the New Muslim Youth Culture (New York: Random House, 2014). (Author not identified) • 1 min read
MER Article The Sociologist Has Left the Building “Here in Iran, Professor Wallerstein, you are a dangerous man.” So an adviser of President Hassan Rouhani counseled the 83-year old sociologist, and he was correct. It was March, and Immanuel Wallerstein had just arrived for a three-city lecture tour. It was as if the Islamic Republic had granted a Kevan Harris • 9 min read
MER Article China and the Sudans It wasn’t supposed to be like this. South Sudan and Sudan had agreed to share oil revenue, oil was flowing again and, despite considerable problems, relations appeared headed in a slightly better direction. Both governments were drawn to China as a key provider and practical enabler of economic assi Daniel Large • 13 min read
MER Article The Moral Panic Over Chinese in Egypt On a brisk autumn evening in 2010, male coffee shop patrons in the upscale Cairo neighborhood of Zamalek were treated to the sight of young Chinese women in miniskirts circulating to hand out brochures for a new massage parlor. It was an unusual sight indeed for Egyptian public space -- both the wom Jessica Winegar • 8 min read
MER Article Arabs in Yiwu, Confucius in East Beirut The September 11, 2001 attacks marked the beginning of large-scale trade between the Middle East and mainland China in the modern era. New visa restrictions in the United States -- until then the number-one trading partner of Arab countries -- forced Arab merchants to find business destinations in v Roschanack Shaery • 6 min read
MER Article DragonMart, the Mega-Souk of Today's Silk Road In 1998, a shipwreck was discovered off the coast of Indonesia. It turned out to be the remains of an early ninth-century dhow from the Gulf that had been headed back from China with a cargo of over 70,000 items, primarily ceramics, produced in different Chinese regions. The goods varied in style an JACQUELINE ARMIJO • 9 min read
