Fiber Optics and the Hidden Politics of Connectivity
On February 18, 2024, Houthi forces in Yemen fired two ballistic missiles at the MV Rubymar, a Belize flagged, British owned, bulk carrier cargo ship. The crew dropped anchor and evacuated, but the ship began to drift. Six days later it crossed the path of three intercontinental submarine data cables—
Hardwiring Normalization—Infrastructures, Extraction and Gaza’s Future
In the summer of 2025, a 38-page blueprint circulating inside the Trump administration was leaked to the press: the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation (GREAT) Trust. At first glance, it resembled countless other speculative development schemes, renderings of luxury resorts, free-trade zones and smart cities. Gaza, theIssue 315/316 (Summer/Fall 2025) Masthead
Middle East Report, “The Material Politics of Normalization,” Summer/Fall 2025, No. 315/316, Vol. 54 No. 2–3 Executive Director James Ryan jamesryan@merip.org Executive Editor Billie Jeanne Brownlee bbrownlee@merip.org Managing Editor Marya Hannun maryahannun@merip.org Senior Staff Editor & Photo Editor Michelle Woodward mwoodward@A Note on the Masthead
Over the summer, MERIP’s executive editor Katie Natanel rotated off the editorial team after three and a half years. Katie joined at the beginning of MERIP’s partnership with Exeter’s Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies, stepping into what was then a new position within the organization. Behind