Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

Sign In Sign Up

James Paul

James Paul was publisher of Middle East Report from 1980-1988. He recently retired from his long-time post as director of the Global Policy Forum, a New York-based UN watchdog.

MER Article

Michael Tanzer

TRIBUTE: MICHAEL TANZER (July 1935 – January 2024) Mike Tanzer, writer, scholar and activist intellectual, was a great friend of MERIP’s from its early days. He was always generous to and supportive of the publication as a donor and occasional contributor to our pages. Sometimes his support took the most

Joe Stork, James Paul • 1 min read

MER Article

"Eventually There Can Only Be an Arab Solution"

Amb. ‘Abdallah al-Ashtal is Yemen’s representative to the United Nations. He served as ambassador for the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen from 1971 until May 1990, when he became the representative of the newly unified Republic of Yemen. In March and December 1990, he chaired the UN Security C

James Paul • 7 min read

MER Article

"There Is a Feeling That the Regime Owes Something to the People"

Ahmad Ashraf is an Iranian sociologist currently teaching in the United States. He is presently working on a book with Ali Banuazizi on social classes and the state in contemporary Iran. Ervand Abrahamian and James Paul spoke with him in New York City in late October. How would you describe the reg

Ervand Abrahamian, James Paul • 17 min read

MER Article

Points of Stress

Eight months into the intifada, Israel’s occupation appears as unyielding as the rocky hills of Palestine. Bolstered by arms and funds from the United States and supported by a rightward-leaning public, the Israeli political establishment stands utterly intransigent, opposed to any political comprom

James Paul • 14 min read

MER Article

The Middle East and Human Rights

Ibn Sina hospital, in a beautiful suburb of Rabat, is Morocco’s finest medical facility. It is the major teaching hospital of Morocco’s top medical school, a place where Moroccan and foreign medical experts carry on research and perform medical care at the highest level. Not long ago, a patient jum

James Paul, Joe Stork • 7 min read

MER Article

The New Bourgeoisie of the Gulf

A blue helicopter flies out over the harbor at Nice, landing gently on an enormous yacht of teak and mahogany, swaying gently at anchor. The passengers step out: A correspondent and photographer from the Spanish photo magazine Hola! are arriving to get a feature story on ‘Adnan Khashoggi, flamboyant

James Paul • 10 min read

MER Article

Owen, Migrant Workers in the Gulf

Roger Owen, Migrant Workers in the Gulf (London: Minority Rights Group, Report No. 68, 1985). Today, as oil prices plunge, the six million foreign workers in the Gulf are feeling the crunch. Roger Owen's new survey of Gulf migrant workers is especially welcome, for the future of Gulf societies i

James Paul • 2 min read

MER Article

"People are suffering tremendously"

Dan Connell, a contributing editor to this magazine, is executive director of Grassroots International, a relief agency working in Lebanon and the Horn of Africa. Jim Paul spoke with him in New York on June 17, 1985.

James Paul • 9 min read

MER Article

Lawless and Findlay, North Africa

Richard Lawless and Allan Findlay, eds., North Africa: Contemporary Politics and Economic Development (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1984). More than fifteen years have passed since the appearance of Samir Amin’s excellent book on the Maghreb. None of the dozen or so books on the subject that have

James Paul • 2 min read

MER Article

Seddon, The Peasants; Munson, The House of Si Abd Allah

David Seddon, The Peasants: A Century of Change in the Eastern Rif, 1870-1970 (Folkestone: Wm. Dawson & Sons, 1981). Henry Munson, Jr., The House of Si Abd Allah: The Oral History of a Moroccan Family (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984).

James Paul • 8 min read

MER Article

Trade Unions and Moroccan Politics

Morocco is unusual in the Middle East for its extensive civil society -- social institutions which are relatively independent of control by the state apparatus. A complex relationship exists between the absolute and repressive monarchy of King Hassan II on the one hand and the powerful opposition in

Jean-François Clement, James Paul • 18 min read

MER Article

States of Emergency

A crisis had been building in Tunisia for many months. By the end of 1983, the economy was in serious trouble, support-for the regime had been eroding and the International Monetary Fund had proposed austerity measures. Within the government, corruption and personal luxury were rampant. President-fo

James Paul • 8 min read