Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

Jillian Schwedler

Jillian Schwedler is professor of politics at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Jillian has been a member of MERIP’s editorial committee and board of directors.

MER Article

Palestine and the Limits of Permissible Protest in Jordan

Will recent demonstrations against the Gaza War threaten the regime?

Jillian Schwedler • 6 min read

Thinking Critically About Regional Uprisings

In order to broaden our frameworks for thinking critically about the new round of uprisings, MERIP editorial committee member Jillian Schwedler asked a number of critical scholars for their perspectives on how we should be thinking about regional protests and what is often overlooked or misunderstoo

Jillian Schwedler • 20 min read

MER Article

Toward a Just Peace in Yemen

At every stage, the scale of suffering has been preventable, and yet pervasive misunderstandings—and some deliberate mischaracterizations—mean that the war has reached a deadly stalemate.

Stacey Philbrick Yadav, Jillian Schwedler • 16 min read

MER Article

What is Activism?

In early 2011, the world watched as millions of people took to the streets across the Arab world to demand the fall of regimes, or at least substantial political reforms. As the weeks and then months unfolded, the broadcast media adopted split screens to show simultaneous live footage of crowds in m

Kevan Harris, Jillian Schwedler • 11 min read

Current Analysis

Jordan Drops the Pretense of Democratic Reform

Despite promises otherwise, in the past four years, King ‘Abdallah has peeled the veneer of parliamentary governance off an increasingly autocratic system.

Jillian Schwedler • 4 min read

MER Article

“ISIS Is One Piece of the Puzzle”

Yifat Susskind is executive director of MADRE [http://www.madre.org/], an international women’s human rights organization based in New York. Jillian Schwedler spoke with her on October 28, 2015, the week after Yanar Mohammed, head of MADRE’s partner group the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq

Jillian Schwedler • 12 min read

MER Article

"The Nuclear Project Is Bound to Fail"

Bassel Burgan is a Jordanian businessman and a leader of the movement to stop the Jordanian government’s plans to generate nuclear power. Jillian Schwedler, an editor of this magazine, conducted this interview with Burgan by e-mail on June 24, 2014. What, in your view, are the important factors

Jillian Schwedler • 4 min read

MER Article

And the Winner Is...

The administration of President George W. Bush claims a commitment to promoting democratization in the Arab world, whether through regime change or by pressuring authoritarian leaders through “transformational diplomacy” to open their political systems. It has been tempting for the administration’s

Jillian Schwedler, Laryssa Chomiak • 17 min read

MER Article

Aida Dabbas

MERIP mourns the passing of Aida Hashim al-Dabbas, who died of cancer on November 1, 2003. A dedicated grassroots activist, Aida gave the last seven years of her life to advocacy for peace and justice in Palestine, the welfare of the Iraqi people, and political and civil freedoms in her home country

Jillian Schwedler • 3 min read

MER Article

More Than a Mob

Tens of thousands of Jordanians took to the streets in support of Palestinians during the March and April 2002 Israeli invasions of seven of eight major towns in the West Bank. Remarkable enough for their sheer size (Jordan’s population is just over five million), most of these marches and

Jillian Schwedler • 16 min read

MER Article

A Paradox of Democracy?

On April 27, 1997, Muhammad Zabara stood outside a polling station in the old city of Sanaa. In a neatly pressed suit and tie, his short hair and mustache freshly trimmed, he greeted voters who had turned out for Yemen’s second post-unification parliamentary elections. A team of Western election mon

Jillian Schwedler • 12 min read

MER Article

Protesting Sanctions Against Iraq

Aida Dabbas is program officer for the Jordanian-American Binational Fulbright Commission in Amman. She has been an active opponent of the sanctions against Iraq and of the US arms buildup in the region. Jillian Schwedler, an editor of this magazine, spoke with her by telephone in June. You recentl

Jillian Schwedler • 6 min read