Current Analysis Éloge de la Naïveté The attacks in Brussels have inspired grief, fear and questions about transformative politics. Amanda • 6 min read
Current Analysis The Day Tehran Shook Speaking to a journalist days after the February 26 elections in Iran, leading reformist Mohammad Reza Aref stated, “When I saw the results for Tehran coming in, I was shocked.” Aref had expected the top of the list he headed to do well in the contest for Tehran’s 30 seats in the Tenth Majles, or Pa Amanda • 11 min read
Current Analysis Did Russian Intervention Break the Syrian Stalemate? It is now a cliché to say that the Syrian conflict is complicated, and has multiple regional and international drivers [http://merip.org/mer/mer262/new-arab-cold-war-struggle-syria]. Amanda • 4 min read
MER Article Bennis, Understanding ISIS and the New Global War on Terror Phyllis Bennis, Understanding ISIS and the New Global War on Terror: A Primer (Northampton, MA: Olive Branch Press, 2015). The amalgamation of Iraqi ex-Baathists, Iraqi and Syrian jihadis, disgruntled locals and outside recruits known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, continues to ca Chris Toensing • 2 min read
MER Article Karimi, Domesticity and Consumer Culture in Iran Pamela Karimi, Domesticity and Consumer Culture in Iran: Interior Revolutions of the Modern Era (New York: Routledge, 2013). Norma Claire Moruzzi • 4 min read
Current Analysis Your Tax Dollars Enable Police Brutality Abroad Ever since the Black Lives Matter movement exploded into the headlines, violence by American police officers has come under fire from activists and ordinary citizens alike. Less discussed, however, is how the US government winks at the police brutality of its client states abroad. The military gove Amanda • 2 min read
Current Analysis Egypt Running on Empty An authoritarian regime may be unpopular, even loathed, but at least it has rules. The rules may bear little resemblance to the law, but relations between state officials and society come to have a predictable rhythm. People understand where the red lines are, and they can choose to stay within them Amanda • 16 min read
Current Analysis Losing Syria’s Youngest Generation Hasan bounces in his chair, pencil tapping against the table as he bends over the first page of a math exam. He hesitates, before stretching his hand frantically into the air as he waits for help from the program facilitator busy with one of the handful of other boys scattered across the classroom. Amanda • 18 min read
Current Analysis Notes on Low Oil Prices and Their Implications After about three years of hovering around $110 per barrel, with highs of $125 and lows of $90, oil prices began a precipitous decline in the summer of 2014, reaching a low of $48 per barrel in mid-August 2015 before plummeting to just under $30 per barrel five months later. While investors are no d Amanda • 5 min read
Current Analysis Defending Academic Freedom Constraints on academic freedom or violations of it are not new in the Middle East and North Africa. Indeed, while there is certainly variation among the countries of the region, regime attempts to control what is studied, how it is studied, and what faculty and students may do and say both on and o Amanda • 3 min read
Current Analysis The Top MERIP Articles About Egypt Last week marked the passage of five years since Husni Mubarak was compelled to resign as president of Egypt by the enormous uprising centered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Around the anniversary, we asked some friends and colleagues who have written on Egypt to list their favorite MERIP articles about Amanda • 3 min read
Current Analysis The Palestine Exception to Free Speech in America Omar Shakir and Megan Marzec came to northeastern Ohio last week to discuss the constraints on speech about research and activism with regard to Palestinian rights. Their host was the Northeast Ohio Consortium on Middle East Studies (NOCMES). Amanda • 1 min read
