Current Analysis Trapped in Refuge The daily lives of Syrian refugees in Jordan have always been difficult, but until the winter of 2014-2015, they were defined more by concern about making ends meet than outright panic. Christiane Fröhlich, Matthew R. Stevens • 9 min read
Current Analysis Some Good News from the Middle East There’s not much good news coming out of the Middle East these days. But one reason to take heart is the progress of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the West. Even as new conflicts sprout up elsewhere, a three-decade standoff between Tehran and Washington could be heading for a breakthrough. Chris Toensing • 2 min read
Current Analysis McJihad, the Film The themes of Adam Curtis’ new documentary Bitter Lake [http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p02gyz6b/adam-curtis-bitter-lake] should be well known to those familiar with his body of work: power, techno-politics, science, managerialism and the media. The film uses the contemporary history of Afghani Jacob Mundy • 13 min read
Current Analysis From Sinai to Lampedusa: An Eritrean Journey Two human tragedies will forever scar Eritreans’ memories of the past decade, during which hundreds of thousands fled repression and despair in their homeland to seek sanctuary in more open, democratic societies: the brutal kidnapping, torture and ransom of refugees in the Egyptian Sinai and the dro Dan Connell • 12 min read
Current Analysis The Humble Tomato In early February 2011, shortly after the beginning of the January 25 revolution that toppled Husni Mubarak, I made a phone call to a friend in an informal area of Cairo. I wanted to check on her wellbeing, and was interested to hear her perspective on reports that some of the thugs hired by the gov Tessa Farmer • 3 min read
Current Analysis Palestine and the ICC At the close of 2014, Mahmoud ‘Abbas, head of the Ramallah wing of the Palestinian Authority (PA), announced that he would sign the Rome Statute, the 2002 treaty establishing the International Criminal Court based in The Hague. This move opens the possibility that the Palestinians could ask the Cour The Editors • 14 min read
Current Analysis Doubling Down on Dictatorship in the Middle East For a moment, four years ago, it seemed that dictators in the Middle East would soon be a thing of the past. Back then, it looked like the United States would have to make good on its declared support for democracy, as millions of Tunisians, Egyptians, Bahrainis, Yemenis, and others rose up to reje Amanda Ufheil-Somers • 3 min read
Current Analysis Turkey’s AKP and Public Morality President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey is known for his strong pro-natalist sentiments. In 2012 his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP, by the Turkish acronym) passed a law to constrain women’s choice [http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jul/15/turkey-caesarian-ban-silence-hurts-w Evren Savcı • 3 min read
Current Analysis Killing the Ambulance Man Sad news came on December 15 from Aden, the port on the southern coast of Yemen. The city had awakened to a day of civil disobedience, called to speed up what Adenis and other southerners hope will be their independence [http://www.merip.org/mer/mer273/poor-peoples-revolution] from the central gover Susanne Dahlgren • 2 min read
Current Analysis The Battle of Egyptian Football Fans Against Dullness Ultras, or organized groups of football fans, represented an influential faction of the Egyptian revolutionary multitude in 2011. The ultras’ long experience of street fights with police at stadiums aided the revolutionaries in achieving many victories over riot cops in the early days of the January Dalia Abd El-Hameed • 4 min read
Current Analysis Ferguson to Palestine The world’s attention again shines on Ferguson, MO, where Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American 18-year old was shot by white police officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014. This time, the occasion is the grand jury’s failure to indict the officer. There will be no trial. There will be no oppor Stephen Tamari • 5 min read
Current Analysis Women's Rights Activists Between State Violence and Intervention The November 15 attack on an armored car [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/world/asia/suicide-bomber-attacks-car-of-afghan-womens-leader-3-killed.html?smid=fb-share&_r=1] transporting Shukria Barakzai, a women’s rights activist and parliamentarian in Afghanistan, shook me to the core. The attack, w Parastou Hassouri • 4 min read
