Current Analysis Four Weddings and a Funeral in Yemen On February 21, 2015, the man most countries recognize as president of Yemen, ‘Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, escaped house arrest in Sanaa and fled with his family to the southern city of Aden, which he soon declared the new capital. The Houthi movement, or Ansar Allah, that holds sway in Sanaa insists th Susanne Dahlgren • 11 min read
Current Analysis Beinin, Beers and Israel-Palestine in Cleveland MERIP contributing editor Joel Beinin [http://www.merip.org/author/joel-beinin] came to Cleveland in early March to discuss the popular struggle against Israeli occupation in the West Bank as well as what was at stake in yesterday’s Israeli elections. His host was the Northeast Ohio Consortium on Mi Joshua Stacher • 1 min read
Current Analysis Seltzer Colonialism Early each morning, dozens of workers from Jaba’ walk up a narrow set of stairs with trash strewn on either side to reach a bus stop on Highway 60, which bisects the West Bank on its way from Nazareth to Beersheva. As they climb the stairs, the workers pass a tunnel that once allowed villagers conve Michael Fin, Callie Maidhof • 8 min read
Current Analysis The Politics of Egyptian Migration to Libya The beheading of 21 Egyptian Copts working in Libya, as shown in video footage released by the Islamic State on February 12, 2015, made headlines across the world. The story was variously framed as one more vicious murder of Middle Eastern Christians by militant Islamists, one more index of chaos in Gerasimos Tsourapas • 15 min read
Current Analysis Fuel Subsidy Policy and Popular Mobilization in Syria On February 17, Syrian Minister of Oil Muhammad al-Lahham warned Parliament that the price of fuel would have to increase [http://www.sana.sy/%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%A8-%D9%8A%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%B9-%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AC%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9 Zachary Cuyler • 5 min read
Current Analysis Yemeni Political Dialogue in Riyadh? On March 10, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) invited rival Yemeni factions to hold peace talks in Riyadh, the Saudi Royal Court announced [http://www.gulfinthemedia.com/index.php?id=741844&news_type=Top&lang=en ]. Gabriele vom Bruck • 2 min read
Current Analysis One Society of Muslim Brothers in Jordan or Two? Jordan’s government this week approved an application to make the Society of Muslim Brothers a licensed, local charity, paving the way for a break between the Jordanian branch of the Brothers and the regional organization based in Egypt. The move was resisted, however, not by the Jordanian governmen Curtis Ryan • 3 min read
Current Analysis Why Isn't the "Swing Producer" Swinging? The price of oil is hovering around $50 per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude, and $60 per barrel of Brent crude, the lowest levels since the global economic downturn [http://www.merip.org/mer/mer252] of 2008-2009. Until the end of February, when they rebounded slightly, oil prices had been dr Karen Pfeifer • 3 min read
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
