Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

Sign In Sign Up

Current Analysis

Security and Resilience Among Syrian Refugees in Jordan

Imagine living in a refugee camp. For most, that phrase is enough to conjure images of makeshift tents, dusty pathways, queues for water and food, and above all, fear. Now imagine living in Zaatari refugee camp in a northern part of Jordan 7.5 miles from the Syrian border and Dar‘a region, sharing a

Denis Sullivan, Sarah Tobin • 14 min read

Current Analysis

Southern Yemen After the Fall of Sanaa

The mysteries in the September events in Sanaa [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/world/middleeast/yemens-prime-minister-resigns-amid-chaos-and-another-cease-fire.html?_r=0] loom large. Who decided that security forces should not try to stop the Houthis from entering the Yemeni capital? Why didn’t H

Susanne Dahlgren • 3 min read

Current Analysis

Airstrikes Against the Patriarchy

The media sometimes has trouble conjuring a feel-good story out of an airstrike, but not now. In the last few days, news outlets across the world have fallen all over themselves to champion Maryam al-Mansouri [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/world/middleeast/emirates-first-female-fighter-pilot-isi

Amanda Ufheil-Somers • 3 min read

Current Analysis

The Arab Bank and Washington’s Protectorate in the Levant

One stated justification for US strikes in Syria and Iraq is to protect the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Pete Moore • 2 min read

Sisi at the UN — editors_092514

Current Analysis

Sisi at the UN

This week ‘Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi paid his inaugural visit to the United States as president of Egypt. The occasion was the annual meetings of the UN General Assembly. We asked some veteran Egypt watchers and MERIP authors for their reactions. Mona El-Ghobashy [http://www.merip.org/author/mona-el-gh

The Editors • 6 min read

Current Analysis

The Next Round of an Unwinnable War Beckons

Once again, a U.S. president vows to eliminate an extremist militia in the Middle East to make the region, and Americans, safe. And that means it’s time again for a reality check. Having failed in its bid to destroy the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, the United States is still trying to disma

Amanda Ufheil-Somers • 2 min read

Current Analysis

"Libya Is Not Safe for You If You Want to Speak Your Mind"

Hassan al-Amin [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/23/libya-original-freedom-fighter] is a long-time activist for human rights in Libya. He left Libya in 1983 under duress from the regime of Col. Muammar Qaddafi. In his London exile, al-Amin founded the dissident website Libya al-Mustaqbal [h

Anjali Kamat • 10 min read

Current Analysis

Educational Aftershocks for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

More than 50 percent of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon [https://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=122] are 17 or younger. Back home the great majority of them were in school. But youth who try to continue their education in Lebanon face social, economic and bureaucratic obstacles. The

Sarah Parkinson • 5 min read

Current Analysis

Strangers in the Crowd

“The system of fear is back,” whispers an Egyptian political activist. “It is showing its teeth, saying ‘I’m baaack.’” The protest veteran speaks sotto voce even though he is sitting in his living room. And that, he points out, is the biggest change since the heady days of 2011, after the fall of Hu

Vivienne Matthies-Boon • 6 min read

Current Analysis

The Massacre One Year Later

In Cairo this summer, there is scant appetite for anniversaries. The passage of one year since the critical events of the 2013 coup d’état [http://www.merip.org/mero/mero071013] scarcely attracts the public’s attention. There are few official ceremonies or rallies to mark the huge demonstrations on

Ahmad Shokr • 5 min read

Current Analysis

State Department Taking Passports Away from Yemeni-Americans

Over the past year, dozens of Yemeni-Americans visiting their ancestral homeland have had their US passports summarily revoked or confiscated by the embassy in Sanaa without any clear legal basis, effectively stranding them outside the United States. Last month, a coalition of US civil rights groups

The Editors • 6 min read

Current Analysis

Another Benghazi

“We didn’t want another Benghazi.” Oh no, is that really why the Obama administration decided to bomb Iraq [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/09/world/middleeast/fear-of-another-benghazi-drove-white-house-to-airstrikes-in-iraq.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=LedeSum&module=a-lede-package-r

Chris Toensing • 5 min read