Current Analysis The Fiscal Politics of Rebellious Jordan Activism in the modern Arab world saw its peak in the Spring of 2011, but Jordanians have returned to the streets in a new round of protests triggered by recent economic policies and long standing grievances. How should we understand these protests? Pete Moore • 10 min read
Current Analysis Crackdowns and Coalitions in Kuwait The Arab Gulf has seen sweeping arrests of political figures to quell corruption. Even Kuwait has not been immune. Alex Boodrookas • 15 min read
Current Analysis The Lebanese Elections and Their Consequences Nine years since the last national parliamentary election, many in the country expected the emerging civil society groups to challenge the tradition sectarian-based parties. Despite the rumblings for change, the status quo prevailed. Rayan El-Amine • 10 min read
Current Analysis A Brief History of a Teacher's Strike In early 2016, nearly 35,000 Palestinian teachers initiated a series of strike actions across the West Bank. Classes were dismissed and students sent home as teachers marched through Ramallah’s streets and organized sit-ins in front of Ministry of Education field offices. What was behind the strike? Mai Abu Moghli, Mezna Qato • 11 min read
Current Analysis The United States’ Recognition of Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel and the Challenge to the International Consensus On December 6, 2017, US President Donald Trump announced that the US was recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and would be moving its embassy there from Tel Aviv in fulfillment of the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act (henceforth Embassy Act). In one fell swoop, the US has seriously challenged 70 Mahmud Muna, Mandy Turner • 17 min read
Current Analysis Recognizing Annexation The White House announcement distinguishes between recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and establishing an embassy there and recognizing “the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem.” In other words, the Trump administration, like all those before it, seeks to avoid acknowledgi Joel Beinin • 7 min read
Current Analysis Preservation or Plunder? The ISIS Files and a History of Heritage Removal in Iraq The removal of the ISIS files from Iraq is only the latest episode in a long history of seizures of Iraqi archives and artifacts by Europeans and Americans. Rather than dismiss Iraqi critics as unreasonable, everyone with a stake in the study of Iraq—including all journalists, historians, and archiv Arbella Bet-Shlimon • 18 min read
Current Analysis Running as Resistance in Occupied Palestine The Palestine Marathon, like its counterparts elsewhere, is meant to be a feel-good event. But it also has a political point: to highlight restrictions on movement for all Palestinians under Israeli occupation. Joshua Stacher • 5 min read
Current Analysis The Southern Transitional Council and the War in Yemen In late January this year, an armed conflict erupted in Aden between troops under command of President ‘Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and those loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC), both in principle on the same side of the Yemeni war. The fighting left more than 40 people dead and several woun Susanne Dahlgren • 9 min read
Current Analysis Radix Malorum est Cupiditas The last three years have been a time of outright misery for most Yemenis as War, Pestilence, Famine and Death have stalked what used to be known as Arabia Felix. Thousands are recorded as having been killed; tens of thousands more are known to have died. Millions are starved by a siege, and—weakene James Spencer • 5 min read
Current Analysis Sisi’s Plebiscitary Election From day one of his July 3 coup, al-Sisi has directed a relentless campaign to depoliticize and incapacitate the population, riveting the old relations of deference and subordination between those who rule and those coerced to obey. But plebiscitary elections are part of a different type of autocrat Mona El-Ghobashy • 15 min read
Current Analysis The Story Behind the Rise of Turkey’s Ulema The AKP, in pushing the expansion of the Diyanet for political purposes, also has enhanced the capacity of the institution to pursue its own agenda. Indeed, the unprecedented expansion of the Diyanet in recent years demonstrates its ability to seize opportunities arising from its common cause with A Ceren Lord • 19 min read
