Current Analysis

After Orlando

The media has been full of misleading and politically charged speculation about the massacre of 49 people at Orlando's Pulse nightclub. We asked some MERIP friends to comment on the misinformation and the telling silences in the coverage.

(Author not identified) • 13 min read

Current Analysis

Release Homa Hoodfar

We are deeply concerned by the arrest and ongoing detention of Homa Hoodfar, an eminent anthropologist and contributor to Middle East Report, by the Revolutionary Guard Corps of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Hoodfar traveled to Iran in early 2016 to visit family and conduct scholarly research. She was scheduled

The Editors • 1 min read

Current Analysis

Arabia Incognita

A new anthology from MERIP and Just World Books explores the Arabian Peninsula as "a distinct political unit" whose upheavals reverberate regionally and globally.

The Editors • 2 min read

Current Analysis

Jordan Drops the Pretense of Democratic Reform

Despite promises otherwise, in the past four years, King ‘Abdallah has peeled the veneer of parliamentary governance off an increasingly autocratic system.

Jillian Schwedler • 4 min read

Current Analysis

Suspend US Military Aid to Egypt

Scholars of the Egypt and the Middle East call on President Obama to stop the longstanding US support for Egypt's undemocratic military regime.

(Author not identified) • 3 min read

Current Analysis

Open Letter from Scholars of Yemen

Scholars write for the third time to condemn the actions of the US-Saudi-French alliance violating international humanitarian law in the southern Arabian Peninsula.

(Author not identified) • 2 min read

Current Analysis

Éloge de la Naïveté

The attacks in Brussels have inspired grief, fear and questions about transformative politics.

Paul Silverstein • 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

Farideh Farhi • 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. For some time, all of these complications were adduced to answer the question: “Why is there a military and political stalemate in Syria?” Beginning in September 2015, however, Russian intervention

Samer Abboud • 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

Chris Toensing • 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

Joshua Stacher • 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.

Reva Dhingra • 18 min read