Current Analysis

Burying the Hatchet with Iran

Don’t tell anyone, but the United States and Iran are getting closer -- perhaps closer than ever -- to letting go of 35 years of enmity. No, Washington and Tehran aren’t going to be BFFs or anything. But they do share a common interest in rolling back the so-called Islamic State, whose well-armed

Chris Toensing • 2 min read

Current Analysis

Life and Death in the Graves of Mecca and Medina

On September 1 The Independent published a piece by Andrew Johnson [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudis-risk-new-muslim-division-with-proposal-to-move-mohameds-tomb-9705120.html] detailing plans by the Saudi state to move the final resting place of the Prophet Muhammad from th

John M. Willis • 4 min read

Current Analysis

Ghosts of the Future

Hatay -- a Turkish province on the border with Syria that is now flooded with Syrian refugees -- has a special status in Turkey. In the words of a Syrian doctor to whom we spoke in the summer of 2014 and who failed to get a residency permit to live there, “It’s like [the province] is not exactly par

Nick Danforth, Noga Malkin • 9 min read

Current Analysis

The Cold Realities of US Policy in Israel-Palestine

During the summertime war in Gaza, the two most progressive members of the US Senate stirred up controversy among their backers with expressions of uncritical support for Israel. At a town hall meeting, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the lone Senate independent, responded to a questioner that Israel had

Mitchell Plitnick • 15 min read

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

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