Current Analysis

Postcard from Guantánamo

On June 14, 123 people -- including a military judge, teams of civilian and military defense lawyers and prosecutors, eight courtroom observers, and 15 journalists -- flew on a C-17 from Andrews Air Force Base to Guantánamo Bay for military commission proceedings. It is my fifth trip to Guantánamo,

Lisa Hajjar • 4 min read

Current Analysis

Hybrid Loyalties at the World Cup

The World Cup raises nationalist (make that nativist) sentiment to a fever pitch all around the Mediterranean Sea basin. But nowhere does the temperature run higher than in France and Algeria (as Martin Evans discusses at length in this article [http://www.historytoday.com/martin-evans/patriot-games

David McMurray • 6 min read

Current Analysis

Catastrophe and Consequence

What is happening in Iraq is a catastrophe, but not a sudden one. The violence in Iraq has been worsening steadily over the last few years. And more to the point, today’s crisis is the consequence of failed policies and failed politics -- national, regional and international -- years and even decade

• 3 min read

Current Analysis

Petraeus’ Real Failure

On the sidelines of the catastrophic failure of the Iraqi army to hold back the militias of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (or ISIS, as it is usually known), and the fall of Mosul to that group, a debate is taking place in the United States about whether this turn of events is yet another

Laleh Khalili • 5 min read

Current Analysis

Sisiphus

Over three days in late May, ‘Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi, the retired field marshal and former head of military intelligence, was elected president of Egypt with 96 percent of the vote. This tally was far higher than the 51.34 percent recorded in 2012 by the man Sisi helped to depose, Muhammad Mursi, and

Gennaro Gervasio, Vivienne Matthies-Boon, Andrea Teti • 12 min read

Current Analysis

The Latest Iranian Distractions

While senior Iranian and US officials are planning bilateral talks [http://backchannel.al-monitor.com/index.php/2014/06/8432/breaking-us-iran-to-hold-bilateral-nuclear-talks-in-geneva/] over Iran’s nuclear research program [http://www.merip.org/mero/mero041614], the Iranian and world media are distr

Norma Claire Moruzzi • 3 min read

Current Analysis

Boom, Bust and Boom in Dubai

It’s easy to be critical of Dubai [http://newleftreview.org/II/41/mike-davis-fear-and-money-in-dubai] and its socioeconomic model.

Pete Moore • 5 min read

Current Analysis

North Africans Go Long-Distance Shopping

George Trumbull’s recent blog entry [http://www.merip.org/seven-places-you-didnt-know-were-part-middle-east] about Middle Eastern outposts in other parts of the world rightly mentioned Marseille and the Italian islet of Lampedusa [http://www.merip.org/mer/mer261/lampedusa], with its now closed migra

David McMurray • 3 min read

Current Analysis

Youth of the Gulf, Youth of Palestine

I recently came across two accounts of Arab youth that fly in the face of conventional wisdom. One is Kristin Diwan’s issue brief on youth activism [http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/images/publications/Breaking_Taboos.pdf] in the Arab Gulf states for the Atlantic Council, and the other is a documentar

Ted Swedenburg • 6 min read

Current Analysis

Modernizing Memorial Day

Whoever made the decision to open the National September 11 Memorial Museum just a few days before Memorial Day was both bold and intuitive. The theme of remembrance unites both events, but the 9/11 memorial is a departure because it is dedicated to those so often forgotten in the recollection of na

Amanda Ufheil-Somers • 2 min read

Current Analysis

A New Diplomatic Rift Between Jordan and Syria

On May 26, Syria’s ambassador to Jordan, Bahjat Sulayman, received a terse letter from the Jordanian government informing him that he had been declared persona non grata and had 24 hours to leave the country [http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/news/jordan-expels-syrian-ambassador_23887]. The expulsion of

Curtis Ryan • 3 min read

Current Analysis

Seven Places You Didn't Know Were Part of the Middle East

1) Guantánamo

George R. Trumbull • 4 min read