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
toensing_052414_1 Current Analysis Please Explain This Map In early May the website Vox made a small splash on the Internet with “40 Maps That Explain the Middle East [http://www.vox.com/a/maps-explain-the-middle-east].” Chris Toensing • 6 min read
Current Analysis Stay Off the Street In a recent Slate article, Anne Applebaum makes the case [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2014/05/egypt_could_learn_from_india_dictatorships_could_learn_from_the_south_s.html] that Egypt’s presumptive president-to-be ‘Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi should look to India, Brazil or S Jillian Schwedler • 5 min read
Current Analysis Introducing the MERIP Blog's New Guest Editors We hope you have been enjoying the relaunch of MERIP’s blog, which aims to complement our time-honored long-form analysis in Middle East Report and Middle East Report Online with a more spontaneous, ongoing conversation. MERIP’s blog is produced by our staff (Chris Toensing [http://www.merip.org/aut The Editors • 2 min read
Current Analysis China's New Silk Road Strategy In the current issue [http://www.merip.org/mer/latest] of Middle East Report, we write about the strategic logic of China’s increasing investment in teaching Middle Eastern languages [http://www.merip.org/mer/mer270/chinas-strategic-middle-eastern-languages], particularly Arabic, Persian and Turkish I-wei Jennifer Chang, Haiyun Ma • 3 min read
Current Analysis On Memes and Missing Girls Michelle Obama tweeted a photo of herself on her official account last week using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, joining the Twitter campaign on behalf of the hundreds of schoolgirls [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/14/nigeria-talks-boko-haram-kidnapped-schoolgirls], most of them Christia Jillian Schwedler • 5 min read