MER Article No Debate In 1990, an umbrella organization was created to promote Middle East studies in Europe. The European Association for Middle East Studies (EURAMES) has modest goals and virtually no budget. It has published a directory of Middle East scholars in Europe (with EU funds) and has initiated triennial conf Eugene Rogan • 8 min read
MER Article The Privatization of Russian Middle East Studies The Institute for Oriental Studies in Moscow, once headed by the current Russian foreign minister, Yevgenii Primakov, [1] used to be the premier research establishment for modem history and Soviet policy making concerning the Arab world, Africa and Asia. Like other state-funded academic institutions Garay Menicucci • 7 min read
MER Article Bringing the Peninsula In from the Periphery Research on the political and economic development of the contemporary Arabian Peninsula is often relegated to the fringes of general comparative and Middle Eastern scholarship, isolated from larger theoretical debates and narrowly defined in terms of threat typologies, regional security alliances a Gwenn Okruhlik • 7 min read
MER Article Tourists with Agendas One bizarre aspect about life in Palestine is the scrutiny to which we are subjected by journalists, researchers and political tourists who descend daily. Birzeit University is particularly attractive to researchers who come to “do Palestine.” At first glance, the benefits would seem great: publicit Salim Tamari • 2 min read
Education, Control and Resistance in the Golan Heights Discussions of the Israeli-occupied territories generally treat the Golan Heights in terms of strategic significance and water resources, seldom in terms of the 16,500 Syrians living under Israeli rule today. [1] While in some ways their experiences are comparable to those of Palestinians in the occ Bashar Tarabieh • 14 min read
MER Article From Demographic Explosion to Social Rupture Experts and politicians seem to agree that the demographic structures of the Arab countries have reached a critical point. They acknowledge that rapid population growth seriously constrains a country’s economy and, consequently, its social and political possibilities. In the relationship between consumption, savings and investment, demographic imbalance imposes an Philippe Fargues • 14 min read
MER Article The National Islamic Front and the Politics of Education In a country like Sudan, those with access to education become the object of intense competition on the part of political parties of all stripes, especially those with no traditional base of support. Secondary schools and especially universities become the hunting ground -- and sometimes the killing Ali Abdalla Abbas • 12 min read
Graham-Brown, Education, Repression and Liberation Sarah Graham-Brown, Education, Repression and Liberation: Palestinians (London: World University Service, 1984). “Whenever I hear the word culture,” said an occupying officer during the Spanish conquest of South America, “I pull out my gun.” Foreign invaders are often quick on the trigger, and quic Munir Fasheh • 5 min read
MER Article Memories of a Sentimental Education I was supposed to set an example. Voluntary Service Overseas was in its second year in 1959 and two of us were here on a pound a week plus keep, to be examples. Nineteen-year-old examples. A year before university, you’ll have a wonderful experience. It was, too. The students in Form 2A were not wh Michael Gilsenan • 9 min read
MER Article From the Editors (March/April 1983) Most readers are only too familiar with the litany of harassments endured by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, from restrictions on personal freedoms to attacks on institutions and confiscation of land. Nonetheless, for the purposes of building campaigns to support Palestinian rights, The Editors • 3 min read
