Egypt

NEW: Arab AI Slop and the Precarious Politics of Digital Kitsch

Dear Friends and Comrades, If you spend any time on social media, you’ve seen the uncannily rendered videos and memes known colloquially as AI slop, crudely generated videos playing on stereotypes meant to generate viral outrage. In our upcoming summer issue of Middle East Report, Nermin Elsherif looks at

James Ryan, Nermin Elsherif • 4 min read

Current Analysis

Arab AI Slop and the Precarious Politics of Digital Kitsch

As Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the subsequent regional war reshape the Arab internet, AI-generated slop has emerged as a new form of digital kitsch and political fantasy fueled by precarious labor.

Nermin Elsherif • 13 min read

issue 318

Student Protest and the Politics of Palestine in Egypt

In October 2023, two weeks after Israel launched a brutal assault on Gaza, the Egyptian government permitted the first sizable protests in support of Palestine. At Benha University, about 30 miles north of Cairo in the Nile Delta, students and university administrators joined together in what the university described in

Sean Lee, Mostafa Hefny • 13 min read

The MERIP Podcast

The MERIP Podcast Episode 13: Ned Leadbeater

Today on the podcast we have an interview with Ned Leadbeater, a researcher and analyst based in Britain who recently wrote an article for our Summer/Fall double issue on the material politics of normalization titled, “Fiber Optics and the Hidden Politics of Connectivity.” His article explores the politics surrounding

James Ryan, Ned Leadbeater • 1 min read

MER Article

Cairo's Incarcerated Geographies

In 2015, the Egyptian government announced a series of urban development plans, a schema that included having a city free of slums. As part of this plan, the state implemented a policy to relocate residents of so-called unsafe areas to new neighborhoods and redevelop existing neighborhoods using a combination

Omnia Khalil • 5 min read

MER Article

Resisting Carceralism and Fighting for Freedom—A Roundtable

Four activists reflect on building a global anti-carceral movement.

Sahar Francis, Asim Qureshi, Kaouther Ferjani, Yara Sallam • 19 min read

MER Article

The Egyptian Public and the War on Gaza

The government's delicate balancing act around Palestine.

Hesham Sallam • 5 min read

Major Labels—Reviewing Andrew Simon's 'Media of the Masses'

Rethinking Egyptian history through sound.

Christopher Silver • 9 min read

Current Analysis

Major Labels

Rethinking Egyptian history through sound.

Christopher Silver • 9 min read

Current Analysis

The Ukraine War, Grain Trade and Bread in Egypt

One year on from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, what does the ongoing war mean for Egypt's bread subsidy?

Jessica Barnes • 11 min read

MER Article

The Maghreb’s Peripheral Centers in Permanent Crisis

Informal trade in the Maghreb's borderlands.

Max Gallien • 8 min read

MER Article

Nation-Making on the “Razor’s Edge” in the Egyptian-Libyan Borderland

In 1908, the British lord and arch-imperialist George Curzon published a short treatise on the unique role of frontiers in modern history. “Frontiers,” he wrote, “are indeed the razor’s edge on which hang suspended the modern issues of war or peace, of life or death of nations.”[1]

Matthew Ellis • 10 min read