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 of

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] Curzon

Matthew Ellis • 10 min read

MER Article

National Football Masculinities and the Game in Egypt

As football fans around the world tune in to the World Cup in Qatar, President Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi’s regime is rather turning its back on the game, which used to constitute a centerpiece of Egyptian nation building. Based on research conducted for his book, Egypt’s Football Revolution: Emotion, ma

Carl Rommel • 13 min read

Current Analysis

The Lasting Significance of Egypt’s Rabaa Massacre

The Egyptian military's massacre of nearly 1,000 supporters of deposed president and Muslim Brotherhood leader Muhammad Mursi at Rabaa al-Adawiyya square in August 2013 continues to reverberate. Abdullah Al-Arian explains the massacre's long-term impact on the Muslim Brotherhood movement and Egyptia

Abdullah Al-Arian • 13 min read

MER Article

The Egyptian Legion

During the First World War, innumerable imperial subjects were called into military service. More than 600,000 Africans and Asians deployed to various European fronts. Approximately a million and a half Indians fought on behalf of the Allies.[1] The Middle East, one of the principal non-European theaters, was a

Gilad Wenig • 10 min read

MER Article

Rethinking Informal Labor Through the Lens of Film Production in Cairo

Many movies, television shows and advertisements film on location in the busy and crowded streets of Cairo. Mariz Kelada explains with ethnographic detail the complex and multilayered work of production assistants, fixers and sub-fixers to create the right conditions and relationships for filming in

Mariz Kelada • 13 min read