Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

Sign In Sign Up

Global Economy

Hanging by a Thread—The Red Sea Blockade and Jordan's Fragile Garment Industry — Bangladeshi women at work in a Chinese-owned garment factory in Jordan, 2024. Katharina GrüeneislFig.1 Changing import and export routes in Jordan’s garment sector in reaction to the Red Sea blockade. (Source: Lagarde, Grüeneisl and Labadi 2024)View over the Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) in June 2024. Katharina GrüeneislMigrant workers walk back to their dormitories in the Al-Hassan (Irbid) industrial zone, 2024. Katharina Grüeneisl

MER Article

Hanging by a Thread—The Red Sea Blockade and Jordan's Fragile Garment Industry

Houthi attacks have revealed an industrial paradox.

Katharina Grüneisl, Taher Labadi • 15 min read

Illicit Flows to the UAE Take the Shine off African Gold — Gold miners empty containers of earth removed from a mining shaft in Koflatie, Mali, 2014. Sebastien Rieussec/AFP via Getty Images

MER Article

Illicit Flows to the UAE Take the Shine off African Gold

Following Mali's artisanal gold to the markets of Dubai.

Bruce Whitehouse • 9 min read

Illicit Flows to the UAE Take the Shine off African Gold — Gold miners empty containers of earth removed from a mining shaft in Koflatie, Mali, 2014. Sebastien Rieussec/AFP via Getty Images

Current Analysis

Illicit Flows to the UAE Take the Shine off African Gold

What we can learn from Mali's artisanal gold trade.

Bruce Whitehouse • 9 min read