MER Article

Extractive Agribusinesses—Guaranteeing Food Security in the Gulf

The 2022 Food and Agriculture Organization report on food security and nutrition in the Arab region makes for bleak reading. Between 2014 and 2021, the total number of Arabs suffering from moderate to severe food insecurity increased from 120 million to 154 million.[1] This insecurity, however, was not distributed

Christian Henderson • 9 min read

MER Article

Desert Solar—A Spectacular Fiction, Not a Spectacular Future

On the visual power, and pitfalls, of solar mega projects.

Natalie Koch • 10 min read

MER Article

Laundering Carbon—The Gulf’s ‘New Scramble for Africa’

Carbon offsets are changing the relationship between the Middle East and the African continent.

Adam Hanieh • 10 min read

MER Article

From the Oil Weapon to Boycott, Mobilizing in Support of Palestine in the Gulf

50 years after the 1973 oil embargo, some Gulf citizens oppose normalization with their wallets.

Samar Alwan • 5 min read

Transnational Repression Against Exiled Women Activists

In Spring 2011, as the uprising against Bashar Al-Assad erupted in Syria, Sana, the daughter of Syrian exiles living in Canada, began engaging in online activism. Her support for the revolution rapidly gained traction among fellow Syrians and a widening global audience. But as her voice grew louder, she found

Noura Aljizawi, Siena Anstis, Marcus Michaelsen • 13 min read

Normalizing the Surveillance State—Cybersecurity Cooperation and the Abraham Accords

The new, and not-so-new, cyber dimension of Arab-Israeli normalization.

Marwa Fatafta • 9 min read

MER Article

The Gulf and the British Regional Divide

In a troubling symbiotic relationship, Britain’s so-called “levelling up agenda,” begun by Boris Johnson, aims to address the regional divide between the country’s North and South, in part, by courting investments from the Gulf. Within this agenda, football clubs—important local assets with emotiona

Philip Proudfoot, Ali Reda • 11 min read

MER Article

The Politics and Passions of Football

The Fall 2022 issue of Middle East Report, “Football—Politics and Passions,” examines the regional and global importance of the beautiful game in the lead up to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The authors of issue 304 reflect on the multiple ways football moves individuals and systems between South Asi

The Editors of Issue #304 • 3 min read

MER Article

Who is “Indian” in the Gulf? Race, Labor and Citizenship

How do race and racism operate in the Gulf? Neha Vora and Amélie Le Renard closely examine how the term "Indian," as it is used in the United Arab Emirates, refers to much more than national origin. They trace the role of colonialism, capitalism and the state in creating "Indian" as a racialized cat

Neha Vora, Amélie Le Renard • 11 min read

Current Analysis

Selling Normalization in the Gulf

When the UAE and Bahrain normalized their relations with Israel, the countries' leaders justified their actions as beneficial to the Palestinian struggle for statehood. Elham Fakhro explains how this rationale quickly fell apart and shifted, revealing deeper economic and strategic goals. Fakhro also

Elham Fakhro • 14 min read

Current Analysis

Who is “Indian” in the Gulf? Race, Labor and Citizenship

How do race and racism operate in the Gulf? Neha Vora and Amélie Le Renard closely examine how the term "Indian," as it is used in the United Arab Emirates, refers to much more than national origin. They trace the role of colonialism, capitalism and the state in creating "Indian" as a racialized cat

Neha Vora, Amélie Le Renard • 11 min read

Covid-19 Coverage

No Good Options for Migrant Workers in Gulf COVID-19 Lockdown

Andrea Wright talks to South Asian migrant workers in the Gulf to find out how the pandemic is affecting their lives. They explain that if they stay in the Gulf, they risk abandonment by their employers and coronavirus infection from cramped living conditions. If they return to India under lockdown,

Andrea Wright • 12 min read