MER Article Letters (September/October 1986) Natural Allies I’ve been a subscriber for over a year and have greatly appreciated MERIP’s in-depth analysis and the familiarity with resources that it provides. Usually I am also appreciative of a balanced, scholarly tone about a situation in which polarization is so much the status quo that a “mo (Author not identified) • 4 min read
MER Article Books on Women in Iran Guity Nashat, ed., Women and Revolution in Iran (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1983). Farah Azari, ed., Women of Iran: The Conflict with Fundamentalist Islam (London: Ithaca Press, 1983). Azar Tabari and Nahid Yeganeh, eds., In the Shadow of Islam: The Women’s Movement in Iran (London: Zed Books, 1 Mary Hegland • 6 min read
MER Article Hawi, Naked in Exile Khalil Hawi, Naked in Exile (The Threshing Floors of Hunger) (trans. Adnan Haydar and Michael Beard) (Washington DC: Three Continents Press, 1985). Barbara Harlow • 1 min read
MER Article ESCWA, Economic Integration in Western Asia ESCWA, Economic Integration in Western Asia (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1985). This collection of papers from ECWA’s December 1981 Expert Group Meeting on Feasible Forms of Economic Cooperation and Integration in Western Asia includes a useful review of various schemes for Arab economic integrat Danny Reachard • 1 min read
MER Article Khalidi, Under Siege Rashid Khalidi, Under Siege: PLO Decisionmaking During the 1982 War (New York: Columbia University Press, 1986). Among the many books dealing with the 1982 war in Lebanon, Rashid Khalidi’s stands out by focusing on the perceptions and decisions of that campaign’s main target: the PLO. The book asks Yezid Sayigh • 4 min read
MER Article Cairo's Long Summer The current situation in Egypt has great potential for disaster. On the economic front, the government threatens to eliminate subsidies on food and other basic consumer commodities in order to reduce its current budget deficit of about $4 billion. The subsidies are currently costing $3.8 billion -- Ben Rose • 5 min read
MER Article Egypt's Infitah Bourgeoisie A recent story illustrates the political power of the bourgeoisie in contemporary Egypt: At the beginning of 1985, the Egyptian minister of economy, Mustafa al-Sa‘id, unveiled a set of new trade and banking laws. They aimed, among other things, at imposing a greater degree of Central Bank control ov Robert Vitalis • 5 min read
MER Article Private Capital in Israel The overwhelming majority of big capitalists in Israel today emerged from a group of no more than 60,000 “veterans” of the Jewish settlement in Palestine who arrived before the creation of the state or are descendants of such veterans. Some, especially from Sephardic families who settled in Palestin Joel Beinin • 11 min read
MER Article Turkey's Super-Rich Turkey’s big businessmen are getting the best press they have had for decades. Their profiles are a regular feature in a number of publications. Nokta, the country’s most popular weekly, runs a yearly feature on Turkey’s 100 richest families. Businessmen exude a new self-confidence in public and are Ömer Karasapan • 17 min read
MER Article The Exile Bourgeoisie of Palestine ‘Umar ‘Aqqad is planning to export bottled water from Saudi Arabia. Not the kind of project you might expect in a desert kingdom where water is scarce. But then, ‘Aqqad is one of the shrewdest and most successful businessmen in the region. Not coincidentally, he is also a Palestinian. For Palestinia Pamela Ann Smith • 14 min read
MER Article The New Bourgeoisie of the Gulf A blue helicopter flies out over the harbor at Nice, landing gently on an enormous yacht of teak and mahogany, swaying gently at anchor. The passengers step out: A correspondent and photographer from the Spanish photo magazine Hola! are arriving to get a feature story on ‘Adnan Khashoggi, flamboyant James Paul • 10 min read
MER Article Morocco's Bourgeoisie From the elegant office towers of downtown Casablanca to the palatial villas on the outskirts of every major city, evidence abounds of Morocco’s owning class. The luxury cars of the bourgeoisie fill downtown streets. Nightclubs, posh restaurants and expensive boutiques flourish even in a time of nat Jean-François Clement • 14 min read
