MER Article The End of the Counterrevolution? Over the last 50 years, a massive infusion of petrodollars enabled the new monarchies of the Gulf to engage in impressive experiments in counterrevolution. During the 1970s, King Faysal of Saudi Arabia attempted to preserve the traditional social hierarchy of his country by modernizing without indus Yahya Sadowski • 9 min read
MER Article Editor's Picks (Winter 1997) Abi-Aad, Naji and Michel Grenon. Instability and Conflict in the Middle East: People, Petroleum and Security Threats (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997). Amanat, Abbas. The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896 (Berkeley, CA: University of California Pr (Author not identified) • 3 min read
MER Article Letter We are writing to inform you of a Women’s Action Alert for Nuban Women and Children. As MERIP readers know, an unabated civil war has been in progress in Sudan for decades. However, since the National Islamic Front and its military wing took power in 1989, the viciousness of the war has intensified. (Author not identified) • 3 min read
MER Article Modernization and Family Planning in Egypt In the last decade, the Egyptian state in collaboration with international donor agencies has embarked on an ambitious population control program. According to this program, Egypt’s rapid population growth is the prime obstacle to the development goals set by Egyptian authorities. Between 1980 and 1 Kamran Asdar Ali • 11 min read
MER Article The Israeli Peace Movement Mordechai Bar-On, In Pursuit of Peace: A History of the Israeli Peace Movement (Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1996). Iman Abdel Megid Hamdy, “Dissenters in Zion: The Bi-nationalist and Partitionist Trends in the Politics of Israel,” unpublished PhD dissertation (Cairo Univ Joel Beinin • 7 min read
MER Article Poetry HAJAR IN AMERICA We came over together I spoke no English He had a mission: grad school, then it’s back to save the masses Here I am now with the baby on my hip, alone in Newark, on foot, looking for milk at the all-night Exxon I hear he’s marrying her, the teaching assistant with the frosted hai Mohja Kahf • 1 min read
MER Article Authoritarianism and Civil Society in Tunisia A disturbing rumor made the rounds this summer at the Cafe de Paris, the Hotel Africa and the other haunts of Tunisia’s classe politique. Word had it that a constitutional commission was considering legislation allowing the government to revoke the citizenship rights of some political opponents. Tru Christopher Alexander • 14 min read
MER Article Women and Gender in Middle East Studies: A Roundtable Discussion Ellen Fleischmann, an editor of this magazine, recently invited scholars who write and teach about women and gender issues in the Middle East to participate in an electronic mail roundtable discussion of the field. The questions generated very positive reactions; many people who could not participate in this roundtable for Ellen Fleischmann • 6 min read
MER Article Women and Gender in Middle East Studies In the past two decades, there has been growing interest in the study of women and gender issues in the Middle East, reflected in the greater number of books, journal articles, dissertations and conference panels devoted to such topics. [1] As a result, many scholars in Middle East studies have come Simona Sharoni • 8 min read
MER Article From One East to the Other Although direct encounters between the two extremes of Asia began in the seventh century [1] and the Imperial Treasures contain many items from the Middle East dating back more than a thousand years, systematic study of the Middle East in Japan did not emerge until the “modernization process” of the Modjtaba Sadria • 7 min read
MER Article No Debate In 1990, an umbrella organization was created to promote Middle East studies in Europe. The European Association for Middle East Studies (EURAMES) has modest goals and virtually no budget. It has published a directory of Middle East scholars in Europe (with EU funds) and has initiated triennial conf Eugene Rogan • 8 min read
MER Article The Privatization of Russian Middle East Studies The Institute for Oriental Studies in Moscow, once headed by the current Russian foreign minister, Yevgenii Primakov, [1] used to be the premier research establishment for modem history and Soviet policy making concerning the Arab world, Africa and Asia. Like other state-funded academic institutions Garay Menicucci • 7 min read
