MER Article Editor's Picks (Spring 2012) Abbas, Rauf and El-Dessouky, Assem. The Large Landowning Class and the Peasantry in Egypt, 1837-1952 (ed. Peter Gran) (trans. Amer Mohsen and Mona Zikry) (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2012). Achy, Lahcen. Tunisia’s Economic Challenges (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for Internationa (Author not identified) • 1 min read
MER Article Anthony Shadid We are reeling from the loss of Anthony Shadid, an extraordinary reporter, gifted writer and good friend to many of our staffers, editors and regular contributors. Anthony served on our editorial committee from 2000-2002. Chris Toensing • 2 min read
MER Article Why Does the Occupation Continue? Shir Hever, The Political Economy of Israel’s Occupation (Pluto, 2010). There is a latter-day tendency to see the 44-year Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories as the organic outward growth of the Zionist idea -- as though the aspiration to hold the entirety of the land, embedded in Lab Max Ajl • 12 min read
Featured The Sudan Split On July 9, 2011, tens of thousands of South Sudanese gathered in the capital city of Juba at the mausoleum of rebel leader John Garang to celebrate the creation of their new state. Six months earlier, these jubilant crowds had voted in a referendum for independence from northern Sudan; more than 98 Mimi Kirk • 18 min read
MER Article The Struggle of Devout Turkish Women for Full Citizenship In the spring of 2011, amidst vociferous debates over the prospect of a third term in office for the “Islam-friendly” Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey, a group of devout women launched an initiative called “No Headscarves, No Vote.” The activists demanded that all Turkish political part Amelie Barras • 12 min read
MER Article The New Arab Cold War and the Struggle for Syria In his classic study, The Arab Cold War, Malcolm Kerr charted the machinations of inter-Arab politics during an era dominated by Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser. In another renowned work, The Struggle for Syria, Patrick Seale documented the links between Syria’s tumultuous domestic politics and Curtis Ryan • 10 min read
MER Article The Syrian Regime's Business Backbone Nearly one year into the Syrian uprising, with more than 7,500 Syrians dead, the protracted conflict is not very well understood or reported despite a deluge of writings. Most track fast-moving events without pausing for sober analysis of Syrian politics and society. Early on, the dominant argument Bassam Haddad • 6 min read
MER Article Beyond Ghannouchi On October 23, 2011, for the first time since independence in 1956, Tunisians were called to the polls in free and transparent elections. They were to choose 217 members of a Constituent Assembly that for a year would play a double role: drafting a new constitution and governing the country. Francesco Cavatorta, Rikke Hostrup Haugbølle • 15 min read
MER Article Egypt's Generals and Transnational Capital Before and after the ejection of Husni Mubarak from office, the size of the Egyptian army’s share in the economy has been a subject of great debate. The army is known to manufacture everything from olive oil and shoe polish to the voting booths used in Egypt’s 2011 Joshua Stacher, Shana Marshall • 19 min read
MER Article Horizontalism in the Egyptian Revolutionary Process A number of academics, commentators and activists have noted the presence of what one might call “horizontalism” in the Egyptian revolutionary process that started on January 25, 2011: the decentralized or networked form of organizing; the leaderless protest movements; the eschewal of top-down comma John Chalcraft • 18 min read
MER Article The Local Politics of the Lebanese Disappeared The Syrian presence in Lebanon was visible and audible to all, from the large numbers of Syrian construction workers to the peddlers selling the latest music CDs on the sidewalks to the military checkpoints in the mountains. In shared taxis there was often talk about which Lebanese politician had ju Roschanack Shaery • 9 min read
MER Article From the Editors (Spring 2012) Are the upheavals in the Arab world revolutions? Uprisings? Revolts? Perhaps all these terms are misnomers, because they imply an end point, a moment when the event will be over, its historical task finished, if not completed. It is increasingly apparent, however, that the Arab world is witnessing The Editors • 2 min read
