Kenneth L. Brown

On June 7, 2025, the world lost Kenneth (Ken) Brown—an early MERIP contributor, journalist and wayward intellectual—after a long illness. While the name Kenneth Brown may not ring a bell for the current generation of Middle East Studies scholars, Ken was an extraordinary scholar and individual. A graduate

Edmund Burke • 2 min read

Building from Scrap, Building Through Crisis

On Umut Kuruüzüm’s materialist ethnography of war and reconstruction, 'Building from Scrap: War, Recycling, and Labor in Iraqi Kurdistan.'

Mujge Küçükkeleş • 11 min read

Palestinians in Lebanon

Disarming the Camps—Palestinian Factions and the Limits of Lebanese Sovereignty

As Lebanon moves to disarm Palestinian camps under intense geopolitical pressure, long-standing factional rivalries, unresolved refugee rights and Israel’s continued military presence expose the limits of state sovereignty.

Erling Lorentzen Sogge • 13 min read

Mapping Destruction—A Conversation with Jamon Van Den Hoek of Conflict Ecology

Changing scales of conflict and advances in satellite imagery are reshaping how damage is assessed.

Jamon Van Den Hoek, Deen Sharp • 13 min read

Repair Amid Ongoing Ruination—Rebuilding Dahiyeh Once More

Standing beside a destroyed building in Dahiyeh in September 2025, a fruit seller said to me, “I want to bring Naim Qassem [Hizballah’s new secretary general] here. I want to show him the damage. Our people need to do better.” He knew that, like him, I was Shia, and

Iman Ali • 11 min read

The Struggle for the City—Urban Recovery and Dispossession in Mosul and Damascus

A walk through the old city of Mosul, Iraq, reveals an urban landscape still scarred by the violence of war and transfigured by ongoing reconstruction. Rubble-lined narrow streets give way to half-rebuilt homes and scaffolded storefronts, as merchants return and daily life resumes amid the heavy hum of generators and

Craig Larkin • 14 min read

Sudan

Burri Under Siege—How War Remade Everyday Life in a Sudanese Neighborhood

In March 2025, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) retook key areas of eastern, central and southern Khartoum. Their advance ended the Rapid Support Force’s (RSF) two-year siege of Burri—a neighborhood of eight residential areas in central Khartoum along the Blue Nile River. As part of the metropolitan core

Niema Alhessen • 15 min read

Reconstruction

Rebuilding Gaza from the Ground Up

An Interview with Minerva Fadel of Architects for Gaza

Minerva Fadel, Hannah Sender • 12 min read

Issue 317 (Winter 2025) Masthead

Middle East Report, “Reconstruction and Ruin,” Winter 2025, No. 317, Vol. 54 No. 4   Executive Director James Ryan jamesryan@merip.org Executive Editor Billie Jeanne Brownlee bbrownlee@merip.org Managing Editor Marya Hannun maryahannun@merip.org Senior Staff Editor & Photo Editor Michelle Woodward mwoodward@merip.org Cover Designer John

(Author not identified) • 1 min read

A Note on the Cover Image

The cover of MER’s winter issue features an acrylic and oil on canvas painting by Syrian architect and artist Mohamed Al Mufti, from his series Urbacide. Produced in 2019 during the counter-revolutionary war in Syria, the painting deploys texture and contrast to depict a damaged urban streetscape: A darkened,

(Author not identified) • 2 min read