MER Article NGO Governance and Syrian Refugee "Subjects" in Jordan The typical image of the Syrian refugee camp in Jordan is one of suffering. Journalistic account after account introduces spectacular stories of devastation and loss. While perhaps dramatized, these tales are not false. Syrian refugee camps have forced hundreds of thousands of strangers to live toge Madeline Otis Campbell, Sarah Tobin • 18 min read
Current Analysis Losing Syria’s Youngest Generation Hasan bounces in his chair, pencil tapping against the table as he bends over the first page of a math exam. He hesitates, before stretching his hand frantically into the air as he waits for help from the program facilitator busy with one of the handful of other boys scattered across the classroom. Reva Dhingra • 18 min read
MER Article Water Blues Two quiet but revealing developments related to Middle East water were announced in the spring and summer of 2015. On February 26, Israeli and Jordanian officials signed an agreement to begin implementation of the long-awaited and controversial Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project. And, on June Lizabeth Zack • 12 min read
MER Article Regional Responses to the Rise of ISIS Regional responses to the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, have varied depending on regime perceptions of threat, not only from ISIS itself, but also from other potential rivals, challengers or enemies. Despite the jihadi group’s extensive use of violence in Syria and Iraq and i Curtis Ryan • 14 min read
Current Analysis Seeking Shelter in Jordan’s Cities Umm Anas’ four-room apartment rings with the muffled laughter of children told to hush. Her six sons and daughters and four neighborhood children huddle around a tiny, rickety television in the otherwise unfurnished living room. Arabic-dubbed episodes of the “How to Train Your Dragon” television ser Vicky Kelberer • 8 min read
MER Article Status-less in Cyber City When refugees from the Syrian war first began to stream into Jordan, the Jordanian Ministry of Interior registered the newcomers and placed them in the care of families, under the kafala system, mainly in the capital of Amman. The kafala or guardianship system has roots in Bedouin customs, but in mo Maisam Alahmed • 6 min read
Current Analysis Jordan's Longest War More than any other Arab country, Jordan was linked to nearly every major twentieth-century war in the Middle East. War in the Arabian Peninsula propelled the kingdom’s future rulers, the Hashemites, to come to British-controlled Transjordan in the 1920s. The Palestinian Arab revolt in the 1930s and Pete Moore • 3 min read
Current Analysis Not Running on Empty A grassroots movement has been growing in Jordan, aimed at putting a stop to a major gas deal between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom. In the wake of the Israeli elections, which returned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to power, this movement can be expected to get larger still. Curtis Ryan • 4 min read
Current Analysis One Society of Muslim Brothers in Jordan or Two? Jordan’s government this week approved an application to make the Society of Muslim Brothers a licensed, local charity, paving the way for a break between the Jordanian branch of the Brothers and the regional organization based in Egypt. The move was resisted, however, not by the Jordanian governmen Curtis Ryan • 3 min read
Current Analysis Trapped in Refuge The daily lives of Syrian refugees in Jordan have always been difficult, but until the winter of 2014-2015, they were defined more by concern about making ends meet than outright panic. Christiane Fröhlich, Matthew R. Stevens • 9 min read
Current Analysis Security and Resilience Among Syrian Refugees in Jordan Imagine living in a refugee camp. For most, that phrase is enough to conjure images of makeshift tents, dusty pathways, queues for water and food, and above all, fear. Now imagine living in Zaatari refugee camp in a northern part of Jordan 7.5 miles from the Syrian border and Dar‘a region, sharing a Denis Sullivan, Sarah Tobin • 14 min read
MER Article Umm 'Abdallah There is a name whispered in opposition circles in Syria -- an insurance policy against what after three years of conflict seems inevitable. If you are injured very badly, there are two imperatives: Get to the Jordanian border. Then, get to Umm ‘Abdallah. “She’s the one,” says Muhammad ‘Ali Shambou Elizabeth Dickinson • 3 min read
