Lebanon’s Thawra This uprising is demanding justice beyond sectarian, class, religious or cultural divides. In the clarity brought about by the uprising, the regime’s politics of division has been challenged by the uprising’s politics of solidarity. Rima Majed, Lana Salman • 9 min read
MER Article Urban Interventions for the Wars Yet to Come In a wide-ranging interview, Hiba Bou Akar shows how urban planning is being used to turn some neighborhoods and urban peripheries in the Middle East into militarized frontier zones between competing political, military and sectarian organizations guided by the dystopian logic of a war yet to come. Hiba Bou Akar • 11 min read
MER Article Generational Dislocations Since 2011, violence in Syria has worsened the widespread displacement of people in the Middle East and destroyed several cities. The images of displaced Syrian families fleeing to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon broadcast around the world had a haunting resonance. Archival photographs of Armenian refuge Joanne Randa Nucho • 9 min read
Current Analysis The Lebanese Elections and Their Consequences Nine years since the last national parliamentary election, many in the country expected the emerging civil society groups to challenge the tradition sectarian-based parties. Despite the rumblings for change, the status quo prevailed. Rayan El-Amine • 10 min read
MER Article Lebanon Dispatch Trumpism as experienced from Lebanon is inextricably linked to the effects of the Trump administration’s positions and policies in the broader Middle East. The complexities of Lebanese politics and intrigue, and the social and economic challenges faced by the Lebanese as well as the country’s huge r Karim Makdisi • 7 min read
MER Article Managing Security Webs in the Palestinian Refugee Camp of Ain al-Hilweh On May 31, 2017, Fatah commander Col. Bassam al-Saad was juggling three telephones—two mobile phones and one landline—at his office in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, Ain al-Hilweh. As the commander of the Joint Palestinian Security Force (JPSF), the defacto military police of the self-governed camp, the Erling Lorentzen Sogge • 9 min read
MER Article Municipal Politics in Lebanon The municipal system has been a key pillar of debates on administrative decentralization, economic development and political participation in Lebanon. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, activists sought to stop the demolition of the 1924 Barakat Building on the basis that it was a heritage site. Ziad Abu-Rish • 22 min read
MER Article Garbage Politics In late July 2015, mounds of garbage began piling up across Beirut and the towns of Mount Lebanon to the capital’s east. While not without precedent in poorer neighborhoods, such heaps of rubbish had never appeared in more affluent areas. By mid-August, Lebanese government officials, businesspeople, Ziad Abu-Rish • 14 min read
Current Analysis Five Exciting Developments from Across the Middle East in 2015 Negative stories about the Middle East dominated Western news headlines in 2015. It’s easy for Americans, especially those who listen to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his supporters, to get the impression that the region is just one miserable homogeneous place of violence, terro Jessica Winegar • 3 min read
Current Analysis Educational Aftershocks for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon More than 50 percent of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon [https://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=122] are 17 or younger. Back home the great majority of them were in school. But youth who try to continue their education in Lebanon face social, economic and bureaucratic obstacles. The Sarah Parkinson • 5 min read
MER Article Arabs in Yiwu, Confucius in East Beirut The September 11, 2001 attacks marked the beginning of large-scale trade between the Middle East and mainland China in the modern era. New visa restrictions in the United States -- until then the number-one trading partner of Arab countries -- forced Arab merchants to find business destinations in v Roschanack Shaery • 6 min read
Current Analysis Refugee 101 Crossing the border at Masna‘, al-‘Abboudiyya or Mashari‘ al-Qa‘a, Syrian refugees entering Lebanon face an immediate choice: Stay in the tented settlements in the north and the Bekaa Valley or make their way to coastal cities such as Beirut and Sidon. Their experiences will vary greatly depending o Sarah Parkinson • 8 min read
