Current Analysis "You Can Watch the Circus from Your Couch" Wael Eskandar [https://twitter.com/weskandar] is an independent journalist and blogger [http://blog.notesfromtheunderground.net/] based in Cairo. He writes for al-Ahram Online, al-Monitor [http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/04/egypt-sisi-sabbahi-president-messiah.html], Jadaliyya [http:/ Sheila Carapico • 7 min read
MER Article Covering the Christians of the Holy Land Every year around Christmas and Easter, a kind of meta-ritual takes place in which American journalists describe how these holidays are celebrated in the “Holy Land.” It is a long-running story, never stripped of politics. In 1923 , for example, the New York Times published a classically Oriental Amahl Bishara • 15 min read
Current Analysis The Bouazizi Effect in Morocco On December 17, 2010, a young Tunisian itinerant seller named Mohamed Bouazizi had a minor run-in with the cops. It was just another of many, but at this last indignity, the now world-famous produce vendor snapped. Later that day, in protest against his interminable humiliation at the hands of the p David McMurray • 3 min read
Current Analysis Inside Israel's Twitter War Room Within hours of the onset of Operation Pillar of Defense, Israel’s latest military campaign in the Gaza Strip, global news outlets had already turned their spotlight on social media. A raft of stories led with the Israel Defense Forces’ use of the popular networking platforms to advance their public Rebecca L. Stein • 9 min read
MER Article Media Wars and the Gulen Factor in the New Turkey Turkey’s experience in the twenty-first century is characterized, at least in part, by the efforts of a “conservative democratic” coalition against an eroding state class elite. Although led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), this coalition is reliant upon the increased legitimacy of a new block of supportive Joshua D. Hendrick • 20 min read
MER Article From People to Citizens in Tunisia While Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation will undoubtedly remain the iconic image of the 2011 Tunisian revolution, another set of pictures has also stuck in the minds of Tunisians. On the evening of January 14, despite an army curfew, a man staggered across Avenue Habib Bourguiba, shouting, “Ben Ali Nadia Marzouki • 9 min read
MER Article What's the Line? Much of what was written from Egypt on and after January 25, 2011 was captivating and intense -- as one might expect from reporters witnessing a democratic movement overthrowing a dictator. But the Beltway reporting that tried to explain US policy was another matter. Peter Hart • 5 min read
Current Analysis Revolution and Counter-Revolution in the Egyptian Media It took 18 days of mass mobilization, the deaths of hundreds and the wounding of thousands, the crippling of Egypt’s tourism industry and the crash of its stock market, to bring an end to the 30-year presidency of Husni Mubarak. And almost every minute of the revolution was televised. Ursula Lindsey • 15 min read
Current Analysis Another War Zone In late May 2010, the convoy known as the Freedom Flotilla met off of Cyprus and headed south, carrying humanitarian aid and hundreds of international activists who aimed to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. The organizers used social media extensively: tweeting updates from the boats; webc Adi Kuntsman, Rebecca L. Stein • 17 min read
Current Analysis Sects and the City I had almost forgotten I’d sent in an application when the e-mail message appeared, like Mr. Big, out of nowhere. “Hi, Moustafa,” it began, as if we were old friends. “Thank you for e-mailing us regarding your interest in working on ‘Sex and the City 2.’ ” Moustafa Bayoumi • 3 min read
Current Analysis A Web Smaller Than a Divide At first glance, there’s a clear need for expanding the Web beyond the Latin alphabet, including in the Arabic-speaking world. According to the Madar Research Group, about 56 million Arabs, or 17 percent of the Arab world, use the Internet, and those numbers are expected to grow 50 percent over the Sinan Antoon • 2 min read
MER Article Media Matters in Pakistan Imran Aslam, a senior Pakistani journalist, is president of Geo TV Network, where he oversees content for Geo News, Geo Entertainment, Aag (a youth channel) and Geo Super (sports). In 1983, he became the editor of The Star, an evening newspaper that blazed a trail in investigative journalism during the Kamran Asdar Ali • 11 min read
