MER Article Lawless and Findlay, North Africa Richard Lawless and Allan Findlay, eds., North Africa: Contemporary Politics and Economic Development (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1984). More than fifteen years have passed since the appearance of Samir Amin’s excellent book on the Maghreb. None of the dozen or so books on the subject that have James Paul • 2 min read
MER Article Hodges, Western Sahara Tony Hodges, Western Sahara: The Roots of a Desert War (Westport, CT: Lawrence Hill & Co., 1983). Tami Hultman • 4 min read
MER Article Seddon, The Peasants; Munson, The House of Si Abd Allah David Seddon, The Peasants: A Century of Change in the Eastern Rif, 1870-1970 (Folkestone: Wm. Dawson & Sons, 1981). Henry Munson, Jr., The House of Si Abd Allah: The Oral History of a Moroccan Family (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984). James Paul • 8 min read
MER Article Trade Unions and Moroccan Politics Morocco is unusual in the Middle East for its extensive civil society -- social institutions which are relatively independent of control by the state apparatus. A complex relationship exists between the absolute and repressive monarchy of King Hassan II on the one hand and the powerful opposition in Jean-François Clement, James Paul • 18 min read
MER Article Letter From Madrid Many European countries claim a special relationship with the Arab world. The English see themselves as having some unique affinity for Arabs, because of their colonial role in developing Egypt and the Anglo-Bedouin fraternizations of Arabia. The French vaunt their cultural impact upon the Maghreb, Fred Halliday • 7 min read
MER Article Winter of Discontent Nineteen eighty-four began in a bloody fashion in the Maghreb. Violent demonstrations erupted in the impoverished southwest and south of Tunisia at the very end of December and spread throughout the country during the first week of January. These followed the Tunisian government’s introduction of me David Seddon • 28 min read
MER Article States of Emergency A crisis had been building in Tunisia for many months. By the end of 1983, the economy was in serious trouble, support-for the regime had been eroding and the International Monetary Fund had proposed austerity measures. Within the government, corruption and personal luxury were rampant. President-fo James Paul • 8 min read
MER Article From the Editors (September/October 1984) This issue examines the political impact of the economic crisis that has wracked Tunisia and Morocco over the first half of this decade. Even as we prepared this issue, the combustible recipe of austerity decrees and popular desperation exploded into violence in neighboring Egypt, in the industrial The Editors • 3 min read
Koff, Occupied Palestine David Koff, Occupied Palestine (E Cinema Six Productions, 1981). David Koff and his team have made a complex, sensitive and brutally authentic movie. Occupied Palestine delivers its message with unnerving sharpness and accuracy. For these very reasons it may strike those who are not intimately fami Joel Beinin • 3 min read
Books on Syria John F. Devlin, Syria: Modern State in an Ancient Land (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1983). Robert Olson, The Baath and Syria, 1947-1982 (Princeton, NJ: The Kingston Press, 1982). Umar F. Abd-Allah, The Islamic Struggle in Syria (Berkeley, CA: Mizan Press, 1983). Fred H. Lawson • 5 min read
Scholch, Palestinians Over the Green Line Alexander Schölch, ed., Palestinians Over the Green Line (London: Ithaca Press, 1983). Penny Johnson • 3 min read
Orientalism in Color Mary Anne Stevens, ed., The Orientalists: Delacroix to Matisse -- The Allure of North Africa and the Near East (Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, in association with Weidenfield and Nicolson, London, 1984). Sarah J Graham-Brown • 9 min read
