Residents return to the southern Lebanese village of Blida on February 18, 2025, after it was partially destroyed by Israeli bombardment and occupied by Israeli troops. Fadel Itani/AFP via Getty Images. MERIP updates NEW: ‘Our Compass is Broken’—Israel’s Ongoing War on South Lebanon Dear Friends and Comrades, Amid the escalating US and Israeli war on Iran, the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon is intensifying. In addition to drone and missile attacks in Beirut, Israel is carrying out a combined ground and aerial campaign aimed at creating a so-called buffer zone up to the James Ryan, Susann Kassem • 2 min read
MERIP updates Kicking Off Delco Gives 2026-Support Our Work! Dear Friends and Comrades, Today marks the beginning of Delco Gives, a fundraising campaign sponsored by the Foundation for Delaware County in which MERIP is participating. While much of MERIP’s work is spread out over the country and the globe, we relocated our base of operations as a 501( James Ryan • 2 min read
The MERIP Podcast The MERIP Podcast Episode 20: The MERIP Roundtable, On the Iran War Part III Today’s episode is the third installment of our MERIP Roundtable discussing the war on Iran, instigated by the United States and Israel on February 28, 2026, and its regional reverberations. This episode focuses on Israel’s expanded war on Lebanon. Following the assassination of Ali Khamanei, supreme leader of James Ryan, Rima Majed, Ali Musleh • 2 min read
Smoke rises from Shahran oil depot after US and Israeli attacks, Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026. Hassan Ghaedi/Anadolu via Getty Images Current Analysis War Across Boundaries–Perspectives on Iran and a Region Under Siege On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, initiating a war with wide-ranging consequences for Iran and the broader region and devastating effects for their populations. Already, millions have been displaced and thousands killed. But this war is not a sudden rupture. It is the The Editors • 28 min read
The MERIP Podcast The MERIP Podcast Episode 19: The MERIP Roundtable, On the Iran War Part II On today’s episode of the MERIP Roundtable our discussion focused on people’s experiences of the war on Iran and throughout the region two and a half weeks in. Much of the discussion of this war in the western media has centered on the strategic calculus of the United James Ryan, Naghmeh Sohrabi, Toby Jones, Kaveh Ehsani • 2 min read
MERIP updates The MERIP Podcast Episode 18: The MERIP Roundtable, On The Iran War Part I On the social impact and regional politics of the US-Israeli war on Iran James Ryan, Ida Nikou, Arang Keshavarzian, Sean L. Yom • 2 min read
The MERIP Podcast The MERIP Podcast Episode 17: Niema Alhessen Today’s episode of the MERIP Podcast features an interview with Niema Alhessen, a Sudanese researcher based in Cairo who is focused on urban conflict and displacement. She is the author of “Burri Under Siege—How War Remade Everyday Life in a Sudanese Neighborhood” in our Winter 2025 issue of James Ryan, Niema Alhessen, Deen Sharp • 1 min read
MERIP updates The US and Israeli War on the Middle East Our recent work understanding the dynamics James Ryan • 3 min read
The MERIP Podcast The MERIP Podcast Episode 16: Iman Ali In today’s episode Iman Ali talks about her recently published article, “Repair Amid Ongoing Ruination—Rebuilding Dahiyeh Once More,” which appeared in our Winter 2025 issue, “Reconstruction and Ruin.” Iman Ali, a doctoral candidate in anthropology at Cornell University, has been conducting fieldwork in Lebanon to investigate the impacts James Ryan, Iman Ali, Najib Hourani • 2 min read
The MERIP Podcast The MERIP Podcast Episode 15: In the Archive with Brahim El Guabli On this episode of our In the Archive series, MERIP’s Executive Director, James Ryan, speaks with Brahim El Guabli about his essay, “The Sub-Saharan Turn in Moroccan Literature,” which appeared in the Spring 2021 issue of Middle East Report, “Maghreb from the Margins.” El Guabli speaks about how migration James Ryan, Brahim El Guabli • 1 min read
Past issues of Middle East Report about art and culture. MERIP updates Call for Pitches—Visual Art & Cultural Production in the Middle East and North Africa MERIP is seeking pitches for our Summer 2026 issue exploring visual art and cultural production in the Middle East and North Africa. We invite submissions that center artistic practices and cultural histories while attending to the political, social and material conditions in which art is made and experienced. We welcome The Editors • 1 min read
People gather to protest on January 8, 2026, in Tehran, Iran. Anonymous/Getty Images MERIP updates NEW: Governing Crisis–Sanctions, Austerity and Social Unrest in Iran New analysis on the protests from Ida Nikou Ida Nikou • 2 min read