MER Article NGOs, INGOs, GO-NGOs and DO-NGOs This issue of Middle East Report takes a critical look at "NGOs" -- non-governmental organizations -- in and beyond the Arab world. The topic is both trendy and controversial. Although they may see themselves as marginal actors, charities, advocacy groups and a range of other civic associations in Sheila Carapico • 8 min read
MER Article From the Editor (Spring 2000) On a drab Beirut side street is a modest restaurant famed for its delicious cuisine. A favorite haunt of top PLO officials, journalists and various political hangers-on in years past, the restaurant still enjoys a thriving business, serving local residents, shopkeepers and a large and growing entour The Editors • 2 min read
MER Article New North African Immigration to Spain In June 1998 the Spanish government began constructing several 12-foot high fences to halt African immigrants from illegally entering Europe by way of Spain’s North African enclave territory in Melilla. Running along the ten-kilometer border separating Morocco from Melilla, these fences were schedul Mary M. Crain • 5 min read
MER Article Economic Restructuring in the Middle East The effect of economic restructuring on women was the focus of a two-day workshop at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies in 1998, entitled “Women and Economic Restructuring in the Middle East: Gender, Jobs and Activist Organizations.” Participants [1] agreed that restructur Eleanor Abdella Doumato • 2 min read
MER Article Mission: Democracy Incumbent national leaders invite foreign election monitors only when it is in their interest to do so. Rarely is significant financial assistance “conditional” on holding elections, although it does improve a regime’s image abroad to do so. For governments being observed, the trick is to orchestrat Sheila Carapico • 11 min read
MER Article So No One Can Say "We Didn't Know" In a world where journalists are increasingly attacked for their work, it is gratifying when an organization of Amnesty International’s stature appreciates a reporter’s work. But there is a more important reason as a journalist to be grateful. Over the past 22 years in the Middle East, I Robert Fisk • 3 min read
MER Article An Expensive Toy Flanked by the Cairo citadel and the Nile on its eastern and western sides, respectively, Sayyida Zaynab, a neglected neighborhood, is but a stone’s throw away from the city center. Inhabited by poor families, its old buildings are rapidly deteriorating, while new owners haphazardly add extra rooms and extensions Fayza Hassan • 3 min read
MER Article The NGO Phenomenon in the Arab World Ghanem Bibi is co-founder and coordinator of the Arab Resource Collective based in Nicosia. ARC generates Arabic-language resources for use in community health and childhood development projects, and serves as a networking resource for Arab NGOs. Julie Peteet spoke with him in August 1994, shortly a Julie Peteet, Joe Stork • 5 min read
Bosnia and the Future of Military Humanitarianism Mark Duffield was in Bosnia and Croatia from January 9 to January 22, 1994 as part of a larger study of complex emergencies. The following is condensed from his “first impression” field report. The war in former Yugoslavia has displaced over 4 million people. Nearly 3 million of these are in Bosnia Mark Duffield • 6 min read
Sovereignty and Intervention After the Cold War Over the past several years, the perception has become widespread that the world has entered a period of profound change. A main feature of this change has been some erosion of the principle of state sovereignty as a major structural feature of international relations. The new activism of the United John Prendergast, Mark Duffield • 16 min read
MER Article Where Famine Is Functional Images of African famine once again scan Western television screens, prompting a renewed search for causes and solutions. In this worried atmosphere it is easy to overlook that international relief operations have now become a widespread and accepted response to this unfolding crisis. While Sudan an Mark Duffield • 13 min read
