MER Article

Dialectics of Hope and Despair in the Arab Uprisings

Alaa Abd El-Fattah and Ahmed Douma, leading Egyptian revolutionaries, wrote these words in 2014 for the Mada Masr piece “Graffiti for Two…Alaa and Douma.” Abd El-Fattah and Douma have spent most of the last decade in jail, much of it in solitary confinement. The uncomfortable coexistence of hope and

Atef Said, Pete Moore • 14 min read

MER Article

The Enduring Taste of Hope—A Poem and Interview with Khaled Mattawa

Soon after Libyans rose up in protest against the brutal authoritarian regime of Muammar al-Qaddafi in February 2011, the Libyan American poet Khaled Mattawa wrote “Now That We Have Tasted Hope.” His poem powerfully captured the mix of relief and anguish, despair and hope felt by many who participat

Khaled Mattawa, Atef Said • 12 min read

MER Article

Revolutionary Afterlives

Instead of approaching the decade since the start of the Arab uprisings as an appraisal of an outcome, MERIP’s issue 301 reflects on an unfolding set of political struggles that are necessarily incomplete and spill across different scales – local, national, regional and global. “Revolutionary Afterl

The Editors of Issue #301 • 4 min read

Current Analysis

Whatever Happened to Dignity? The Politics of Citizenship in Post-Revolution Tunisia

Dignity was a principle demand of the 2011 revolution that overthrew Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia. Nadia Marzouki examines how that demand has informed the practices of youth and other marginalized groups as they mobilize for quotidian causes like clean streets. President Kais Saied’s recent p

Nadia Marzouki • 17 min read

Current Analysis

The Enduring Taste of Hope—A Poem and Interview with Khaled Mattawa

Soon after Libyans rose up in protest against the brutal authoritarian regime of Muammar al-Qaddafi in February 2011, the Libyan American poet Khaled Mattawa wrote "Now That We Have Tasted Hope." His poem powerfully captured the mix of relief and anguish, despair and hope felt by many who participat

Khaled Mattawa, Atef Said • 12 min read

MER Article

MERIP’s First Decade of Iran Coverage from Political Challenge to Revolution

MERIP’s coverage of Iran from the organization’s founding in 1971 up through the 1979 revolution and the early years of post-revolutionary state formation remain an invaluable resource for understanding and teaching the history of Iran’s long 1970s. MERIP writers in this period were grappling with the meaning

Naghmeh Sohrabi • 8 min read

Current Analysis

Populist Passions or Democratic Aspirations? Tunisia’s Liberal Democracy in Crisis

Tunisia's political system is in crisis after President Kais Saied concentrated power in his office in July 2021. Robert P. Parks and Tarek Kahlaoui delve into the reasons why so many citizens support his moves and explain why they have become so disenchanted with Tunisia's democratic system. The au

Robert P. Parks, Tarek Kahlaoui • 15 min read

Current Analysis

Revisiting MERIP Coverage of the Arab Uprisings

Revolutions are the singular political events that “confront us directly and inevitability with the problem of beginning,” argued Hannah Arendt. MERIP’s coverage of the uprisings of 2011 struggled intensely with this conundrum while cross-regional mobilizations, alliances and confrontations emerged

The Editors • 5 min read