Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Yemen After the Saudi-Emirati Split
Supporters of Yemen's separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) gather in Daleh, the hometown of the group's chief Aidrus al-Zubaydi, February 16, 2026. Getty Images/AFP
Yemen

Yemen After the Saudi-Emirati Split

In early December 2025, Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) took many by surprise when it seized control of the country’s oil-rich Hadhramaut governorate, a region that had been under the control of Saudi-backed forces. After its eastern neighbor al-Mahra declared allegiance to the STC, the
Susanne Dahlgren • 11 min read
Desert Solar—A Spectacular Fiction, Not a Spectacular Future
Rendering of the Al Maktoum Solar Park distributed for official publications by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority.Cover of the Middle East Solar Industry Association’s Solar Outlook Report 2019, with a view of Morocco’s Noor Laayoune Solar PV Park.Masdar Future Energy display at COP28. Author’s photo, December 2023.Portrait of Mustapha, the man responsible for the distribution of water in the oasis. January 2021, Tighmert, Morocco. By artist Seif Kousmate, from his project Waha about the relationship of humans to the environment in oases. Mixed technique using fire on a paper print.
MER Article

Desert Solar—A Spectacular Fiction, Not a Spectacular Future

On the visual power, and pitfalls, of solar mega projects.
Natalie Koch • 10 min read
Transnational Repression Against Exiled Women Activists
A projection on the Louvre Museum in Paris by Amnesty International depicts jailed Saudi human rights activists including Loujain Al-Athloul (C) and reads “Mr Macron, demand their release,” ahead of the virtual G20 summit in November 2020. Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images

Transnational Repression Against Exiled Women Activists

In Spring 2011, as the uprising against Bashar Al-Assad erupted in Syria, Sana, the daughter of Syrian exiles living in Canada, began engaging in online activism. Her support for the revolution rapidly gained traction among fellow Syrians and a widening global audience. But as her voice grew louder, she
Noura Aljizawi, Siena Anstis, Marcus Michaelsen • 13 min read
Normalizing the Surveillance State—Cybersecurity Cooperation and the Abraham Accords
Under Secretary Silvers on a panel February 3, 2023 with Israel National Cyber Directorate Director General Gaby Portnoy, Head of the UAE Cyber Security Council Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, CEO of the Bahrain National Cyber Security Center Shaikh Salman bin Mohamed bin Abdulla al-Khalifa and Director General of Morocco’s General Directorate of Information Systems Security El Mostafa Rabii. Photo by DHS, public domain.

Normalizing the Surveillance State—Cybersecurity Cooperation and the Abraham Accords

The new, and not-so-new, cyber dimension of Arab-Israeli normalization.
Marwa Fatafta • 9 min read