MER Article

The Defense Industry’s Role in Militarizing US Foreign Policy

As the welfare state shrinks, one of the last sure bets for big government spending is the maintenance of the warfare state. As the global coronavirus pandemic has made incredibly clear, the US government is disinclined to pump federal resources into health programs, social insurance or food security infrastructure. But

Shana Marshall • 18 min read

MER Article

The Oil for Security Myth and Middle East Insecurity

Since the end of World War II, US policy toward the Middle East has ostensibly been dedicated to protecting the free flow of hydrocarbons to sustain the global economy. In reality, America’s pursuit of energy security has increased insecurity in the region through conflict, militarization and suppor

Jacob Mundy • 19 min read

MER Article

Reimagining US Engagement with a Turbulent Middle East

Amidst the horror of President Donald Trump’s reckless actions in the Middle East there is an urgent need to not only oppose his policies, but also to envision a new path for the United States. Trump has endorsed the Israeli annexation of Palestinian territory, supported the Saudi-led war in

Waleed Hazbun • 18 min read

MER Article

Exit Empire

MERIP has offered critical analysis of US foreign policy in the Middle East for almost 50 years. Beginning with decades of work by co-founder Joe Stork and others, contributors to Middle East Report have documented US support for regimes that suppressed popular struggles for self-determination and popular sovereignty; the flow

The Editors of Issue #294 • 4 min read

Current Analysis

The Oil for Security Myth and Middle East Insecurity

Since the end of World War II, US policy toward the Middle East has ostensibly been dedicated to protecting the free flow of hydrocarbons to sustain the global economy. In reality, America’s pursuit of energy security has increased insecurity in the region through conflict, militarization and suppor

Jacob Mundy • 19 min read

Current Analysis

Rethinking US Policy Toward Iran: A Forum

The Trump administration’s aggressive stance toward Iran defines much of US policy toward the Middle East. Any effort to imagine new paths for US policy in the region will need to reformulate US-Iran relations. Middle East Report reached out to seven scholars and policy analysts for their thoughts o

U 33 Rrwq 1545295896 • 19 min read

Current Analysis

Iraqi Protesters Thwarted by Trump's Iran Policy

The recent US assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Soleimani has had dire consequences for the Iraqi protest movement and its calls for substantive changes in the Iraqi political system.

Yousef K. Baker • 10 min read

Trump’s Enabling Role in Rising Regional Repression

US President Donald Trump’s public embrace of autocrats and his virtual silence on their repressive behavior appears to have made autocrats, particularly those allied to the United States, less constrained than they were in the past.

Adria Lawrence • 10 min read

Current Analysis

Kushner's Technocratic Vision and the Unlearned Lessons of Fayyadism

Jared Kushner unveiled the economic side of President Trump's "deal of the century" for Palestinians in June 2019. In addition to its economic flaws is a technocrat's aversion to confronting Israel's entrenched occupation.

Alexei Abrahams • 13 min read

Current Analysis

Countering Christian Zionism in the Age of Trump

Behind President Trump's fervent embrace of Israel are millions of Christian Zionists who believe that the establishment of a Jewish ethnostate in Palestine is a requirement for the fulfillment of end-times prophecies. But a growing movement of Christians is challenging this controversial theology.

Mimi Kirk • 12 min read

MER Article

The New Landscape of Intervention

Even as the 2000’s saw the return of traditional forms of imperial intervention—with the US deployment of military forces in Afghanistan and Iraq in pursuit of a quixotic and unwinnable War on Terror—there are increasingly new forms of intervention that must be understood, assessed and mapped.

The Editors • 5 min read

George Bush in Khartoum

Khartoum. The hand-painted sign on Nile Avenue here best captured the attitude of urban Sudanese toward the visit of Vice President George Bush to their country in early March, just four weeks before the popular overthrow of President Ja‘far Numairi. “Vice-President and Mrs. Bush,” read the sign, “a

Gayle Smith • 7 min read