Latest Issue:
Art at Work—People, Power and Cultural Production
Gazing into Gaza with Mahmoud Alhaj
A visual essay featuring Alhaj’s 2024 exhibition 'Control Anatomy.’
‘Women at Work’—Challenging the Art/Craft Divide
A review of the Dalloul Art Foundation’s 2025 exhibition.
MERIP Updates
The MERIP Podcast Episode 28: Arran Walshe
Today on the MERIP Podcast James Ryan talks with Arran Walshe, a journalist and researcher based in Amman. Walshe is the author of “Alternative Amman–Making Counterculture in the Jordanian Capital,” which appeared in our summer issue of Middle East Report, Art at Work–People, Power and Cultural Production. This
MER 319: Art at Work–People, Power and Cultural Production
Dear Friends and Comrades, We’re thrilled to share Issue 319 of Middle East Report, “Art at Work–People, Power and Cultural Production.” Across the region today, art is being made, redefined and reimagined under extreme conditions of war, political upheaval and the interplay of state and market capital. Through
NEW: Arab AI Slop and the Precarious Politics of Digital Kitsch
Dear Friends and Comrades, If you spend any time on social media, you’ve seen the uncannily rendered videos and memes known colloquially as AI slop, crudely generated videos playing on stereotypes meant to generate viral outrage. In our upcoming summer issue of Middle East Report, Nermin Elsherif looks at
NEW: ‘Closed Until Further Notice’ – Keeping a Tehran Art Institution Alive During Wartime
Dear Friends and Comrades, The US and Israeli war has altered daily life in Iran. Between airstrikes that have destroyed basic infrastructure across the country and a regime bent on repressing political expression, the institutions that sustain cultural life have had to navigate some perilous straits. Today we are sharingThe MERIP Podcast Episode 27: Susanne Dahlgren
Today’s episode of the MERIP Podcast features a conversation between MERIP executive director James Ryan and Susanne Dahlgren, a longtime MERIP contributor and analyst focused on Yemen whose recent essay, “Yemen After the Saudi-Emirati Split” appeared in our Current Analysis section on July 8, 2026. Last December, theThe MERIP Podcast Episode 26: The MERIP Roundtable, On the World Cup 2026
On today’s program we have another installment of our MERIP Roundtable, where MERIP’s executive director, James Ryan is joined by past and present members of our editorial committee, along with recent contributors, to discuss current events. This edition focuses on the 2026 World Cup, now in its final
Current Analysis
Remittances at Risk—Sanctions, War and Informal Finance in Yemen
Yemeni migrant workers abroad send billions of dollars to Yemen every year, making remittances one of the country’s largest and most consistent sources of foreign currency. The primary corridor runs through Saudi Arabia, which accounts for an estimated 61 percent of Yemen's formally recorded remittance inflows, with
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
Rethinking Political Change in Iran from Protest to War
One month before the United States and Israel began the current war against Iran on February 28, 2026, mass uprisings within the country resulted in the severest government crackdown in its modern history. Protests and repression were accompanied by calls for outside intervention. US President Donald Trump declared on January
'Our Compass is Broken'—Israel's Ongoing War in South Lebanon
Every day since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza in 2023, my father, like many other villagers from Lebanon’s south, has listened to the news in the hope of hearing that he can return to our village along the border of South Lebanon and rebuild our house.Primers
Palestine and Israel—A Primer
This primer provides an overview of key actors, organizations, historic events, political developments and diplomatic initiatives that have shaped the status and fate of Palestinians and the State of Israel from the late nineteenth century to the present. It is divided into topical sections and organized roughly chronologically—although some
MERIP Updates
The MERIP Podcast Episode 28: Arran Walshe
Today on the MERIP Podcast James Ryan talks with Arran Walshe, a journalist and researcher based in Amman. Walshe is the author of “Alternative Amman–Making Counterculture in the Jordanian Capital,” which appeared in our summer issue of Middle East Report, Art at Work–People, Power and Cultural Production. This
MER 319: Art at Work–People, Power and Cultural Production
Dear Friends and Comrades, We’re thrilled to share Issue 319 of Middle East Report, “Art at Work–People, Power and Cultural Production.” Across the region today, art is being made, redefined and reimagined under extreme conditions of war, political upheaval and the interplay of state and market capital. Through
NEW: Arab AI Slop and the Precarious Politics of Digital Kitsch
Dear Friends and Comrades, If you spend any time on social media, you’ve seen the uncannily rendered videos and memes known colloquially as AI slop, crudely generated videos playing on stereotypes meant to generate viral outrage. In our upcoming summer issue of Middle East Report, Nermin Elsherif looks at
NEW: ‘Closed Until Further Notice’ – Keeping a Tehran Art Institution Alive During Wartime
Dear Friends and Comrades, The US and Israeli war has altered daily life in Iran. Between airstrikes that have destroyed basic infrastructure across the country and a regime bent on repressing political expression, the institutions that sustain cultural life have had to navigate some perilous straits. Today we are sharingThe MERIP Podcast Episode 27: Susanne Dahlgren
Today’s episode of the MERIP Podcast features a conversation between MERIP executive director James Ryan and Susanne Dahlgren, a longtime MERIP contributor and analyst focused on Yemen whose recent essay, “Yemen After the Saudi-Emirati Split” appeared in our Current Analysis section on July 8, 2026. Last December, theThe MERIP Podcast Episode 26: The MERIP Roundtable, On the World Cup 2026
On today’s program we have another installment of our MERIP Roundtable, where MERIP’s executive director, James Ryan is joined by past and present members of our editorial committee, along with recent contributors, to discuss current events. This edition focuses on the 2026 World Cup, now in its final
