Water, Oil and Iraq’s Climate Future
Two resources tell the story of Iraq’s climate vulnerability.
Iraqi Women’s Activism—20 Years After the US Invasion
What the last two decades have meant for Iraq’s women’s movement.
Perpetual Protest and the Failure of the post-2003 Iraqi State
Tishreen transformed Iraq’s protest culture. Can protest transform the post-2003 state?
Interview—The Past, Present and Future of Iraq’s Cultural Heritage
A conversation with archaeologists Mark Altaweel and Jaafar Jotheri.
Issue 306 (Spring 2023) Masthead
Middle East Report, “The State of Iraq–20 Years After the Invasion,” Spring 2023, No. 306, Vol. 52 No. 1 Executive Director Mandy Terc mandyterc@merip.org Executive Editor Katie Natanel katienatanel@merip.org Managing Editor Marya Hannun...A Note on the Cover Image
Iraqi visual artist, Atef Al Jaffal, describes the symbolism behind his cover image.
Dispatch from Taiz—Yemen’s Passage to Peace
The “peripheral” city is central to peace in Yemen.
The Maghreb’s Peripheral Centers in Permanent Crisis
Informal trade in the Maghreb’s borderlands.
Illicit Flows to the UAE Take the Shine off African Gold
Following Mali’s artisanal gold to the markets of Dubai.
Exit France—The Influence of External Actors in the Sahel Region
Where France went wrong in Mali.
Rebuilding Douma—Syria’s Reconstruction from Below
Before the war, Douma was a city on the rise. A district seat in the Governorate of the Damascus Countryside (Muhafizat Rif Dimashq) and a market town, it served as a bridge, of sorts, between the agricultural areas of Ghouta and Damascus and was famous for its grape...The Jazira’s Long Shadow over Turkey and Syria
In September of 2019, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called for the United Nations to establish a security zone in northern Syria east of the Euphrates. If the line extended south to Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, he suggested, some 3 million Syrian refugees could be...Nation-Making on the “Razor’s Edge” in the Egyptian-Libyan Borderland
In 1908, the British lord and arch-imperialist George Curzon published a short treatise on the unique role of frontiers in modern history. “Frontiers,” he wrote, “are indeed the razor’s edge on which hang suspended the modern issues of war or peace, of life or death...Black Markets in Sudan—An Interview with Khalid Mustafa Medani
In September 2022, Khalid Mustafa Medani, a former contributor to Middle East Report, received the Best Book prize from the American Political Science Association’s Middle East and North African Politics section for his 2021 release, Black Markets and Militants:...Issue 305 (Winter 2022) Masthead
Middle East Report, “Peripheries and Borderlands,” Winter 2022, No. 305, Vol. 51 No. 4 Executive Director Mandy Terc mandyterc@merip.org Executive Editor Katie Natanel katienatanel@merip.org Managing Editor Marya Hannun maryahannun@merip.org Photo Editor...Peripheries and Borderlands of North Africa and the Middle East
A curious thing about so-called peripheries is they tend to encompass the lived experience of most of the people in the world today. It is only through a hegemonic perspective—one emanating from and enacted in “centers” of power by the Lord Curzons of a century ago...Simply Sportswashing?—A Perspective on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
The concept of “sportswashing,” in exposing how states or corporations use sporting events to cleanse their images on international stages, draws our attention to human rights abuses, labor conditions, political repression and the regulation of social behavior. Yet, examining the language around Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup, the collective Habibi FC notes how this critique is unevenly deployed—sportswashing is most frequently applied to (non-white) countries from the Global South and partakes in a larger discourse of the “West vs. the rest.” Habibi FC call for a more nuanced use of the term, one that does not depend on Orientalist binaries and enables us to better see Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup as a strategic calculation: risking its moral image to project competence and gain global influence.
Constructing Qatari Citizenship in the Shadow of the World Cup
As fans from around the world travel to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, this mega sporting event reveals how processes of division and unification are central to Qatari state power. While the World Cup constructs and fortifies a distinctly Qatari nationalism, the tournament has not erased the underlying tensions and inequities in Qatar’s migration system and citizenship policies. Beginning with the “Hayya Card,” a new visa tied to the purchase of a FIFA ticket, Jaafar Alloul and Laavanya Kathiravelu consider how ambiguous legislation is being used to differentiate and divide resident groups for purposes of retaining control. At the same time, they highlight emerging spaces for everyday solidarity between Qatari citizens and migrant communities made possible through generational change.
The Beautiful Game between Algeria and France
Legacies of colonialism and decolonization have long shaped what football means to the large shared population of binational citizens between France and Algeria. One in every ten people in France has a direct familial connection to Algeria, complicating any distinction of national belonging and clouding footballing loyalties. Fans decide which national side to back, or opt to support both, in international tournaments. In the case of professional footballers, they must choose which nation to play for. This tense footballing relationship, rooted in colonial France’s civilizing mission, reverberates in social life in France today. Meanwhile, the sport itself grows increasingly enmeshed in systems of global capital.
