US Policy
Refusing Imperial Amnesia in the War on Terror
In a Winter 2001 editorial, MERIP editors Chris Toensing and Elliott Colla insisted, “The hijackings and mass murders of September 11 were horrible and momentous, but the world did not suddenly change on that crystal-clear morning.” MERIP presciently argued that the...Refusing Imperial Amnesia in the War on Terror
Twenty years after the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the US invasion of Afghanistan, Darryl Li surveys how MERIP’s deep and insightful coverage of the resulting War on Terror countered the “willful amnesia of American nationalism with a rigorous insistence on illuminating the historical continuities of imperial violence.” This essay is the first in a series reflecting on MERIP’s hard-hitting coverage of a wide range of topics since 1971, forthcoming in the Fall 2021 issue “MERIP at 50.”
Selling Normalization in the Gulf
When the UAE and Bahrain normalized their relations with Israel, the countries’ leaders justified their actions as beneficial to the Palestinian struggle for statehood. Elham Fakhro explains how this rationale quickly fell apart and shifted, revealing deeper economic and strategic goals. Fakhro also illuminates how the history of Gulf support for the Palestinians created a space for the diverse responses of civil society to the Abraham Accords.
The Fog of the Forever War with a Laugh Track in “United States of Al”
As President Joe Biden’s administration struggles to meet its self-imposed deadline of September 11, 2021 to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan, Hollywood is offering its own painless, bloodless version of an end to America’s longest war. In this review of the CBS sitcom “United States of Al,” the authors Wazhmah Osman, Helena Zeweri and Seelai Karzai critique the show’s representation of Afghans and the US war and explain why the show’s missteps matter.
Revisiting MERIP Coverage 30 Years After the First Gulf War
MERIP’s coverage of the First Gulf War sought to understand the crisis beyond the battlefield kinetics: from Iraq’s August 1990 invasion of Kuwait to the US-led Desert Storm military operation liberating Kuwait and looking beyond to the regional aftermath. Our authors and editors offered historically-grounded analysis of the invasion, they measured the nascent waves of misery and violence that would radiate from it and offered clear-eyed commentary on the costs and risks.
Looking Beyond the Struggle for Palestinian Statehood
It is difficult to overstate the crisis in which Palestinians find themselves over 100 years after the Balfour Declaration and over 70 years after the Nakba. Palestinians are living as refugees without civil rights in places like Lebanon. Refugees who had lived in...Consequences of US Financial Warfare in the Middle East
When the COVID-19 pandemic spiked in Iran in March 2020, calls for lifting financial restrictions to allow the import of much needed medical supplies fell on deaf ears in President Donald Trump’s administration. The White House had no intention of putting the brakes...The Enduring Lessons of the Iraq Sanctions
The economic sanctions imposed on Iraq by the United Nations Security Council, from 1990 to 2003, may well lay claim to be the worst humanitarian catastrophe ever imposed in the name of global governance. The unconscionable human damage done by those sanctions is...The Tragedies and Dilemmas of US Intervention in Northeast Syria
At the very beginning of the Syrian uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Asad in 2011, and during the early stages of the slide into civil war, Washington made the serious miscalculation that the Asad regime would fall quickly. When the regime failed to...Rethinking US Policy Toward Iran: A Forum
While US relations with Iran have been adversarial since the 1979 Islamic revolution, President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) in 2018 and his belligerent implementation of a “maximum pressure” policy has on more than one occasion risked...Six Steps to Reform US Agricultural Policy in the Arab Region
People in the Arab region have long been hungry—for dignity, but also for food. Hunger is a social phenomenon: the “biological manifestation of underdevelopment,” in the words of Brazilian geographer Josué de Castro.[1] Underdevelopment is the reverse coin of...A Not-So-Modest Proposal to Nationalize the Defense Industry
Shifting the course of catastrophic American policy in the Middle East requires bolder steps than changes in doctrine and grand strategy. A substantially less militarized foreign policy necessitates altering the structural political economies that have justified,...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,...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 support for neoliberal authoritarians. Jacob Mundy explains why oil for security is a myth and how the current glut of oil presents a dangerous new twist.
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,...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...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 support for neoliberal authoritarians. Jacob Mundy explains why oil for security is a myth and how the current glut of oil presents a dangerous new twist.
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 on some critical questions. This forum is a preview of MERIP’s forthcoming issue, “Exit Empire – Imagining New Paths for US Policy.”
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.
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.
