Middle East Research and Information Project
@merip.bsky.social
The Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) has provided critical, alternative reporting on the Middle East since 1971. www.merip.org
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Reconstruction and Ruin
Winter 2025
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NEW: "Reconstruction and Ruin" the Winter 2025 Issue of Middle East Report is now live!
This issue captures the challenges facing ordinary people in the Middle East as the warfare politics of dispossession and division continue amidst efforts to rebuild urban landscapes.
This issue captures the challenges facing ordinary people in the Middle East as the warfare politics of dispossession and division continue amidst efforts to rebuild urban landscapes.
REMINDER: We are accepting pitches until February 23rd for our upcoming summer issue on Visual Art and Cultural Production in the Middle East and North Africa. Submit yours today!
Call for Pitches—Visual Art & Cultural Production in the Middle East and North Africa
MERIP is seeking pitches for our Summer 2026 issue exploring visual art and cultural production in the Middle East and North Africa. We invite submissions that center artistic practices and cultural…
buff.ly
February 17, 2026 at 5:04 PM
REMINDER: We are accepting pitches until February 23rd for our upcoming summer issue on Visual Art and Cultural Production in the Middle East and North Africa. Submit yours today!
NEW in MER 317: "Building from Scrap, Building Through Crisis"
Müjge Küçükkeleş reviews Umut Kuruüzüm's book on scrap recycling and steel manufacturing in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Müjge Küçükkeleş reviews Umut Kuruüzüm's book on scrap recycling and steel manufacturing in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Building from Scrap, Building Through Crisis
On Umut Kuruüzüm’s materialist ethnography of war and reconstruction, 'Building from Scrap: War, Recycling, and Labor in Iraqi Kurdistan.'
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February 17, 2026 at 2:01 PM
NEW in MER 317: "Building from Scrap, Building Through Crisis"
Müjge Küçükkeleş reviews Umut Kuruüzüm's book on scrap recycling and steel manufacturing in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Müjge Küçükkeleş reviews Umut Kuruüzüm's book on scrap recycling and steel manufacturing in Iraqi Kurdistan.
SUPPORT MERIP: We are an independent organization that has been dedicated to supporting critical research, analysis and reporting on the Middle East since 1971. All our material is published without paywalls. Please consider a donation today!
Donate
SUPPORT MERIP'S CRITICAL WORK BY DONATING For 50 years, MERIP has published critical analysis of Middle Eastern politics, history, and social justice not available in other publications. Our articles…
buff.ly
February 16, 2026 at 5:00 PM
SUPPORT MERIP: We are an independent organization that has been dedicated to supporting critical research, analysis and reporting on the Middle East since 1971. All our material is published without paywalls. Please consider a donation today!
Reposted by Middle East Research and Information Project
"Four decades after the nullification of the Cairo Accords, there is a pressing need for a new charter that defines the Palestinians' status as a part of the Lebanese republic, while acknowledging their right of return to their homeland."
NEW in MER 317: "Disarming the Camps--Palestinian Factions and the Limits of Lebanese Sovereignty"
A special report from Erling Lorentzen Sogge on the attempts of the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Palestinian Authority to disarm Palestinian refugee camps.
A special report from Erling Lorentzen Sogge on the attempts of the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Palestinian Authority to disarm Palestinian refugee camps.
Disarming the Camps—Palestinian Factions and the Limits of Lebanese Sovereignty
As Lebanon moves to disarm Palestinian camps under intense geopolitical pressure, long-standing factional rivalries, unresolved refugee rights and Israel’s continued military presence expose the…
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February 16, 2026 at 4:09 PM
"Four decades after the nullification of the Cairo Accords, there is a pressing need for a new charter that defines the Palestinians' status as a part of the Lebanese republic, while acknowledging their right of return to their homeland."
Reposted by Middle East Research and Information Project
"We not only lost our homes, we lost ourselves"
📝 NEW | Craig Larkin on how elite-led postwar reconstruction in Mosul and Damascus risks deepening issues of dispossession and social fragmentation.
Published with @merip.bsky.social and produced as part of the XCEPT research programme.
📝 NEW | Craig Larkin on how elite-led postwar reconstruction in Mosul and Damascus risks deepening issues of dispossession and social fragmentation.
Published with @merip.bsky.social and produced as part of the XCEPT research programme.
The Struggle for the City—Urban Recovery and Dispossession in Mosul and Damascus
A walk through the old city of Mosul, Iraq, reveals an urban landscape still scarred by the violence of war and transfigured by ongoing reconstruction. Rubble-lined narrow streets give way to half-reb...
www.merip.org
February 16, 2026 at 9:18 AM
"We not only lost our homes, we lost ourselves"
📝 NEW | Craig Larkin on how elite-led postwar reconstruction in Mosul and Damascus risks deepening issues of dispossession and social fragmentation.
Published with @merip.bsky.social and produced as part of the XCEPT research programme.
📝 NEW | Craig Larkin on how elite-led postwar reconstruction in Mosul and Damascus risks deepening issues of dispossession and social fragmentation.
Published with @merip.bsky.social and produced as part of the XCEPT research programme.
NEW in MER 317: "Disarming the Camps--Palestinian Factions and the Limits of Lebanese Sovereignty"
A special report from Erling Lorentzen Sogge on the attempts of the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Palestinian Authority to disarm Palestinian refugee camps.
A special report from Erling Lorentzen Sogge on the attempts of the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Palestinian Authority to disarm Palestinian refugee camps.
Disarming the Camps—Palestinian Factions and the Limits of Lebanese Sovereignty
As Lebanon moves to disarm Palestinian camps under intense geopolitical pressure, long-standing factional rivalries, unresolved refugee rights and Israel’s continued military presence expose the…
buff.ly
February 16, 2026 at 3:30 PM
NEW in MER 317: "Disarming the Camps--Palestinian Factions and the Limits of Lebanese Sovereignty"
A special report from Erling Lorentzen Sogge on the attempts of the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Palestinian Authority to disarm Palestinian refugee camps.
A special report from Erling Lorentzen Sogge on the attempts of the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Palestinian Authority to disarm Palestinian refugee camps.
SUPPORT MERIP: All of our work, including our new issue, "Reconstruction and Ruin" as well as our entire archive, is free to the public. Help us keep it that way by making a one-time or recurring donation to MERIP today!
Donate
SUPPORT MERIP'S CRITICAL WORK BY DONATING For 50 years, MERIP has published critical analysis of Middle Eastern politics, history, and social justice not available in other publications. Our articles…
buff.ly
February 12, 2026 at 11:35 PM
SUPPORT MERIP: All of our work, including our new issue, "Reconstruction and Ruin" as well as our entire archive, is free to the public. Help us keep it that way by making a one-time or recurring donation to MERIP today!
NEW in MER 317: "Mapping Destruction--A Conversation with Jamon Van Den Hoek of Conflict Ecology"
Issue editor Deen Sharp interviewed the Conflict Ecology Director on his lab's methods, the politics of satellite access, and measuring the scale of destruction in Gaza and beyond.
Issue editor Deen Sharp interviewed the Conflict Ecology Director on his lab's methods, the politics of satellite access, and measuring the scale of destruction in Gaza and beyond.
Mapping Destruction—A Conversation with Jamon Van Den Hoek of Conflict Ecology
Changing scales of conflict and advances in satellite imagery are reshaping how damage is assessed.
buff.ly
February 12, 2026 at 8:30 PM
NEW in MER 317: "Mapping Destruction--A Conversation with Jamon Van Den Hoek of Conflict Ecology"
Issue editor Deen Sharp interviewed the Conflict Ecology Director on his lab's methods, the politics of satellite access, and measuring the scale of destruction in Gaza and beyond.
Issue editor Deen Sharp interviewed the Conflict Ecology Director on his lab's methods, the politics of satellite access, and measuring the scale of destruction in Gaza and beyond.
NEW in MER 317: "Repair Amid Ongoing Ruination--Rebuilding the Dahiyeh Once More"
Iman Ali has been researching in the Shi'i neighborhoods of the Dahiyeh, and compares the enormous challenges of reconstruction with the wake of the 2006 war.
Iman Ali has been researching in the Shi'i neighborhoods of the Dahiyeh, and compares the enormous challenges of reconstruction with the wake of the 2006 war.
Repair Amid Ongoing Ruination—Rebuilding Dahiyeh Once More
Standing beside a destroyed building in Dahiyeh in September 2025, a fruit seller said to me, “I want to bring Naim Qassem [Hizballah’s new secretary general] here. I want to show him the damage. Our…
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February 12, 2026 at 2:01 PM
NEW in MER 317: "Repair Amid Ongoing Ruination--Rebuilding the Dahiyeh Once More"
Iman Ali has been researching in the Shi'i neighborhoods of the Dahiyeh, and compares the enormous challenges of reconstruction with the wake of the 2006 war.
Iman Ali has been researching in the Shi'i neighborhoods of the Dahiyeh, and compares the enormous challenges of reconstruction with the wake of the 2006 war.
NEW in MER 317: "The Struggle for the City--Urban Recovery and Dispossession in Mosul and Damascus"
Craig Larkin reports from the ground in two cities that have witnessed extensive devastation, interviewing residents about the uneven processes and prospects of reconstruction.
Craig Larkin reports from the ground in two cities that have witnessed extensive devastation, interviewing residents about the uneven processes and prospects of reconstruction.
The Struggle for the City—Urban Recovery and Dispossession in Mosul and Damascus
A walk through the old city of Mosul, Iraq, reveals an urban landscape still scarred by the violence of war and transfigured by ongoing reconstruction. Rubble-lined narrow streets give way to…
buff.ly
February 11, 2026 at 8:30 PM
NEW in MER 317: "The Struggle for the City--Urban Recovery and Dispossession in Mosul and Damascus"
Craig Larkin reports from the ground in two cities that have witnessed extensive devastation, interviewing residents about the uneven processes and prospects of reconstruction.
Craig Larkin reports from the ground in two cities that have witnessed extensive devastation, interviewing residents about the uneven processes and prospects of reconstruction.
NEW in MER 317: "Burri Under Siege--How War Remade Everyday Life in a Sudanese Neighborhood"
Niema Alhessen spoke with residents of the Khartoum neighborhood that has been remade as a warscape following the end of a siege in March 2025.
Niema Alhessen spoke with residents of the Khartoum neighborhood that has been remade as a warscape following the end of a siege in March 2025.
Burri Under Siege—How War Remade Everyday Life in a Sudanese Neighborhood
In March 2025, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) retook key areas of eastern, central and southern Khartoum. Their advance ended the Rapid Support Force’s (RSF) two-year siege of Burri—a neighborhood…
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February 11, 2026 at 6:30 PM
NEW in MER 317: "Burri Under Siege--How War Remade Everyday Life in a Sudanese Neighborhood"
Niema Alhessen spoke with residents of the Khartoum neighborhood that has been remade as a warscape following the end of a siege in March 2025.
Niema Alhessen spoke with residents of the Khartoum neighborhood that has been remade as a warscape following the end of a siege in March 2025.
NEW in MER 317: "Rebuilding Gaza from the Ground Up"
Issue editor Hannah Sender speaks with Minerva Fadel, founding volunteer at Architects for Gaza, on the challenges of reconstruction faced by Gazans in the wake of genocide.
Issue editor Hannah Sender speaks with Minerva Fadel, founding volunteer at Architects for Gaza, on the challenges of reconstruction faced by Gazans in the wake of genocide.
Rebuilding Gaza from the Ground Up
An Interview with Minerva Fadel of Architects for Gaza
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February 11, 2026 at 5:00 PM
NEW in MER 317: "Rebuilding Gaza from the Ground Up"
Issue editor Hannah Sender speaks with Minerva Fadel, founding volunteer at Architects for Gaza, on the challenges of reconstruction faced by Gazans in the wake of genocide.
Issue editor Hannah Sender speaks with Minerva Fadel, founding volunteer at Architects for Gaza, on the challenges of reconstruction faced by Gazans in the wake of genocide.
NEW: "Reconstruction and Ruin" the Winter 2025 Issue of Middle East Report is now live!
This issue captures the challenges facing ordinary people in the Middle East as the warfare politics of dispossession and division continue amidst efforts to rebuild urban landscapes.
This issue captures the challenges facing ordinary people in the Middle East as the warfare politics of dispossession and division continue amidst efforts to rebuild urban landscapes.
Reconstruction and Ruin
Winter 2025
buff.ly
February 11, 2026 at 3:30 PM
NEW: "Reconstruction and Ruin" the Winter 2025 Issue of Middle East Report is now live!
This issue captures the challenges facing ordinary people in the Middle East as the warfare politics of dispossession and division continue amidst efforts to rebuild urban landscapes.
This issue captures the challenges facing ordinary people in the Middle East as the warfare politics of dispossession and division continue amidst efforts to rebuild urban landscapes.
Reposted by Middle East Research and Information Project
Thread below by James is a wonderful read— if you get to the end you'll learn that MERIP managed to have one of their busiest years ever last year on just a budget of $70,000.
For such quality work that's astonishing, and you should consider donating so they can have an even larger output in 2026.
For such quality work that's astonishing, and you should consider donating so they can have an even larger output in 2026.
February 8, 2026 at 1:55 AM
Thread below by James is a wonderful read— if you get to the end you'll learn that MERIP managed to have one of their busiest years ever last year on just a budget of $70,000.
For such quality work that's astonishing, and you should consider donating so they can have an even larger output in 2026.
For such quality work that's astonishing, and you should consider donating so they can have an even larger output in 2026.
Reposted by Middle East Research and Information Project
I really can't emphasize enough that this is one of the most important periodicals/projects and it deserves far more support than it gets.
SUPPORT MERIP: We rely on the support of our readers to publish all of our content without paywalls. If you value independent research and analysis on the Middle East, please consider a donation today!
Donate
SUPPORT MERIP'S CRITICAL WORK BY DONATING For 50 years, MERIP has published critical analysis of Middle Eastern politics, history, and social justice not available in other publications. Our articles…
buff.ly
February 7, 2026 at 1:26 AM
I really can't emphasize enough that this is one of the most important periodicals/projects and it deserves far more support than it gets.
Reposted by Middle East Research and Information Project
I'll add more over time to the extent that I can. In the meantime if you aren't really a *book* reader, please check out @merip.bsky.social
OK, *ongoing* thread of books to read on Palestine. Some recent, some not at all so recent.
I’ve been thinking on this as I read more. Also how the settlers trigger response that the army uses to validate excessive force.
Also, I’ve concluded 100 Year War on Palestine. Do you have other suggestions for reading? If you don’t mind. I’d actually love a thread if you do. Not that you have to.
Also, I’ve concluded 100 Year War on Palestine. Do you have other suggestions for reading? If you don’t mind. I’d actually love a thread if you do. Not that you have to.
February 7, 2026 at 1:22 AM
I'll add more over time to the extent that I can. In the meantime if you aren't really a *book* reader, please check out @merip.bsky.social
SUPPORT MERIP: We rely on the support of our readers to publish all of our content without paywalls. If you value independent research and analysis on the Middle East, please consider a donation today!
Donate
SUPPORT MERIP'S CRITICAL WORK BY DONATING For 50 years, MERIP has published critical analysis of Middle Eastern politics, history, and social justice not available in other publications. Our articles…
buff.ly
February 5, 2026 at 10:18 PM
SUPPORT MERIP: We rely on the support of our readers to publish all of our content without paywalls. If you value independent research and analysis on the Middle East, please consider a donation today!
Check out our latest podcast episode -- an edition of the MERIP Roundtable on Iran's protests with Asma Abdi, Kaveh Ehsani and Maziyar Ghiabi, hosted by MERIP's Executive Director, James Ryan.
The MERIP Podcast Episode 14: The MERIP Roundtable, On Iran's Protests
In this installment of the MERIP Roundtable podcast, we discuss the latest wave of protests in Iran. The protests began on December 28, 2025, as merchants and bazaar workers reacted negatively to new…
buff.ly
February 5, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Check out our latest podcast episode -- an edition of the MERIP Roundtable on Iran's protests with Asma Abdi, Kaveh Ehsani and Maziyar Ghiabi, hosted by MERIP's Executive Director, James Ryan.
ICYMI: Read our latest essay, "Governing Crisis--Sanctions, Austerity and Social Unrest in Iran" from Ida Nikou
Governing Crisis—Sanctions, Austerity and Social Unrest in Iran
Recent protests triggered by currency collapse and price shocks expose how sanctions have reconfigured state power, enabling austerity and insider accumulation rather than relief.
buff.ly
February 5, 2026 at 5:00 PM
ICYMI: Read our latest essay, "Governing Crisis--Sanctions, Austerity and Social Unrest in Iran" from Ida Nikou
PITCH US: MERIP's editors are inviting open pitches for our Summer 2026 issue on Visual Art and Cultural Production in the Middle East and North Africa!
Read more and pitch at the link below.
Read more and pitch at the link below.
Call for Pitches—Visual Art & Cultural Production in the Middle East and North Africa
MERIP is seeking pitches for our Summer 2026 issue exploring visual art and cultural production in the Middle East and North Africa. We invite submissions that center artistic practices and cultural…
buff.ly
February 2, 2026 at 8:00 PM
PITCH US: MERIP's editors are inviting open pitches for our Summer 2026 issue on Visual Art and Cultural Production in the Middle East and North Africa!
Read more and pitch at the link below.
Read more and pitch at the link below.
If you like our work, please consider making a monthly or one-time donation today! All of our work is free for the world to read, we rely on donations to help us keep going!
Donate
SUPPORT MERIP'S CRITICAL WORK BY DONATING For 50 years, MERIP has published critical analysis of Middle Eastern politics, history, and social justice not available in other publications. Our articles…
buff.ly
January 30, 2026 at 5:00 PM
If you like our work, please consider making a monthly or one-time donation today! All of our work is free for the world to read, we rely on donations to help us keep going!
ICYMI: We've had some in-depth coverage of the crisis in Iran this week.
Yesterday we published Ida Nikou's overview of the sanctions economy as a drive of the protests.
buff.ly/DyNLcvM
Yesterday we published Ida Nikou's overview of the sanctions economy as a drive of the protests.
buff.ly/DyNLcvM
Governing Crisis – Sanctions, Austerity and Social Unrest in Iran
Recent protests triggered by currency collapse and price shocks expose how sanctions have reconfigured state power, enabling austerity and insider accumulation rather than relief.
www.merip.org
January 30, 2026 at 3:30 PM
ICYMI: We've had some in-depth coverage of the crisis in Iran this week.
Yesterday we published Ida Nikou's overview of the sanctions economy as a drive of the protests.
buff.ly/DyNLcvM
Yesterday we published Ida Nikou's overview of the sanctions economy as a drive of the protests.
buff.ly/DyNLcvM
SUPPORT MERIP: Help us keep bringing the world critical coverage of the Middle East without paywalls by making a donation today!
buff.ly/Wrm3aPi
buff.ly/Wrm3aPi
Donate
SUPPORT MERIP'S CRITICAL WORK BY DONATING For 50 years, MERIP has published critical analysis of Middle Eastern politics, history, and social justice not available in other publications. Our articles…
www.merip.org
January 29, 2026 at 9:00 PM
SUPPORT MERIP: Help us keep bringing the world critical coverage of the Middle East without paywalls by making a donation today!
buff.ly/Wrm3aPi
buff.ly/Wrm3aPi
For more analysis of the recent protests in Iran, check out the latest edition of the MERIP Roundtable Podcast with Asma Abdi, Kaveh Ehsani and Maziyar Ghiabi.
The MERIP Podcast Episode 14: The MERIP Roundtable, On Iran's Protests
In this installment of the MERIP Roundtable podcast, we discuss the latest wave of protests in Iran. The protests began on December 28, 2025, as merchants and bazaar workers reacted negatively to new…
buff.ly
January 29, 2026 at 7:01 PM
For more analysis of the recent protests in Iran, check out the latest edition of the MERIP Roundtable Podcast with Asma Abdi, Kaveh Ehsani and Maziyar Ghiabi.
NEW: Governing Crisis--Sanctions, Austerity and Social Unrest in Iran
Sociologist Ida Nikou analyzes how the relationship between the sanctions regime and austerity politics in Iran has fueled the recent protest wave.
Sociologist Ida Nikou analyzes how the relationship between the sanctions regime and austerity politics in Iran has fueled the recent protest wave.
Governing Crisis – Sanctions, Austerity and Social Unrest in Iran
Recent protests triggered by currency collapse and price shocks expose how sanctions have reconfigured state power, enabling austerity and insider accumulation rather than relief.
buff.ly
January 29, 2026 at 6:00 PM
NEW: Governing Crisis--Sanctions, Austerity and Social Unrest in Iran
Sociologist Ida Nikou analyzes how the relationship between the sanctions regime and austerity politics in Iran has fueled the recent protest wave.
Sociologist Ida Nikou analyzes how the relationship between the sanctions regime and austerity politics in Iran has fueled the recent protest wave.