Why Lebanon’s Food Prices Are Through The Roof An Overview This article will explore the context and impacts of food insecurity across Lebanon. Lebanon’s economic crisis is complex. Political instability obscures questions of accountability and who shapes future policy. Emerging black markets for cash and goods alike complicate an understanding of the economic lives of […]

On June 29, 2019, the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), NYU Washington, DC, Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC), Justice for Muslims Collective (JMC), and the Arab American Institute (AAI) hosted a program to explore the history and impact of structural Islamophobia. One year earlier, on June 26, 2018, the Supreme Court upheld President Trump’s ban on travel from several […]

June 5th marked one year since Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed relations with Qatar over its alleged support of terrorist organisations and close links to Iran. This included cutting off all air, sea, and land routes with Qatar. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar maintains that there is "no legitimate justification" for [...]

June 26, 2018 – The Supreme Court has upheld the Trump administration’s third “Muslim Ban” in a 5-4 ruling on the case of Trump v. Hawaii, which challenges the ban’s constitutionality. The case questions whether or not Trump’s proclamation restricting travel and immigration to the United States from certain countries violates the Establishment Clause, which […]

In this republished article by journalists William Booth and Hazem Balousha, educated and unemployed Palestinians in their 20s discuss lives bereft of opportunity and hope. Nearly 60 percent of young Gazans are unemployed and most would leave if it were possible. With few stable job prospects and no escape, many have resorted to occasional odd […]

ADC (The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee) has released valuable practical information on the details of the latest version of President Trump’s travel ban targeting six Muslim majority countries. Notably, they offer resources to those, including students, who are or might be affected by the executive order. If you or a loved one will be traveling to […]

On May 19th, Iranians return to the polls to select their next president. The much anticipated event has received a great deal of scrutiny from journalists and analysts who have been closely monitoring the candidates and their campaigns. Iran continues to play center stage in global politics due to concerns about its compliance with the [...]

A poster of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the upcoming referendum, in Istanbul on March 27. (Emrah Gurel/AP) Learn more about Turkey’s constitutional vote taking place on Sunday that will shape this regional power’s future in this informative background guide. Leader Erdogan has been at the forefront of a global trend toward reactionary nationalism that […]

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced his resignation on Thursday, May 6, 2016. Davutoglu’s resignation is the most recent in a string of concerted efforts by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to consolidate power in the Turkish presidency. Various internal and external factors, such as security threats from the PKK and ISIS, a refugee crisis from […]

Journalist and comedian, Dean Obeidallah, reaches beyond the headlines detailing the horrific treatment by the Islamic State of ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and Syria. Here he discusses the Islamic State's impact on fellow Muslims in response to a September report drafted by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the [...]

This in-depth profile looks at key participants in the 2011 Egyptian uprisings as well as the first post-Mubarak presidential election candidates. In addition, you will find a few contemporaneous articles that demonstrate the impassioned atmosphere at that time. Asmaa Mahfouz Asmaa Mahfouz was born on February 1st, 1985. She graduated from Cairo University with a BA [...]

The highly contested negotiation talks between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany) over the former's nuclear program resulted in a tentative framework for an eventual agreement. These discussions have been on the center stage of the global community whose concerns over regional security have elicited a [...]

How Did Algeria Differ in the Arab Spring Revolts? In 2011, starting with the self-immolation of Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, a wave of revolutions and protests swept across the Arab world. This series of protests and revolutions are popularly referred to as the “Arab Spring.” Almost every single Arab country participated in the Arab […]

The Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwayn al-Muslimun) is the oldest and most influential Islamist organization in Egypt, most recently in the news when party member, Mohammed Morsi, became Egypt’s first democratically elected president. The Brotherhood’s legacy reaches back to 1928 when it was founded by Hasan al-Banna. Banna, an imam, (Muslim religious officiant or leader) formed the […]

Algeria’s history and identity is rooted in Islam. Cultural practices, even under French rule, were strongly Islamic. In fact, though Algeria established a secular state following its independence, much of its resistance was couched in Islamic rhetoric and ideals. Revolutionaries would often refer to their struggle against the French as a “jihad,” and those fallen […]

The Middle East Policy Council has tackled numerous subjects from defense cooperation and foreign policy in the Middle East to humanitarian crises and hot topic issues like the Iranian nuclear negotiations at its quarterly Capitol Hill Briefings series and in the Middle East Policy Journal. One frequently addressed interest is the Arab-Israeli conflict, which continues to fester without much prospect of a resolution, though not for lack of trying. Here are some transcripts of talks given at MEPC Capitol Hill forums on the Arab-Israeli conflict to show how the climate and conversation differs among specialists and continues to evolve over time.

Global Security Matrix Tool What makes us feel safe?  Is the definition of security universal or does it differ from country to country?  These are some of the questions the new online Global Security Matrix tries to answer. Developed by the well-respected Choices Program, an education program about history and current issues based at Brown University, the Global [...]

In 2006, Keith Ellison became the first Muslim elected to Congress. He took the oath of office on a Qu’ran from Thomas Jefferson’s personal library. This prompted Denise A. Spellburg to write a book on the subject titled Thomas Jefferson’s Qu’ran: Islam and the Founders, published in 2013. In a podcast hosted by Joan Neuberg at the University of Texas at Austin, Neuberg and Spellburg delve into how Thomas Jefferson’s interest in the Qu’ran began and the different ways in which it influenced him.

Anti-extremist activist Maajid Nawaz was once, in fact, an Islamist extremist himself. This TED talk looks at why transnational extremist organizations succeed where democratic movements have a harder time taking hold. He calls for new grassroots stories and global social activism to spread democracy in the face of nationalism and xenophobia.

U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East since the 19th Century © 2004, Mohamed El Mansour In this article the influential Moroccan historian provides a history of the role of the United States in the Middle East and North Africa. The essay provides an excellent introductory survey, beginning with the recognition of the young American [...]

The following is an edited transcript of remarks by Chas W. Freeman, Jr. to the Middle East Policy Council's 71st conference on Capitol Hill about U.S. policy towards Israel and Palestine.  Ambassador Freeman is the president of Projects International and the former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Over the past half-century or so, the United States [...]