Journal of Middle Eastern Politics & Policy

In recent weeks, Ethiopia has been withdrawing its troops from the strategic Hiraan region in southern Somalia, where Al Shabab militants have battled the Somali army and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeeping forces. Reports indicate that Ethiopian troops have also withdrawn from Halgan, El Ali and Tiyeglow in Somalia’s Bakool region. The withdrawal paves […]

This article appeared in JMEPP’s Spring 2016 print edition. The ongoing civil war in Syria has reignited interest in no-fly zones as policy options for halting violence against civilians and maintaining stability in conflict-ridden regions. In order to evaluate the success of this policy option, this article will survey a portion of relevant literature to […]

Embed from Getty Images Police brutality and the impunity of the security forces, though far from the only cause, were a major catalyst of the Arab Spring uprisings of 2010-11. In Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, Mohamed Bouazizi’s humiliating encounters with local police led him to light himself on fire. In Alexandria, Egypt, Khaled Mohamed Said was […]

Embed from Getty Images “Turkey is at a crossroads!” has become the rallying cry for commentators as the country grapples with terrorism, a coup attempt, and a reshaping of its domestic and international stances. The cliché has long described Turkey as a country straddling two continents, torn between East and West – its imperial history tied to […]

Throughout his campaign for president of the United States, Republican nominee Donald Trump has time and time again denigrated Muslim communities living on American soil and abroad. Trump’s critics have underscored how promoting the prejudicial treatment of Muslims only helps to strengthen anti-American Islamist organizations. By targeting Muslims, the arguments go, Trump inadvertently validates claims made […]

On October 15, in Kigali, Rwanda, more than 170 countries signed a legally binding accord to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a powerful greenhouse gas commonly used in air conditioners and refrigerators. The deal could stop the equivalent of 70 billion tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere, approximately twice […]

Boston’s Palestine Film Festival, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, opened on Friday, October 15 with a timely, searing showing of Mai Masri’s 3000 Nights. 3000 Nights tells the story of Layal Asfour, a newlywed schoolteacher turned political prisoner in the early 1980s. She gives birth in Israel’s Ramla prison, and, with the other women inmates, raises […]

Embed from Getty Images In late September, the largest hospital on the rebel-held side of Aleppo was bombed by Syrian or Russian planes, taking it temporarily out of commission and leaving only six hospitals operational in the area. This week, Aleppo’s M10 hospital was bombed yet again, leaving two doctors and a pharmacist wounded. The […]

With the rise of the Islamic State, for the first time in nearly 100 years the call to prayer was heard in a caliphate. But the muezzin call of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was not merely incanted from a minaret in Mosul – in the ancient style his followers claim to espouse. Nor was it just […]

For the past 35 years, the United States has been militarily involved in the Middle East – from Lebanon to Libya, Iraq to Syria. Yet this extensive involvement in the region has failed to make any lasting positive impact or achieve the United States’ stated goals, according to Rami Khouri, director of the Issam Fares […]

For Republicans, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s Middle East policy has been a lightning rod. In addition to Clinton’s email scandal, Republicans have frequently criticized positions the former secretary of state took during the 2010-11 Arab Spring uprising and the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The Arab world’s pundits have their […]

Boston’s Amazigh community came together at Lesley University on Saturday for the eighth annual Amazigh Film Festival, a celebration of Amazigh culture through film. The Amazigh are the descendants of the pre-Arab inhabitants of North Africa (they are also colloquially called “Berbers,” though that term is considered pejorative by some). Today, Amazigh people live scattered across North Africa, […]