The State of the Arts in the Middle East: Volume IV

In this fourth volume of MEI’s “The State of the Arts in the Middle East,” Najat Rahman considers the works of the Palestinian artists Emily Jacir and Eman Haram, and W. Scott Chahanovich (with Pauline Pannier) discusses the memoirs of the Moroccan-born writer Abdellah Taïa. As the essays reveal, these artists have pushed the boundaries of their respective crafts, and in so doing, have shed light on the transformational role that memory can play in shaping individual and collective identity.

Migration and the Gulf

The flow of ideas, people, and commerce across national boundaries has been occurring with breathtaking rapidity in the broader Middle East, as elsewhere. These increasingly dense exchanges have generated new threats and vulnerabilities that have tended to impact women, children, and the poorest members of society disproportionately. At the same time, however, they have given people more resources and opportunities with which to shape their lives and their futures.

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The State of the Arts in the Middle East: Volume III

The trials, tribulations, and taboos faced by ordinary youths, the deep cultural significance of the ordinary spoken word, and the actions of ordinary women surmounting the barriers of silence and passivity — these are the subjects covered in this third edition of MEI Viewpoints on the State of the Arts in the Middle East.

Afghanistan, 1979-2009: In the Grip of Conflict

The 53 essays contained in this edition revisit the tortured path that Afghanistan has followed over the past three decades. The essays, which are grouped under five subject headings, paint a revealing picture of Afghanistan’s complex social, political, and economic landscape...

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1979-2009: The Evolution of a Pivotal State

This collection of 21 essays, the fifth of six special editions of MEI Viewpoints commemorating the momentous events of 1979, seeks to shed light on some of the important developments in Saudi Arabia’s domestic and external affairs since then.