Shahmahmood Miakhel

Composing this bricolage of most frequented places is to identify with the environment. Each of the works in this exhibition strives to enliven such connections by looking anew and afresh. Whether considering the lives lived in the temporal or spatial shadows cast by unrest, migration, and industry, or taking a long view of history or an attentive approach to an immediate setting, new relations are found.

Over the past several months, the eyes of the world have been on the massive demonstrations in Israel against the Netanyahu government’s proposed judicial “reform.” Even though Palestinian citizens of Israel are likely to be the group most affected by the proposed changes, they have been notable for their absence, for the most part, from the protests. While Jewish citizens are worried about what the proposed changes might mean for Israel’s judiciary and the future of its democracy, the Supreme Court and the legal system more broadly have long failed to protect the rights of the country’s Palestinian citizens.

Catch up with the latest developments about Turkey’s May elections with weekly updates from MEI’s Turkey Program. In this week’s installment of Turkish Election Watch: Erdoğan launches his re-election campaign, Kılıçdaroğlu announces pledges for the first 100 days, and İnce’s difficult week.

Passover, Ramadan, and Easter coincide this year, a phenomenon that only occurs a few times a century. The alignment of these Jewish, Muslim, and Christian holy days comes at a time when dialogue between the three faiths offers a glimmer of hope for a conflict-stricken Middle East.

The development of small-scale LNG and the domestic deployment of LNG as a transport and power-generation fuel could help to lower Saudi Arabia’s carbon footprint as well as improve air quality by reducing vehicle exhaust.

President Theodore Roosevelt said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”¹ Roosevelt used the image of the big stick to popularize his philosophy, but he offered a subtler interpretation in other venues. It represented a quiet threat that would only rarely need to be used if accompanied by steady diplomacy.

In recent years, Iraq has become one of the leading destinations for Chinese investments in the Middle East and a crucial link in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative. To capitalize on its geostrategic location and central position within the Chinese BRI, Iraq is seeking to develop a sprawling new 54-square-kilometer port project, known as al-Faw Grand Port, which will reduce the country’s reliance on Arab Gulf ports and overland transit from Iran and Turkey. The project also underscores Iraq’s growing economic rivalry with neighboring Iran, as both countries seek to carve out a similar niche in handling regional transit traffic.

Lyne Sneige, Director of the Arts & Culture Program at the Middle East Institute, speaks with artists Moza Al Matrooshi and Christian Sleiman about their works that are featured in MEI’s current exhibition, Perceptible Rhythms/Alternative Temporalities. The conversation provides greater detail on the relationship between each artist’s works and the themes of food and sustainability.

اقرأ تقرير MEI الأسبوعي الذي يتضمن تحليلات الخبراء للتطورات الإقليمية الرئيسية للأسبوع المقبل.

Washington and Beijing look at emerging technologies as a gateway to the new global order. Beijing wants to become an AI and innovation superpower, while Washington pursues a strategy of “tech containment” against Beijing. Chris Miller’s “Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology” walks us through the history of the semiconductor industry and could not be more timely in light of the Biden administration’s decision to work with allies such as Japan and the Netherlands to limit China’s access to advanced chips with the strategic objective of slowing down Beijing’s technological innovation.

The oil and gas sector has been the dominant driver of Qatar’s economy. Over the years, although that sector has remained the major focus of Qatari investments, the emphasis has increasingly shifted towards the expansion of the country’s gas production and LNG export capacity. While the construction boom ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup powered the Qatari economy in recent years, income generated by the expansion of the country’s LNG production and export capacity is likely to drive the economy for many years to come — both despite and partly because of the market turmoil caused by the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Catch up with the latest developments about Turkey’s May elections with weekly updates from MEI’s Turkey Program. In this week’s installment of Turkish Election Watch: Kiliçdaroğlu and the carpet, Erdoğan talks tough to the Americans again, attacks on opposition parties, and coalition politics and the parliamentary elections.