Adaptation Actions, Migration and Disaster Vulnerability of Bangladeshi Coastal Communities
This essay discusses the impact of climate change on livelihoods and documents the current and future adaptation strategies of Bangladeshi coastal communities. The findings of the research conducted for this essay indicate that those who migrated to another area were able to secure new places to reside, but in locations that made them susceptible to other forms of disaster.
Monday Briefing: Turkey's Post-Coup Military Restructuring and US-Russia Meeting in Geneva on Syria Coodrination
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Gonul Tol and Randa Slim provide analysis on the restructuring of Turkey’s military following the recent failed coup attempt and the meeting between U.S. and Russian officials in Geneva tomorrow to discuss counterterrorism coordination in Syria.
Last month’s massacre at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando launched a heated debate about the relationship between Islam and homosexuality, and more acutely, about the prevalence of a virulent homophobia in the Islamic world. But in the Middle East, this debate began long before Orlando. LGBT people in this part of the world have been battling for their rights for years, and not without casualties.
Toward Regional Cooperation: The Internal Security Dimension
Regional Cooperation Series
This Policy Paper is part of The Middle East Institute’s Regional Cooperation Series. Throughout 2016, MEI will be releasing several policy papers by renowned scholars and experts exploring possibilities to foster regional cooperation across an array of sectors. The purpose is to highlight the myriad benefits and opportunities associated with regional cooperation, and the high costs of the continued business-as-usual model of competition and intense rivalry.
Turkey is a country of ironies. A president who has called Twitter “the worst menace to society” and frequently expressed his “hatred” of the Internet, used both to prevent the coup against his rule when he called on his followers to take to the streets using Twitter and Facetime. The first TV network he called to reach out to his followers was CNN Turk, a channel he repeatedly accused of “terrorism propaganda” and “supporting coup against his government” and that has been the target of physical attacks by pro-Erdogan supporters.
Thinking Beyond “Crisis”: Population Displacement and State Building in the Middle East
War and displacement—for those who are caught up in them—are always a tragedy, one that they carry with and within them far beyond the limited attention spans of international media and scholars. However, not every tragedy becomes a crisis. This essay discusses the intellectual, policy, and human consequences of considering the current displacements in the Middle East a “crisis.”
Syria’s uprising-turned-war is the first to unfold on social media for the whole world to see in real time. While this gives unprecedented power for local, grassroots activists and citizen journalists, it also comes with challenges.
For successive Israeli governments and the defense establishment, the Syrian arena has traditionally been considered Israel’s “front yard” in terms of threat analysis, early warning and force readiness. The defense budget, comprising 7.7 percent of Israel’s G.N.P. in 2011 (latest available data), included considerable allocations designed to meet the Syrian army’s threat.
This essay examines the need to understand and quantify natural hazards and the associated risks and their inter-connectedness so that societies are better positioned to guard against and bounce back from these potentially catastrophic events. The essay describes the genesis, objectives and goals of the South East Asia Risk Collaboration Hub (SEARCH), a knowledge-driven enterprise that provides a platform for the private sector and academia to discuss these crucial issues.
Monday Briefing: After Turkey's Failed Coup, How Far Will the Crackdown Go?
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI expert W. Robert Pearson provides analysis on the failed coup in Turkey and the impending crackdown on opposition. Marvin Weinbaum considers whether the unpopularity of Pakistan’s government could put it at risk of a military coup of its own. And Charles Lister looks at how ISIS is adapting in the face of territorial losses in Iraq and Syria.
