Middle East Research and Information Project
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MERIP provides critical, alternative reporting and analysis, focusing on state power, political economy and social hierarchies as well as popular struggles and the role of US policy in the region. MERIP seeks to reach academics, journalists, non-governmental and governmental organizations and informed citizens who want knowledgeable analysis and critical resources about contemporary political developments. Informed by scholarship and research, MERIP is a curated platform for critical analysis and discussion that brings informed perspectives to a broader audience.
The Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) was established in 1971 to educate and inform the public about contemporary Middle East affairs. Source
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| Scope | International |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Country | United States of America |
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Recent Articles
Search ArticlesMER 319: Art at Work–People, Power and Cultural Production
Dear Friends and Comrades, We’re thrilled to share Issue 319 of Middle East Report, “Art at Work–People, Power and Cultural Production.” Across the region today, art is being made, redefined and reimagined under extreme conditions of war, political upheaval and the interplay of state and market capital.
‘Women at Work’—Challenging the Art/Craft Divide
A large wool tapestry with a textured, tasseled surface suspended from the ceiling greeted visitors entering the exhibit Women at Work: Intersection of Fine Art and Craft at the Dalloul Art Foundation’s gallery in Beirut. Untitled (1972) by Moroccan artist Esther Cécile Bendaoud Boccara, appeared more like a structure, refusing the conventional functions of a rug meant to lie passively underfoot.
Soundtrack of Dissent—The Music of Protest in Iran
In February 2026, one month after mass protests in Iran led to a government crackdown killing thousands, Shervin Hajipour released a new song from inside the country. Hajipour had become internationally known during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests of 2022, when his song “Baraye” went viral before he was arrested by the authorities. His new song, “Iranam” (I Am Iran), was dedicated to the victims of what he called “the bloody month of Dey,” referring to the state violence of the previous month.
Exhibiting the Gulf—Kuwait’s Overlooked Role in Regional Art
In February 2026, the international Art Basel festival was held for the first time in Qatar and is scheduled to return in January 2027. In November 2026, London’s Frieze art fair is due to launch Frieze Abu Dhabi. The festivals mark a growing trend—mirrored in construction of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums in Abu Dhabi—of Gulf governments collaborating with Western art institutions to deliver streamlined, world-class cultural programming.
Alternative Amman—Making Counterculture in the Jordanian Capital
On a balmy April night in Amman’s Jabal Al-Weibdeh, a DJ was perched on the roof of Zawyeh Space, leaning over a battered mixer as a small crowd of mostly twenty-somethings chatted under the sky. A short walk away at The Village in Jabal Amman, the city’s only metal festival, Rock On, was celebrating its fourth installment in two years.
On Drawing the Act of Looking
A visual essay on witnessing and rendering violence. Jana Traboulsi Lebanese artists Jana Traboulsi, Mazen Kerbaj and Bahij Jaroudi have long grappled with how to draw the violence inflicted by Israel in Palestine and Lebanon, questions that have taken on new urgency since the destruction of Gaza began in October 2023.
Gazing into Gaza with Mahmoud Alhaj
In June 2024, Zawyeh Gallery in Ramallah presented Control Anatomy, the first solo exhibition of Palestinian artist Mahmoud Alhaj. Organized as Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza continued and as military raids and restrictions intensified across the West Bank, the exhibition brought together digital works that explore how surveillance technologies have shaped Palestinian life under Israeli occupation.
25 Years Since 9/11 And Still No Justice—Here's Why
The September 11 terror attacks occurred 25 years ago. Yet there has been no justice for the 2,977 people killed on that day, or for the five Guantánamo detainees the US government accuses of responsibility for this crime. The 9/11 case in the military commissions system, which started in 2008 and restarted in 2012, has not moved past the pre-trial phase.
NEW: Arab AI Slop and the Precarious Politics of Digital Kitsch
Dear Friends and Comrades, If you spend any time on social media, you’ve seen the uncannily rendered videos and memes known colloquially as AI slop, crudely generated videos playing on stereotypes meant to generate viral outrage. In our upcoming summer issue of Middle East Report, Nermin Elsherif looks at the consumption and production of these kitschy and provocative images and videos in the Arab world.
Arab AI Slop and the Precarious Politics of Digital Kitsch
In April 2026, a 15-second Instagram reel depicting US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as janitors cleaning a dirty men’s room went viral.