Middle East

Analyzing the effects of Palestinian force against the Israeli occupation and Israel’s responsive entrenchment can advance understanding of the devolvement of the Oslo peace process in the early 2000s to the present-day status quo.

This year’s conference in Dubai can, and should, address COP27’s shortcomings by further advocating for the Middle East’s environmental security and confronting the root causes of global warming. 

Do I need to have an opinion on Zionism because I’m Jewish?

JPI’s Puja Thapa sat down with Dr. Yass Alizadeh, Clinical Assistant Professor of Persian Language and Literature at NYU, to discuss the women’s rights protests in Iran.

Imran Khan’s constitutional coup and subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly has polarized Pakistan; a flurry of allegations has magnified the power of the military in the country’s domestic politics. Pakistan’s current constitutional crisis was sparked by a vote of no-confidence against Imran Khan in April 2022, but has escalated further now that Khan has been disqualified from the next set of elections in August 2023. In the wake of the vote of no confidence, Khan rallied unprecedented support against the military establishment while he simultaneously claimed an American conspiracy removed him from office, which may have been fabricated.

The Iranian regime allows a few hours of English classes per day but forbids teaching classes like math, ballet, or music in English except in schools affiliated with foreign embassies. My mother’s subversive, entrepreneurial solution was to turn our family home into an undercover school. She made a profit by defying the regime.

There is a saying that the pen is mightier than the sword. It is this notion that one can kill a writer but not their idea. But what do we do when we are living through this transitional period in our culture where our pens are taken away due to this belief that words are violence?

JPI Online is excited showcase photography by NYU students of events happening at or around Washington Square Park.

Much of the Middle East is facing a crisis of indecision on Iran. Despite extensive reporting on Iran’s expansionist ambitions, the Islamic Republic has been making bold demands with the expectation of both Western and Arab acquiescence.

Iran’s compulsory hijab rule has always been about so much more than appearances and religious loyalty. It’s about allowing women the ability to experience so many of the joys in life that other women around the world take for granted – playing a sport comfortably outside on a warm day, feeling the wind in your hair, expressing yourself through your favorite outfit, taking off a layer when the weather finally thaws in early Spring, lying on the beach and feeling the sun bake into your skin. The women in Iran born after the 1979 revolution have never been able to experience those things in their entire lives, at least not while in their home countries. It’s the form of oppression that is experienced every day, multiple times a day, and that eats away at one’s humanity. It’s what women in Iran are now willing to risk their lives fighting against.

The war in Ukraine, when viewed side by side with recent wars around the world from Yemen to Syria to Ethiopia, indicates disturbing global trends. There is far too little protection for civilians, and the detrimental impact is heightened for already vulnerable groups. Civilians displaced by war sit in limbo for years, and those lucky enough to escape their war-torn countries are relegated to overcrowded and under-resourced camps. The Council on Foreign Relations reports shrinking opportunities for refugee resettlement, a result of the international community’s inability and/or unwillingness to support them or resolve the conflict that caused their displacement in the first place. Refugees in camps can face intense discrimination and fall victim to starvation, illness, and human trafficking. And the perpetrators of all this global violence and suffering tend to be met with impunity. This is the grim status quo.

As Russia continues its war against Ukraine, the similarities between Ukraine and Syria are striking. Specifically, Russia’s weaponization of civilians and refugees is a primary tactic that continues to be utilized to achieve geopolitical goals.

This February, Arab Gulf states engaged in talks with Lebanon, spearheaded by Kuwait’s peace plan in an attempt to repair relations with the country.

As the United States draws down its presence in the Middle East, many in the international community are wondering what actor might step in to fill the supposed power vacuum that will be left in place of the region’s main security broker.

On August 13, Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced normalization of their relations. This deal, known as the Abraham Accord, was brokered by United…

The lives of thousands of men in Morocco have been turned upside down. Vulnerability, exposure and fear are some of the words that express how…

In the last few weeks, there’s been a serious escalation of the northwestern Syria conflict, with Syria and Russia intensifying their offensive in the Idlib…

In his spare time, Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif likes reminding his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that Iran is finally ready to take on…

Before the inception of the Lebanese republic, the Lebanese political system functioned as a multi-confessional system where power has been allocated to different religious communities.…

In 2017, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared that IS was defeated in Iraq. Without IS holding it back, Iraq would have been on the…

As you may have noticed on your morning commute, listening to your preferred daily news podcast, that stories of the Middle East have yet again…

As the oldest political revivalist group in the Islamic world—and one of the most polarizing—the Muslim Brotherhood has the disputed status throughout the region as…

NEW YORK—The U.N. General Assembly’s upcoming vote on a resolution to address the effects and use of depleted uranium weaponry is its first since the…

The Trump administration defines Iran as one of its top foreign policy threats. This is mainly due to Iran’s support of proxies in conflicts such…

Photo courtesy Office of the NKR President Bako Sahakyan, the president of a mountainous Central Asian de facto state roughly the size of Rhode Island,…

The remains of a market in Maarat al-Noaman, in Syria’s northern province of Idlib, after an airstrike Tuesday. Dozens of people were reported killed. |…

The camp in Dalhamiyeh is among hundreds of informal clusters of Syrian refugee tents in the Bekaa Valley | Photo courtesy Dylan Collins/Al Jazeera When…

Prince Mohammed Bin Salman | Photo courtesy Saudi Press Agency On September 26, 2017—led by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman—Saudi Arabia issued a Royal Decree…

A week ago the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, began a referendum campaign to support a bill that could transform the country’s parliamentary system into…

Two years, six months, and eight days. That was the amount of time needed for the Lebanese parliament to elect a new president. On October…

Jake Witzenfeld presented his documentary Oriented at New York University’s Gallatin School, sparking a conversation about identity crises on the Mediterranean shores. In the opening…

  Turkey has a long history of trying to stimulate its economy and protect fledgling industries through large-scale development strategies. A new 5-year plan is…

“It was a really hard life.” Said by a shaken 16-year-old named Marilyn Nevalainen, these words represent a girl’s realization about life under ISIS rule.…

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on March 14 that he would begin to remove his troops from Syria, claiming that he had achieved all of…

On Feb. 11 news broke of a potential breakthrough in the Syrian Civil War. Russian-backed pro-Assad forces and an umbrella group of U.S.-backed anti-regime rebels…

The most recent economic conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, was a grand spectacle. Not so much because of the fanfare, well-decorated conference centers or…

[A version of this was originally posted here] Along with highly publicized remarks on the turnout of Arab Israeli voters and his support for a…

[A version of this originally appeared here] Israel is losing the global PR war, reveals a poll published by the BBC World Service in 2014.…

[This was originally published here] Thanks to Allah who kept us alive to see the dawn of the Caliphate state reemerge… And Allah’s blessing upon Libya…

After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu’s March 3 address to Congress without an invitation from the executive branch, 47 Republican senators circumvented the White House…

[Originally posted here] “You want to cut hands? Here are two! Cut them!” So dares a fishmonger to the occupiers of her hometown, theatrically presenting…

Iran, ISIS, and the Future of Gulf Security March 2, 2015 Furman Hall | The Center on Law and Security | NYU School of Law…

[Originally posted here] Because of manpower shortages, the Syrian conflict has given rise to yet another distressing phenomenon: child soldiers. Although all factions in the…

[Originally posted here] Since the video statement by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri on September 3 announcing al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, South Asia has…

[Originally posted here] With Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud laid to rest on Friday, a first test the direction the kingdom could…

Rich nations should provide funds to help integrate Syrian refugees into their host countries. [Originally posted here] By Paul Mutter As violence in Iraq wages…

Are you interested in Middle East and North African affairs? JPI is expanding and in addition to the Journal, published twice a year, we are…