Tag Archives: Middle East

Saudi Arabia, to the surprise of many, chose China to broker its deal with Iran in March 2023. Chinese Foreign Ministry/Anadolu Agency via Getty Image Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University The fact that Saudi Arabia entered a rapprochement deal with Iran and chose China to broker it came as a surprise to many international observers. The agreement, officially called the …

Hajja Nuzha Al-Najjar in her cave-home in Masafer Yatta. In an oral history interview, she describes being shot in the leg by an Israeli settler in 2005. Mahmoud Makhamra, Author provided Aurélie Bröckerhoff, Coventry University and Mahmoud Soliman, Coventry University The people of Masafer Yatta are determined to hold on to their cave-dwelling lifestyle. “I was born in this cave …

Hajja Nuzha Al-Najjar in her cave-home in Masafer Yatta. In an oral history interview, she describes being shot in the leg by an Israeli settler in 2005. Mahmoud Makhamra, Author provided Aurélie Bröckerhoff, Coventry University and Mahmoud Soliman, Coventry University The people of Masafer Yatta are determined to hold on to their cave-dwelling lifestyle. “I was born in this cave …

Things between Saudi King Salman and Turkish President Erdogan have become rather tense. AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici Nader Habibi, Brandeis University The Oct. 2 disappearance of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi at his country’s consulate in Istanbul has put a spotlight on the deteriorating relations between Turkey and the Persian Gulf kingdom. Articles based on anonymous accounts from Turkish officials report …

Veronika Poniscjakova, University of Portsmouth Saudi Arabia recently sentenced Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani to 45 years in prison after she had expressed her views on social media. This comes just a couple of weeks after a Leeds University student, Salma al-Shehab, was sentenced to 34 years in prison for using Twitter to retweet views of activists who are critical of …

As the most water-scarce region on the planet, the Middle East is particularly reliant on desalination technology. Maxim Petrichuk/Shutterstock Kiran Tota-Maharaj, Aston University Clean freshwater is critical for sustaining human life. However, 1.1 billion people lack access to it worldwide. Desalination represents an increasingly popular way of addressing this. Desalination is the process of extracting salt from saline water to …

A man carries a tray of freshly baked bread outside a bread factory on Dec. 15, 2016, in Cairo. Chris McGrath/Getty Images Jessica Barnes, University of South Carolina Russia’s war on Ukraine is disrupting global grain supplies. Restrictions on navigation in the Azov Sea and the closure of ports have interrupted grain shipments from Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, …

Dream of a caliphate as an Islamist homeland is receding. Mohammad Bash via Shutterstock Elisa Orofino, Anglia Ruskin University A “proto-state”, a “socio-political movement, the ”beast“ – all names given to a single group that, at its height, seemed to embody the west’s worst nightmare. You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, here. Islamic State …

Jerusalem, the city that is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims. S1001/Shutterstock. Ronit Berger Hobson, Queen’s University Belfast When filmmaker Gillian Moseley, a Jewish Anglo-American, decided to make a documentary examining the question of belonging and home in the Holy Land – the coastal strip that stretches from Syria to Egypt, with Israel in the centre – she believed she …