Relocating Palestinians to “Clean Out” Gaza: Trump’s Proposal Echoes Forced Population Transfer

By Ola G. El-Taliawi / January 30, 2025

Moving the Palestinians in Gaza to neighboring Arab countries will not solve the underlying problems caused by the Israeli occupation

The Elusive Saudi-Israeli Normalization Deal: Why an Agreement is Likely to Fall Short of Expectations

By Robert Mogielnicki /

A deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel will likely happen eventually but is unlikely to transform the Middle East

Duel with Israel is Turbocharging Iranian Nationalism

By Kourosh Ziabari /

There’s only one ingredient in the Iranian people’s worldview that has not been outperformed by a disastrous mélange of crackdowns on civil liberties, economic maladies, corruption, and the specter of an all-out confrontation with Israel: nationalism

Israel, Hamas, and the Burdens of History

By Michael J. Reimer / Fall 2024

The violence of the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent retaliatory war on Gaza have reignited historical collective traumas and existential fears among Jewish-Israelis, the Jewish Diaspora, and Palestinians

Syria is the Middle East’s Hinge, but Which Way Will It Turn?

By Hussein Ibish /

The demise of the Syrian dictator has put the country on the precipice of the chaos and instability other countries experienced since the Arab uprisings. But there is a glimmer of hope that Syria can buck the trend and instead embrace tolerance, plurality, and security

Is Israel a Liberal Democracy?

By Raphael Cohen-Almagor / Fall 2024

Israel’s democratic principles are under threat both internally and externally. Its long-term survival is to integrate fully into the Middle East, and the key to that integration is to peacefully resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Is China Becoming a Political Player in the Middle East?

By Dominika Urhová and Gedaliah Afterman /

China saw Israel’s war in Gaza as an opportunity to gain traction in the Middle East at the expense of the United States, but is it ready to become a serious political actor in the region?

Israel Accelerates Mass Arrest and Torture Campaigns

By Kellie Kuenzle /

The Israeli government has capitalized on public anger and fear following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attacks to justify arbitrary mass arrests of Palestinians, the systemic use of torture, and inhumane prison conditions

A Pacifism for Our Times

By Antonio Patriota / Fall 2024

Growing trends of unilateralism are encouraging violence and threatening a systemic breakdown of international law and order. Change must come, and soon

A Reading on the Future of Hamas

By Omar Shaban / Summer 2024

The aftermath of October 7, and assassination of senior commanders, has forced an existential rethink within Hamas

Hamas “From the Heart of Battle”: Analyzing Abu Obaida’s Discourse

By Erwin van Veen and Sophia Agathocleous / Summer 2024

The frames and focus of the speeches of Hamas spokesperson Abu Obaida reveal the group’s strategic goals and the psychological warfare used to achieve them.

The Court Rules: Occupation Illegal

By Abigail Flynn /

What does the advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice tell us and why is it important?

It’s Been a Year

It’s time to end this war

Is Israel’s Star Fading in Latin America?

By Jodor Jalit / Summer 2024

The Latin American response to Israel’s war on Gaza could help strengthen the rich but neglected cultural ties with Arab states

Looking Backward into The Future: Why the United Nations Has Failed to Prevent Genocide

By Gregory H. Stanton / Summer 2024

At its root, genocide is committed through a lack of empathy, and it has failed to be prevented by a lack of political will. It is time to reverse those failings by rethinking our systems and challenging our assumptions.

Don’t Forget About the Red Sea

By Burak Şakir Şeker / Summer 2024

A widening of Israel’s War on Gaza could threaten the vital Red Sea waterway and lead to a global economic crisis

China Tests the Water in Palestinian Diplomacy

By Ramzy Baroud / Summer 2024

While the ramifications of the recent unity agreement signed in Beijing by multiple Palestinian factions remain to be seen, it is evident that China has stepped up as a leader in the region

The Olympics: Arenas of Contention

By Jung Woo Lee / Summer 2024

Political tensions simmered under the facade of international communion at the Paris 2024 Games as countries competed both on and off the stage

Iranians Don’t Want a War With Israel

By Kourosh Ziabari / Summer 2024

Most believe that Tehran’s engagement in the battle for Palestinian emancipation is intrusive and uncalled for

Why Hamas Cannot Be Destroyed

By Grace Wermenbol / Summer 2024

Israel’s strategy to eradicate Hamas by killing off its leadership has proven ineffective for decades; the current war demonstrates the myopic nature of this approach

Politics of Apathy and All-Out War in the Post-Gaza New World

By Abdalhadi Alijla / Summer 2024

The genocidal campaign against the Gaza Strip threatens widening of the conflict into a regional war, creating new realities that may endure for decades

Less Than a State

By Sean Lee / Summer 2024

Without a new framework that ensures true sovereignty and security for a future Palestinian state, the two-state solution will remain a farce

Iran’s Election: Reality Versus the Dominant Narrative

By Massoud Hedeshi /

The primary discourse on Iran’s politics obscures its nuanced reality through binary and inaccurate labels of “moderate” and “hardliner”; examining this framework reveals a deep Western insecurity about Iran’s and the Global South’s rising power

The World Fears Wider War After Hamas Leader’s Assassination

The international community races to reduce tension after a series of targeted killings carried out by Israel

Prioritizing Palestinian Self-Determination is Long Overdue

By Omar Auf / Summer 2024

The discussion about a one-state or two-state solution must be preceded by efforts to facilitate exercise of the right to self-determination by the Palestinian people. Only then can a realistic solution be genuinely pursued.

The War in Sudan—with Amira Ahmed and Manuel Schwab: CR Amplified ep. 2

By Abigail Flynn /

The war in Sudan is entering its second year. In 2019, Sudan witnessed a massive popular revolution that ousted its former president, Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled for over two decades. Sudanese civilians were key in bringing down al-Bashir and establishing a civilian government in his place. Two armed organizations also played an important role in the revolution: the government’s military, called Sudanese Armed Forces, known as the SAF, and the paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces, » Read more about: The War in Sudan—with Amira Ahmed and Manuel Schwab: CR Amplified ep. 2 »

Egypt’s Balancing Act

By Karim Haggag /

Jon Alterman: Karim Haggag, welcome to Babel.
Karim Haggag: Thank you Jon, thank you for having me. It’s great to be with you.
Jon Alterman: Egypt has had a security focus on the Israeli border since the creation of Israel in 1948. Help us understand the context. How does the current Egyptian concern over Gaza rank among the various crises that Egypt has felt on its border with Israel over the last 75 years?
Karim Haggag: This is a fundamentally different challenge than the large-scale armed conflicts that Egypt fought with Israel over the years, » Read more about: Egypt’s Balancing Act »

War on Palestine Underscores the Supremacy of Geopolitics

By Omar Auf / Spring 2024

Why do states ignore violations of international law in Gaza?

In Targeting UNRWA, Israel Aims to Destroy the Right of Return

By Daoud Kuttab / Spring 2024

Hoping to capitalize on world sympathy after October 7, Israel tried to use its allies to defund and dismantle the UN relief agency.

Showing Palestine Refugees that Americans Care

By Omar Auf / Spring 2024

The Cairo Review asks the UNRWA USA National Committee questions about its purpose, processes, and operations amid the existential crisis UNRWA is facing.

The Gendering of Sudan’s Brutal War

By Nafisa Bedri and Tamsin Bradley / Spring 2024

Any analysis of the sexual violence and unfolding genocide must highlight the extent to which the media is still using an orientalist gaze to report on the war in Sudan

Navigating the Politics of Humanitarian Aid in Gaza

By Shatha Abdulsamad / Spring 2024

Despite Israeli efforts to destroy it, UNRWA remains an embodiment of international responsibility for the question of Palestinian refugees, and a reminder of their inalienable right of return.

UNRWA After October 7: Building a Comprehensive Response Framework for Palestinian Refugees

By Lex Takkenberg / Spring 2024

UNRWA’s future cannot be considered in isolation—a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder approach, with displacement issues at its center, is now necessary.

Scrolling Social Media Sentiments on the Gaza War

By Ayusha Chalise /

Despite efforts of platforms like Meta to curb political content generally, frustration and sympathy for both sides of Israel’s War on Gaza continues to run deep among users

UNRWA Funding is Burdened with Conditionality

By Anne Irfan / Spring 2024

The UN agency’s essential humanitarian role lies in the balance thanks to the political contingencies of its donors.

Hegemonic Reasoning Fueled the Russia-Ukraine War

By F. Andrew Wolf Jr. /

With the Cold War at an end for over 30 years, how is it that the US still perceives Russia as a threat?

The Implementation Crisis—with Richard Falk

By Omar Auf /

International law scholar Richard Falk discusses international law and politics as they pertain to the ongoing genocide committed by Israel in Gaza and the wider Palestinian plight, in addition to UN reform.

A World that Ended Apartheid can do the Same for Israel’s Occupation

By Abderahman Salaheldin /

Ending the Israeli occupation and forging a Palestinian state requires a unified effort that parallels the process which ended racial segregation in South Africa.

In Darkness All is Black: Exploring the Realities of Violence by the Israeli State and Hamas

By Erwin van Veen / Winter 2024

The events of October 7 and beyond raise a major ethical question: by what standard is the violence that Hamas uses against Israel different from the violence that the Israeli state uses against Hamas?

Radicalization and Regional Instability: Effects of the Gaza War

By Mamoun Fandy / Winter 2024

As Israel attempts to reestablish its identity as a regional deterrent by destroying Gaza, the effects of its campaign cascade through the region, shifting political alignments, and generating new concerns over radicalization and conflict spillover

U.S. Position on Gaza Risks Wider War in the Middle East

By Karim Haggag /

Just days before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan proclaimed a “quieter” Middle East, and, with faintly concealed satisfaction, declared how little attention he – and thus the nation – needs to devote to the region’s myriad geopolitical headaches.
But now, Israel’s war on Gaza has dragged the United States back to the Middle East, and the Biden administration finds itself sucked into the vortex of multiple regional flashpoints revolving around Gaza. » Read more about: U.S. Position on Gaza Risks Wider War in the Middle East »

Genocide on the Docket at the Hague

By Omar Auf / Winter 2024

International law is a tool for both oppression and emancipation, says AUC law professor Thomas Skouteris in this Q&A as he breaks down the intricacies of the ICJ’s January 26 order for provisional measures in South Africa v. Israel, and elucidates the present and future of international law.

Gaza: Israel’s Unwinnable War

By Richard Silverstein / Winter 2024

Even if, for argument’s sake, it achieved its war goals, Palestinian resistance will exist wherever there are Palestinians—whether in Sinai, Beirut, Ankara, Tehran or Amman

Hamas, ISIL, and Israel: An Exercise in Comparison

By Ayman Zaineldine / Winter 2024

One of Israel’s main responses to the October 7 attacks was to declare that “Hamas is ISIL,” and that the world should thus unite in support for Israel to eliminate it. But others are not sure, and ask whether Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, and its practices as an occupying power, is even more worthy of global sanction

Covering the Palestinian–Israeli Conflict: Between Exasperation and Empathy

By Lawrence Pintak / Winter 2024

A personal reflection of American involvement in the region’s wars through the eyes of a correspondent

Security and Peace After the War in Gaza

By Ibrahim Awad / Winter 2024

Is the two-state solution feasible? In order to pursue such a policy, the international community must be able to overcome three main points of contention: Israeli occupation, the creation of a Palestinian state, and the role of Hamas

Israel’s Ever-Existing Plan to Depopulate the Gaza Strip

By Nadia Naser-Najjab / Winter 2024

The recent violence in Gaza may be unprecedented in its intensity, but the Zionist rhetoric underlying Israel’s current brutal strategy has roots going back much earlier than October 7

A Palestinian Gandhi or an Israeli de Gaulle? Why the Context of Violence Matters

By Sharif Elmusa / Winter 2024

Questioning why there hasn’t been a Palestinian Gandhi or Mandela ignores the history and context in which Palestinian resistance occurs, especially the abiding violence visited on the Palestinians since 1917

The EU’s Response to the Gaza War Is a Tale of Contradiction and Division

By Martin Konečný / Winter 2024

In the face of worst-ever Israeli–Palestinian violence, Europe’s selective moralism has also led to strategic blindness

Voices for Peace – with Lara Friedman

By Nadeen Shaker /

Young progressive Jews calling for a ceasefire in Gaza spent weeks since October 7 shutting down U.S. train stations, highways, and government buildings. But can their messages of solidarity reverberate beyond these demonstrations to cause change within government and Congress, especially as criticism of Israel is being increasingly shut down and classified as anti-semitism by US officials.

Today’s episode is with Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP), a nonprofit organization working to promote peace between Israel and Palestine/peaceful future for Palestinians and Israelis.