Middle East Quarterly

Middle East Quarterly - Summer 2026
Founded in 1994 by Daniel Pipes, MEQ is the Middle East Forum’s journal intended for both scholars and the educated public. Policymakers, opinion-makers, academics, and journalists write for and read the Quarterly, which is known for exclusive interviews, in-depth historical articles, and book reviews on subjects ranging from archaeology to politics and on countries from Morocco to Iran.


Summer 2026 Volume 33: Number 3
A pedestrian walks past a state-sponsored anti-Israel mural in Tehran in December 2024. The Islamic Republic frequently depicts Israel as the “Little Satan” and the “poisonous spawn” of America, the “Great Satan,” reflecting a core ideological framework examined by Farhad Rezaei and Ofira Seliktar in their analysis of the regime’s antisemitic and anti-Zionist worldview. Image licensed from Shutterstock.
Middle East Quarterly
Iran’s Islamist Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism: Jews as Source of All Evil (Part 1)
June 1, 2026
The long-running conflict between Iran and Israel has been shaped not only by geopolitical rivalry but also by the Islamic Republic’s ideological hostility toward the Jewish state. Antisemitism and the Palestinian cause have become central elements in calls for Israel’s destruction and support for the so-called Axis of Resistance. Image: Shutterstock Asset ID 2640797799.
Middle East Quarterly
Behind Iran’s Ambition to Destroy Israel
June 1, 2026
Emblem of the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS “Handschar,” a Waffen SS formation composed primarily of Bosnian Muslim recruits under German command during World War II. The insignia combined SS symbolism with the image of a scimitar (handschar), reflecting the use of Islamic imagery in Nazi military propaganda. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Middle East Quarterly
From Bosnia to Palestine: The SS Handschar Veterans Who Fought Israel’s Birth
June 1, 2026
During Iran’s nationwide internet shutdowns in 2025 and 2026, the extended blackouts sharply limited access to global communications and information and reflected the Islamic Republic’s growing ability to control digital connectivity through the National Information Network (NIN), a system discussed throughout this paper. Photo Credit: Shutterstock Asset ID 2724085803.
Middle East Quarterly
From Coercion to Code: Iran’s Digital Security Transformation
June 1, 2026
Middle East Quarterly
Book Reviews
June 1, 2026
Middle East Quarterly
Replace Turkey as a Strategic Partner?
June 5, 2026
 · 
Jonathan Eric Lewis
Book Reviews
Current Issue
Book Reviews
Hostage
By Eli Sharabi. Translated by Eylon Levy. New York: Harper Influence, 2025. 208 pp.; $20.74 (hardcover); $14.99 (Kindle)

Book Review by A. J. Caschetta
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Call at 4 AM: Thirteen Prime Ministers and the Crucial Decisions that Shaped Israeli Politics
By Amit Segal. New York: Wicked Son, 2025. 248 pp.; $23.41 (hardcover); $14.99 (Kindle)

Reviewed by Alex Selsky
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Frequencies of Deceit: How Global Propaganda Wars Shaped the Middle East
By Margaret Peacock. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2025. 326 pp.; $82.75 (hardcover); $29.95 (paperback); $28.45 (Kindle)

Reviewed by Jeffrey Herf
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Israel Under Netanyahu: Populism and Democratic Decline
By Neta Oren. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2025. 169 pp.; $95 (hardcover); $95 (e-book)

Book Review by Martin Sherman
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Syria: Civil War to Holy War?
By Charles Glass. New York: OR Books, 2025. 294 pp.; $17.01 (paperback); $9.99 (Kindle)

Book Review by Jonathan Spyer
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Islam, Israel and the West: A Former Muslim’s Analysis
By Danny Burmawi. N.P.: Gerasa Books, 2025. 252 pp.; $19.99 (hardcover); $16.99 (paperback); $9.99 (Kindle)

Book Review by Dexter Van Zile
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Syria, Revolt and War in the Digital Age. Edited by Cécile Boëx and Agnès Devictor
Translated by Jane Kuntz. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2025. 282 pp.; $89.95 (hardcover)

Book Review by Daniel Pipes
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
The War That Made the Middle East: World War I and the End of the Ottoman Empire
By Mustafa Aksakal. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2026. 264 pp.; $26.66 (hardcover); $17.60 (Kindle)

Book Review by Efraim Karsh
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Late Ottoman Gaza: An Eastern Mediterranean Hub in Transformation
By Yuval Ben-Bassat and Johann Büssow. London: Cambridge University Press, 2024. 206 pp.; $88.36 (hardcover); $110 (e-book)

Book Review by Donna Robinson Divine

June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Antisemitism in the Arab-Israeli Conflict: Time to Confront the Elephant in the Room
By David H. Stone. London: Vallentine Mitchell, 2025. 248 pp., $69.95 (hardcover), $24.95 (paperback)

Reviewed by Judith Friedman Rosen
February 27, 2026
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Middle East Quarterly
Stratejik Ortak Olarak Türkiye
June 5, 2026
The Palestinian right of return is primarily a political and ideological claim rather than a binding legal one supported by international law. In 1974, Yasser Arafat championed it at the U.N., declaring that Zionism is "colonialist", "imperialist," and "racist." The right of return continues to shape Palestinian politics and Western diplomacy, and remains a central factor in the persistence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Middle East Quarterly
Palestinian Intransigence and the “Right of Return”
February 27, 2026
Middle East Quarterly
Trump’s Twenty-Point Plan and Hamas’s Rebirth
February 27, 2026
The June 2025 Israeli military campaign, backed by the U.S., significantly weakened Iran’s strategic capabilities and reshaped regional dynamics. Rather than accelerating formal Saudi-Israeli normalization, it produced a post-liberal Middle East in which Saudi Arabia treats Israel as a covert partner and constrained outsider while competing for regional primacy. (Shutterstock/Asset ID: 2096850640)
Middle East Quarterly
Inter-Arab Rivalry and Regional Hierarchy in the Post–Liberal Middle East
February 27, 2026
Map of Nubl and al-Zahra in northern Aleppo countryside (10 June 2018). The map shows the locations of the two Twelver Shiite towns, Nubl and al-Zahra, within territories held by Syrian government forces (blue), opposition forces (green), and Kurdish forces (yellow) during the Syrian civil war. Despite their isolation amid Sunni and Kurdish regions, both towns have largely avoided post-Assad violence and serve as case studies in localized stability and minority protection.
Middle East Quarterly
Eyewitness Report: Twelver Shiite Villages of Nubl and al-Zahra in the Aleppo Countryside in the Post-Assad Period
February 27, 2026
Book Reviews
100 Contradictions and Scientific Errors in the Quran
By Majid Oukacha. Independently published, 2025. 176 pp. $20 (Amazon paperback); $9.99 (Kindle).


Reviewed by Raymond Ibrahim
February 27, 2026
Book Reviews
While Israel Slept: How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East
By Yaacov Katz and Amir Bohbot. New York: St Martin’s Press, 2025. 336 pp.; $19.96 (hardcover); 14.99 (Kindle)

Reviewed by Jonathan Spyer
February 27, 2026
Book Reviews
Edward Said: The Politics of an Oppositional Intellectual
By Nubar Hovsepian. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2025. 317 pp.; $49.95 (hardcover); $24.95 (paperback)

Reviewed by Craig Considine
February 27, 2026
Book Reviews
Bordering on War: A Social and Political History of Khuzestan
By Shaherzad Ahmadi. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2024. 256 pp.; $55 (hardcover)

Reviewed by Michael Rubin
February 27, 2026
Book Reviews
Romanticizing Masculinity in Baathist Syria: Gender, Identity and Ideology.
By Rahaf Aldoughli. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2024. 224 pp.; $130 (hardcover)

Reviewed by Zainab Al-Suwaij
February 27, 2026
More from MEF
Syria’s Ministry of Information says its publication rules are merely guidance, but critics trace their language to Assad-era censorship laws.
Middle East Forum Online
Controversy over Restrictions Issued by Syria’s Ministry of Information
Syria’s New Publication Rules Draw From Assad-Era Laws, Punish Criticism Inconsistently, and Leave Sectarian Incitement Largely Unchecked
July 1, 2026
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Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during a meeting at the BRICS 2025 plenary session in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 6, 2025.
Middle East Forum Online
Tehran’s Hormuz Hypocrisy Threatens Gulf Stability
Iran’s Latest Proposal Is a Tactical Instrument Designed to Fracture the Coalition Forming Around Israel and Give Tehran Effective Veto Power over Gulf Energy Exports
July 1, 2026
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Jose Lev Alvarez
Ahmet Kerem Korkaya’s family appears to have longstanding ties to institutions affiliated with Turkey’s Islamist establishment. In June 2019 his father delivered a lecture at Lokman Hekim University in Ankara, a private institution founded in 2017 by members of the İskenderpaşa Community, a prominent Sunni religious network that has maintained close relations with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party.
Middle East Forum Online
U.S. Indicts Man with Family Links to Turkish Government for Alleged Plot to Poison, Kill, Pro-Israel Targets
Prosecutors Say the Defendant Was Actively Involved in Discussions About Finding Home Addresses, Conducting Surveillance, and Intimidating Targets
July 1, 2026
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Abdullah Bozkurt