Middle East Quarterly

Middle East Quarterly - Current Issue
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.


Spring 2026 Volume 33: Number 2
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
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
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
Middle East Quarterly
Book Reviews
February 27, 2026
Book Reviews
Winter 2026
Book Reviews
Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History
By Vali Nasr • Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2025. 376 pp., $35.00 (hardcover); $24.99 (eBook)

Reviewed by Patrick Clawson
November 28, 2025
Brief Reviews
The Politics of Replacement: Demographic Fears, Conspiracy Theories, and Race Wars (Routledge Studies on Fascism and the Far Right)
September 2, 2025
Brief Reviews
Battle for the Jewish State: How Israel—and America—Can Win
September 2, 2025
Book Reviews
White-Collar Blues: The Making of the Transnational Turkish Middle Class
September 2, 2025
Brief Reviews
It Started in Damascus: How the Long Syrian Revolution Reshaped Our World
September 2, 2025
Brief Reviews
Armageddon 2029
September 2, 2025
Middle East Quarterly
Neutralizing the Houthi Threat: A Strategic Blueprint for the Red Sea and Beyond
September 2, 2025
Brief Reviews
Handbook of Political Islam in Europe: Activities, Means, and Strategies from Salafists to the Muslim Brotherhood and Beyond
September 2, 2025
Brief Reviews
The Modern Israeli and Palestinian Diasporas: A Comparative Approach
September 2, 2025
Brief Reviews
The Islamic Secular
September 2, 2025
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Winter 2026
Brief Reviews
Jihadist Governance and Statecraft
September 2, 2025
Brief Reviews
Sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa: Contemporary Issues and Challenges
September 2, 2025
Middle East Quarterly
The Syrian Druze: Between the Hammer of Integration and the Anvil of Separation
September 2, 2025
Middle East Quarterly
A Growing Security Threat: Iranian Intelligence Operations in Scandinavia (Part Two: Sweden)
September 2, 2025
Book Reviews
Two Palestinian Memoirs Recall the Good Old Days
September 2, 2025
Middle East Quarterly
Hizb ut-Tahrir: Political Doctrine, Global Reach, and Challenge to the International Order
September 2, 2025
Book Reviews
Islamesque: The Forgotten Craftsmen Who Built Europe’s Medieval Monuments
June 1, 2025
Book Reviews
Endurance: Speaking Kurdish in a Warped World
June 1, 2025
Book Reviews
Polluted Politics: The Development of an Israeli-Palestinian E-Waste Economy
June 1, 2025
Book Reviews
Jerusalem on Earth: Clamoring at Heaven’s Gate: Post-Six Day War Jerusalem
June 1, 2025
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More from MEF
A Syrian government delegation meets with Kurdish leaders from the Syrian Democratic Forces to prepare for deployment of security forces in the Ayn al-Arab area on February 01, 2026.
Middle East Forum Observer
Damascus Dilutes the Kurdish Question in Syria
To Undermine the Kurds, Al-Sharaa Has Sought to Assert Greater Control over Their Political Representation
April 1, 2026
 · 
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Campus Watch
Has Columbia University Learned Anything from Its Middle East Studies Fiasco?
The University Is Preparing to Hire Yet Another Credentialed, Israel-Hating, BDS Activist for a Very High-Profile Job
March 31, 2026
 · 
A.J. Caschetta
Secretary of State Marco Rubio (center) during an April 2025 meeting on the Middle East at the White House.
Middle East Forum Observer
The State Department Makes Energy Crunch Worse with Backwards Libya Policy
Saddam Haftar and the Libyan National Army Provide Security for the Oil Fields, Their Transport, and Their Export
March 31, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
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