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
Middle East Quarterly
Book Reviews
March 1, 2025
Middle East Quarterly
Brief Reviews
March 1, 2025
Book Reviews
Assad: The Triumph of Tyranny
March 1, 2025
Book Reviews
On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice
March 1, 2025
Book Reviews
The October 7 War: Israel’s Battle for Security in Gaza
March 1, 2025
Brief Reviews
Nazis, Islamic Antisemitism and the Middle East: The 1948 Arab War Against Israel and the Aftershocks of World War II
March 1, 2025
Brief Reviews
Oman’s Transformation After 1970
March 1, 2025
Brief Reviews
Possessed by the Right Hand: The Problem of Slavery in Islamic Law and Muslim Cultures
March 1, 2025
Brief Reviews
Reform and Its Perils in Contemporary Islam: The Case of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd
March 1, 2025
Middle East Quarterly
Biden’s Volte-Face on Israel: How Decades of Support Turned into Criticism
By: Daniel J Samet
March 1, 2025
Issue Archive
Fall 2025
Summer 2025
Spring 2025
Winter 2025
Fall 2024
Summer 2024
Spring 2024
Winter 2024
Fall 2023
Summer 2023
Spring 2023
Winter 2023
Winter 2026
Middle East Quarterly
Time to Take the Iranian Nuclear Bull by the Horns
By: Colin M. Winston
March 1, 2025
Book Reviews
Night of Power: The Betrayal of the Middle East
March 1, 2025
Brief Reviews
Slavery, Abolition, and Islam: Debating Freedom in the Islamic Tradition
March 1, 2025
Book Reviews
The British Suicide: The U.K.'s Self-Inflicted Failure to Defeat Jihad for Two Decades
March 1, 2025
Middle East Quarterly
The Gaza War and the ‘Egypt-Is-Too-Big-to-Fail’ Argument
By: Nael Shama
March 1, 2025
Middle East Quarterly
Misinformation Strategy and Media Bias in the Gaza War
By: Andrew Fox and Tatiana Glezer
March 1, 2025
Middle East Quarterly
Brief Reviews
December 9, 2024
Middle East Quarterly
Turkey’s Demographic Engineering in Syria’s Afrin Region: A Closer Look
December 9, 2024
 · 
Sirwan Kajjo
Middle East Quarterly
Why the Palestinian Authority Cannot Allow Free Speech
December 9, 2024
 · 
Ido Zelkovitz
Middle East Quarterly
Vindicating The Poisoned Chalice: Iran’s Creeping Invasion of Iraq
December 9, 2024
 · 
Ofra Bengio
Load More
More from MEF
A new Turkish decree expands formal controls over military and dual-use goods transiting the country amid sustained Western pressure.
Middle East Forum Online
Turkey’s New Iran Export Controls Face an Old Problem: Enforcement
Legal Reforms Follow U.S. Pressure, but Sanctions Evasion Track Record Remains
April 3, 2026
 · 
Abdullah Bozkurt
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is shown in a 2015 file photo.
Middle East Forum Online
Cairo’s Plea to Trump Exposes Egypt’s Frailty and Imperils Regional Security
The Timing and Substance of President Sisi’s Intervention Reveal More About Cairo’s Internal Vulnerabilities than About Any Genuine Vision for Middle Eastern Order
April 3, 2026
 · 
Amine Ayoub
Following historical precedent, U.S. citizenship application forms should require immigrants to disclose any affiliation with or support for a clearly defined list of prohibited Islamist organizations, just as applicants are currently asked about ties to Communist movements. Immigrants connected to specific Islamist groups that promote violence, anti-constitutional activity, or the erosion of liberal democratic norms should be barred from entry or stripped of citizenship under these standards.
FWI Opinion & Interview
Time to List Islamist Organizations on Applications for U.S. Citizenship
Islamist Organizations Have Destroyed Lives Just Like Communists and Nazis
April 3, 2026
 · 
Dexter Van Zile
Load More