New in TIBG! Geography in the World, part 3: Area Studies Han Cheng & @deensharp.bsky.social's collection draws together authors from Egypt, Singapore, China, South Africa & Russia to explore non-Western geography's relationship with Area Studies. Read all papers here ⬇️ tinyurl.com/5n72yt46

1) 'Worlding geography, area studies and the study of area' Han Cheng & @deensharp.bsky.social's introduction to the collection proposes a reoriented critical geography of 'area' by examining geography's relationship with area studies beyond the Anglo-American tradition. doi.org/10.1111/tran...

In some parts of the Arab world, architects are repurposing ancient methods to naturally lower building temperatures without using modern air conditioning, @mariannedhe.bsky.social reports. But can it be deployed at scale in a region so thoroughly reliant on ACs? #middleeast #climate

Episode 1 of the MERIP Podcast is now live! Check out this interview with Mona Tajali about her recent article "Women and Politics in Post-Jina Iran" below on Spotify! buff.ly/Ln6sCrw

On LBC @zoejardiniere.bsky.social lists 3 previous instances where military aircraft have been targeted by campaigners in order to prevent them being used in war crimes, and she describes the govt banning Palestine Action as terrorists as an abuse of state power. Well said.

You have to love these incredible puff pieces of billionaires by the @financialtimes.com. This profile details how billionaire Walton drives humble Volvo (after a “clapped-out Subaru Forester”). Wonder if FT asked if he also owns private jet, or a luxury yacht along with that? on.ft.com/40aMIWg

New research ⬇️ Urbicide in Khartoum, co-published with @smallarmssurvey.bsky.social ➡️ Examines how the war is reshaping Sudan’s capital through deliberate destruction, spatial control and targeting of civilian infrastructure www.armedgroupscentre.org/reports-and-... ‪ @deensharp.bsky.social

#Urbicide —the deliberate destruction of urban environments—is rife throughout #Khartoum, and a tactic in the #Sudan war. Co-published with @armedgroups.bsky.social, our new publication examines this weaponisation of civilian spaces in modern warfare www.smallarmssurvey.org/resource/urb...

Our report on urbicide in Khartoum is out! It provides an Urbicide anaAnalysis of the Al-Amarat and Mayo Neighbourhoods from 2023-2024. www.armedgroupscentre.org/reports-and-...

My piece in Cityscapes: Between the hammer and the rubble On the 16th of April 2023, a military projectile exploded in the courtyard of my home in Khartoum, blowing a large hole through the exterior wall and exposing my neighbour’s toilet…. Read here: cityscapesmag.com/cs-magazine/...

My piece in Cityscapes: Between the hammer and the rubble On the 16th of April 2023, a military projectile exploded in the courtyard of my home in Khartoum, blowing a large hole through the exterior wall and exposing my neighbour’s toilet…. Read here: cityscapesmag.com/cs-magazine/...

Cityscapes is online! See my essays on the intersection of war, power and urbanization and on defining an Arab region. cityscapesmag.com

BOOK LAUNCH 9 Jun 2025, 17:00 – 19:00 Join myself, architect Sawsan Abou Zainedin, Ammar Azzouz (University of Oxford), Wendy Pullan (University of Cambridge) and Emma DiNapoli for the launch of our book: Reconstruction as Violence in Assad's Syria. Full details: www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/eve...

Who decides what gets rebuilt after conflict and how? Too often, reconstruction serves politics over communities. Our latest piece explores why bottom-up rebuilding is key to lasting peace in the MENA region. Insights from @deensharp.bsky.social, Zozan Alloush & Nourah Shuaibi: bit.ly/3FDgpYQ

Webinar Recording Now Live! 🚨 How does post-conflict reconstruction shape political transitions in MENA? @deensharp.bsky.social, Zozan Alloush & Nourah Shuaibi break it down in this powerful discussion. Don’t miss their insights—watch now 👉 youtu.be/-0i_ZepvpqE

Final day to submit your abstract is tomorrow!!

Last chance to submit your abstracts for prioritised asssessment for The Urbanisation of #Conflict and Conflict Urbanisation #CallforPapers Visit our website for details: https://buff.ly/4gw8zgb @deensharp.bsky.social

📣 Only 2 weeks left to submit your abstracts for our #CallforPapers: The Urbanisation of Conflict and Conflict Urbanisation ⏰ #UrbanStudies Journal invites contributions that explore #ArmedConflict and #violence in urban contexts. https://buff.ly/42M9WUN @deensharp.bsky.social

Yesterday, in protest of Harvard University's response to the genocide in Gaza and deepening repression of campus activism against it, I submitted a letter of resignation from my job there. Here is that letter.

that's the Harvard we know and love

NEW: Previewing Issue 313, Samer Abboud dives into the proliferation of data-driven and AI-assisted refugee response across the Middle East, and the problems it poses to the future of humanitarianism. READ NOW

Deadline has been extended until the end of February for abstracts.

In "The Time beneath the Concrete," Nasser Abourahme argues that settler colonialism in #Palestine is always as much an attempt to conquer time as it is to conquer land. Read the introduction for free now. https://buff.ly/3BwdKyr

Any journalist or anyone with press contacts able to get some coverage of horrendous crackdown on peaceful protest at NYU, please get in touch!

For today, it’s a wonder to see my Syrian friends’ joy. Now Syria can dream of a future again on.ft.com/4gluGq3

MIT has a set of books labelled "Open Access" but it's a little clunky to find them on the MIT Press site, and so I've gone ahead and mirrored 400+ of them here: archive.org/details/mit_...

This Giving Tuesday, please consider a one-time or monthly donation to MERIP so we can build on our success this year and continue to bring rigorously researched and reported analysis of the Middle East to you without paywalls!

I had a great, if not bleak, convo on the urban displacement podcast. We discussed urbicide in different contexts and its differentiated impact from Palestine to Sudan, the significance of materials like concrete as weapons of war and more. Have a listen! open.spotify.com/episode/4YAn...

Our latest issue, Carceral Realities and Freedom Dreams, is live! It covers the state of unfreedom across the Middle East and North Africa, with contributions from activists, analysts and scholars from Morocco, Tunisia, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, and more. Read, share, teach!

Hello academic Bluesky! I put this call for papers together at the Urban Studies Journal on the urbanization of conflict and conflict urbanization. Please submit if it applies to you! www.urbanstudiesonline.com/callforpaper...

Friends and comrades, welcome! We have a MERIP starter pack for you! Follow our contributors, editors, staff and fellow travelers!