Charting the Middle East

Charting the Middle East is a biweekly chart series that showcases key trends shaping the Middle East today. This series is also featured in our newsletter, Middle East Notes and Comment.

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All Charting the Middle East Content

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Preparing for the Next Crisis

This installment of Charting the Middle East highlights the importance of early warning systems, emergency communications, and community-based warning mechanisms amid recurrent surges of conflict in the region.

Newsletter by Josiane Atallah — November 5, 2026

Risk to Refugee Return

This installment of Charting the Middle East highlights how the scale of unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination, relative to returning populations, varies across Syria.

Newsletter by Ninar Fawal — October 22, 2026

The Price of Exclusion

This installment of Charting the Middle East spotlights how Western aid cuts have rendered the current international response to Syrian refugees obsolete.

Newsletter by Will Todman — October 7, 2026

Fueling Discontent 

This installment of Charting the Middle East traces the rapid rise in government-set fuel prices in Syria, highlighting how the Iran war’s economic effects are introducing new risks to regional stability.

Newsletter by Mona Yacoubian and Kira Nygren — September 24, 2026

Educating the Kingdom at Home

This installment of Charting the Middle East examines the kingdom's shift from financing overseas education to strengthening domestic educational capacity as part of its broader economic transformation.

Newsletter by Dylan Herman — September 10, 2026

Open for Business

This installment of Charting the Middle East spotlights growing trade volumes between Syria and select countries or regions since the fall of Assad and the lifting of sanctions.

Newsletter by Philip Luck — August 20, 2026

The Localization Prescription

This installment of Charting the Middle East examines efforts to reduce reliance on imported pharmaceuticals, as the Iran war heightens the risk for certain medicine shortages.

Newsletter by Kira Nygren — August 6, 2026

Beyond Oil: Vision 2030 at Ten

This installment of Charting the Middle East explores the progress Saudi Arabia has made in diversifying its economy 10 years after the launch of Vision 2030.

Newsletter by Michael Ratney — July 15, 2026

Subsidies, Stockpiles, and Shortages

This installment of Charting the Middle East spotlights regional government responses to the Iran war’s widening impacts.

Newsletter by Josiane Atallah — June 18, 2026