Social and Political Change

Analyzing social and political trends throughout the region

For more than a decade, calls for social and political change have ricocheted throughout the region. Governments have responded, and their citizens have responded as well. The consequences of the resultant alliances and struggles affect events in individual countries, inspire regional observers, and help shape how governments engage regionally and globally. The Middle East Program tracks social and political trends on a national and regional level to better understand where the region is heading over the next few decades and where it came from.

 

Featured Analysis


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Photo: KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images

Chat GPMufti

Newsletter by Martin Pimentel — October 24, 2023

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Photo: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images

Photo: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images

Ties that Bind: Family, Tribe, Nation, and the Rise of Arab Individualism

The Arab world is experiencing a revolution. States have relied on pyramids of authority that reach down through society, often through tribes into families. Yet those ties are fraying, and individualism is rising.

Report by Jon B. Alterman — December 2, 2019