February 7, 2019
Dear Reader, Karl Barth entreats us to “take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.” This is exactly what we do in the IMES Regional Brief, as we read the events of our region in light of the Bible and discover […]
January 24, 2019
by Robert Hamd In 2017, the Lebanese government brought in the international consultancy firm, McKinsey, to analyze Lebanon’s public and private sectors. On Wednesday, January 2, the Ministry of Economy released the report, describing what they saw as Lebanon’s crippling political stalemate in government. The 1,200-page report warns that the […]
January 3, 2019
Dear Reader, At the beginning of 2019, the IMES team would like to thank you for accompanying us on our journey over the past year through the various countries of the MENA region. Today, we are preparing for new tours, which we begin today. We always examine critical issues […]
December 6, 2018
Dear Reader, Socio-economic realities in the MENA are not improving. In our Regional Brief for December 2018, we highlight issues of concern from Lebanon, Egypt, Mauritania, Sudan, Palestine and Iraq. Endemic corruption and the absence of reform in the educational system persists without any real transformation. Suffering and grief […]
November 1, 2018
Dear Reader, In the IMES Regional Brief for November 2018, we will be taking a panoramic view of the MENA to address post-war ramifications on the countries and peoples of the region, whether economically, politically, ethically or religiously. War produces profound wounds, the consequences of which often lasting long after […]
October 24, 2018
By Martin Accad Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and moderately outspoken critic of Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman, became an unlikely household name for most of us this month. After choosing self-imposed exile – apparently for security reasons last year – he became a US resident and a regular columnist […]
October 18, 2018
By Elias Ghazal A deliberate war waged against Yemen has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced millions. The situation on the ground is appalling. There have been over 1.2 million suspected cholera cases since April 2017 – one of the worst outbreaks in recent history. Polio, an easily preventable […]
May 31, 2018
By Elias Ghazal The recent parliamentary elections in Lebanon demonstrated that Lebanese politics is largely predictable, although not impregnable. The last time the Lebanese elected their political representatives was in 2009. Lebanese are overwhelmingly angry about the political corruption, economic stagnation, and social degradation in their country. Sectarian leaders from […]