Brief Reviews

Book Reviews
Endurance: Speaking Kurdish in a Warped World
June 1, 2025
Book Reviews
Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movements
June 1, 2025
Book Reviews
Islamesque: The Forgotten Craftsmen Who Built Europe’s Medieval Monuments
June 1, 2025
Book Reviews
Leaving Islam, Ex-Muslims, and Zemiology
June 1, 2025
Book Reviews
The Renegade (Il Rinnegato)
June 1, 2025
More from MEF
As the Palestinian Authority accelerates preparations for legislative elections scheduled for November 28, 2026, a critical security dynamic is taking shape across Ramallah (above), Gaza, and regional capitals. Two decades after the 2006 parliamentary vote provided the political springboard for Hamas to establish an armed stronghold in the Gaza Strip, the terror organization is executing an evolved version of the same tactical playbook.
Middle East Forum Online
The November 2026 Trap: How Hamas Plans to Penetrate the West Bank Through the Ballot Box
Hamas Aims to Establish a Legitimate Political Foothold Across the West Bank Without Moderating Its Core Rejectionist Ideology
August 17, 2026
 · 
Amine Ayoub
The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, signed on August 7 by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, represents the first formalization of the slow emergence of a conservative Sunni Islamic bloc intended to provide a strategic counterweight against both Israel and Iran.
Middle East Forum Online
The New Crescent: Mecca Pact Gives Rise to a Sunni Bloc, Posing New Challenges for Israel
Jerusalem, and Islamic Claims There, Are Likely to Form the Symbolic Element That Knits the Emergent Group Together
August 17, 2026
 · 
Jonathan Spyer
An aerial view of Dakhla, Western Sahara, Morocco.
Middle East Forum Observer
Morocco Wants to Become the Sahel’s Gateway to the Atlantic
While Infrastructure Alone Doesn’t Determine Alliances, It Cultivates Interests That Governments Safeguard
August 17, 2026
 · 
Javier A. Hernández
The Port of Anzali on the Caspian Sea coast in northern Iran.
Middle East Forum Observer
Iran Moves to Legally Secure Itself at the Caspian Sea
An Upcoming Summit and Iran’s Pending Ratification of a Security Treaty Have Reopened Discussions About the Coastline
August 16, 2026
 · 
Shay Khatiri
Hossein Taeb (left front) is commander of the Basij paramilitary unit and former head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organization.
Middle East Forum Observer
Iran’s Military Reshuffle Reflects the Regime’s Narrowing Pool of Trusted Officials
Six Appointments Show an Architecture Built Around Institutional Memory, Loyalty, and Coercive Power Is Taking Place
August 15, 2026
 · 
Erfan Fard
Christians from the United States admire anti-Israel propaganda displayed at the Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem as part of a "peacemaking" conference organized by Bethlehem Bible College in 2018. The Kairos II document is targeted at Christians like these and the churches to which they belong.
Dhimmitude Project
The Captured Testimony of Kairos Palestine II
“Peacemaking” Document Invites Western Churches to Abet the Restoration of Dhimmitude in the Levant.
August 14, 2026
 · 
Mark Durie
When a local pastor condemned officials for naming a busy intersection after Hezbollah-supporter Osama Siblani in September 2025, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud (above in 2024) called the pastor “an Islamophobe,” declaring: “I want you to know as mayor, you are not welcome here. And the day you move out of the city will be the day that I launch a parade celebrating the fact that you moved out of the city because you are not somebody who believes in coexistence.”
Middle East Forum Online
Dearborn’s Mayor Helps Terrorize Diaspora Jews with Genocide Lie
One of the Most Troubling Threats to Civil Society in the United States Is the Propagation of the False Accusation of Genocide Against Israel
August 14, 2026
 · 
Dexter Van Zile
A telecommunications tower.
Middle East Forum Observer
Can Iran’s Strategic Capture of Iraq’s Telecommunications be Reversed?
Tehran’s Cyber Strategy Partially Relies on Externalized Digital Logistics Bases
August 14, 2026
 · 
Ali Almrayatee
While every president from President George H.W. Bush to Barack Obama spoke of China as a possible partner rather than a rival and sought to co-opt Beijing, President Donald Trump’s first term left a legacy of establishing a bipartisan consensus that China was an adversary.
Middle East Forum Online
End Major U.S. Non-NATO Ally Status for China’s Cronies
An Increasing Number of Non-NATO Allies Flirt With, If Not Tilt Toward, Beijing
August 13, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
Turkey has transferred far-reaching powers over wiretapping, internet access, communications infrastructure, online censorship and digital traffic from the country’s telecommunications regulator to the executive-controlled Cyber Security Presidency.
Middle East Forum Online
Turkey Shifts Wiretapping, Internet-Control Powers to Erdoğan’s Cybersecurity Body
The Move Further Empowers President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Institutionalizes Censorship and Digital Surveillance Under the Guise of National Security
August 13, 2026
 · 
Abdullah Bozkurt