Book Reviews

Fall 2025 Book Reviews:
Book Reviews
Two Palestinian Memoirs Recall the Good Old Days
September 2, 2025
Book Reviews
White-Collar Blues: The Making of the Transnational Turkish Middle Class
September 2, 2025
More from MEF
On August 7, 2026, in Mecca, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed a trilateral mutual defense agreement declaring that an armed attack on any one of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, or Pakistan would be treated as an attack on all three.
Middle East Forum Online
Third Time Is the Charm? The Mecca Pact and the Sad History of Collective Defense
The Mecca Pact Is the Third Iteration of a Single Saudi Effort to Assemble a Deterrence Substitute for a Diminished American Security Umbrella
August 12, 2026
 · 
Hussein Aboubakr Mansour
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
Middle East Forum Observer
Ukraine Should Target Bashar Al-Assad in Moscow
Striking Assad Would Embarrass Putin and Shake the Air of Invincibility That He Seeks to Construct
August 12, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
The Mecca Agreement is a message, not a military. Israel should send the reply: an alliance that trains together, builds together, and shows up when the missiles fly. The three leaders in Mecca produced a photograph. Israel should produce a bloc.
Middle East Forum Online
Answer Mecca With an Alliance
The Saudi-Turkish-Pakistani Pact Will Not Fight. Israel Should Build the Bloc That Will
August 12, 2026
 · 
Gregg Roman
Flags in the colors of India's flag fly in front of a government building in New Delhi.
Middle East Forum Observer
How India Views the Saudi-Pakistan-Turkey Mecca Pact
Differing Interests and Threats May Prevent the Mecca Pact from Becoming an ‘Islamic NATO,’ but India Should Be Concerned
August 12, 2026
 · 
Abhinav Pandya
A Chinese JF-17 Thunder fighter Jet.
Middle East Forum Observer
Did Pakistan’s Mediation with Iran Serve China’s Interests over America’s?
Pakistan Has Served as China’s Delivery Agent in the Region and Promoted Chinese Defense Platforms
August 12, 2026
 · 
Imran Khurshid
Middle East Forum Online
Did Iran Attempt to Take Down Air Force One?
More Leaks About President Trump’s Security
August 11, 2026
 · 
Jim Hanson
The Islamic Republic has collapsed into the body of the Revolutionary Guard. The result resembles Saddam’s Iraq or Assad’s Syria, with an organization standing where the one man once stood. A garrison state run by a military-terrorist syndicate whose wealth, survival, and identity are one thing and calculates nothing but its own continuity and expansion.
Middle East Forum Online
The Triumph of the Iranian Will
Where Do We Go from Here?
August 11, 2026
 · 
Hussein Aboubakr Mansour
Mohammad Yousef Al-Hasna, an employee of the U.K.-based Al-Khair Foundation, faces U.S. charges of diverting charitable donations to terrorist activities by allegedly routing humanitarian aid intended for suffering Gazans to Hamas.
FWI News
U.K. Watchdog Probes U.N. Affiliated Charity Accused of Funding Hamas
FBI Indictment Sparks Extradition Drama for Arrested NGO Director in Britain
August 11, 2026
 · 
Jules Gomes
Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Middle East Forum Observer
How Does Iran View the Saudi-Pakistan-Turkey Mecca Pact?
Iranian Officials Portray the Pact as Dissatisfaction with U.S. Security Assurances and Israeli Attacks Against Qatar and Syria
August 11, 2026
 · 
Shay Khatiri
A section of Stilwell Road (Ledo Road), built from India to China during World War II.
Middle East Forum Observer
The Stilwell Inspiration for the Hormuz Crisis
The U.S. and Regional Countries Should Build Pipelines to Send Oil from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean and the Arabian Sea
August 11, 2026
 · 
Sanjay Pulipaka