Middle East

Here be Dragomans

For wealthy tourists travelling to the Middle East in the 19th century, the services of a dragoman were an essential purchase. Yet the often difficult lives of these local agents and guides remain elusive.

Yemen’s Endless Wars

For more than a century, what is now Yemen has seen waves of insurgency and conflict backed by competing foreign powers.

A Turning Point in Arab-Israeli Relations?

2020’s Abraham Accords was described at the time as ‘historic’. Four experts consider whether it will lead to long-term change.

The Hajj, by Alfred Dehodencq, c.1880 © Hulton Getty Images.

Pilgrims Processed

Muslims from Asia who wished to travel to Mecca on the Hajj were exploited by a trade in human cargo that grew with the opening of the Suez Canal.

British and Indian troops at the Lions’ Gate, Jerusalem’s Old City, 4 April 1920. Courtesy Library of Congress/G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection. Public Domain.

A House Divided in the Nebi Musa Riots

What did the Easter 1920 riots in Jerusalem reveal about British rule in Palestine?

Slaves to War

The military elite of the Muslim world was comprised of men who had been captured and forced into service. But to what extent were they subject to slavery?

Oil and Water: The Tanker Wars

The Strait of Hormuz has become a fraught passage in the Tanker Wars between Iran and Iraq.

USS Stark lists to port after being struck an Iraqi-launched Exocet missile in the Arabian Gulf, 17 May 1987. Department of Defense. Public Domain.

The First Tanker War with Iran

If tensions between the US and Iran in the Persian Gulf lead to war, it will not be the first time. In 1987 and 1988, the US intervened to protect shipping from Iranian attacks.