Middle East Resource Guide
William Stover - Middle East Simulation

Country Information

Sources for news, foreign policy goals, statements of government officials, listed for each country.

Diplomacy Monitor (St. Thomas School of Law)
This website tracks and monitors international events and synthesizes official government documents from many countries, including those in the Middle East. A special feature is the ability to retrieve documents that address relations between any two countries.

General sources on the Middle East.

Egypt

Al-Ahram
Egypt's premiere newspaper, covering the Middle East weekly in English.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
An archive of ministry treaties, national and international documents, statements made and foreign policy positions and documents.
The Egyptian Presidency
Contains a biography of President Mubarak, a profile of the nation, a chronological list of meetings and events, summaries of press conferences, and an archive of addresses made by the President.
Middle East Times
Online newspaper covering Egypty and the Middle East.

Iran

Islamic Republic News Agency
Provides news articles, online television news and online radio broadcasts.
The Islamic Republic of Iran
Provides recent headline articles, and links to various web-sites relating to politics, education, media, commerce and travel.
The Tehran Times
Iran's English language daily newspaper, established in 1979.
Salam Iran
Web site of the Iranian embassy in Canada and a good English-language source of Iranian information.

Israel

Israeli Government Website
The Israeli government's official website, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Contains many documents, speeches, and transcripts of meetings. Claims to contain information that is available only on the Israeli government's server. Offers the option of providing documentation in a timeline format and includes Real Audio clips, movie files and images. Extensive coverage and documentation of the Middle East Peace Summit at Camp David - July 2000.
Israeli Defense Forces
A library of IDF announcements and pictures.
Jerusalem Post
Internet edition of the daily Israeli newspaper. In English.
MERIA
Middle East Review of International Affairs
Consul General of Israel in San Francisco
English-language newsletter from Israel.

Jordan

Jordan Embassy
Provides speeches and interviews, and links to the Ambassador's Page, the Jordan Information Bureau, Military Office, Personnel, Education, as well as newsletters and press releases.
Jordan Times
Online newsletter covering news in Jordan.
The Jordanian General Intelligence Department
Jordanian department responsible for defending Jordan's national security.
Jordan News Agency
Organized by Columbia University. It lists several informational links for Jordan

Lebanon

The Daily Star
Lebanese newspaper in English.
Lebhost.com
A Lebanese search engine.
Al-Mashriq (the Levant): Lebanon
A repository of information on the Levant in general and Lebanon in particular.
Lebanese Republic: Prime Minister Rafic Hariri Official Site
Information on the Prime Minister of Lebanon, including government policies and cabinet decisions.
Welcome to the Presidential Palace - Republic of Lebanon
Information on the President of Lebanon and the Office of the Presidency, including speeches.

Morocco

The Kingdom of Morocco's Official Web Site
A comprehensive look at Morocco.
Morocco Today
Morocco's first English language newspaper.
Moroccan news agency english langage section
Source for news froms Morocco.
Moroccan mission to the United Nations, New York
Has some foreign policy statements in English.

Palestinian Authority

Palestine National Authority
Contains official statements, editorials, reports concerning Israeli settlements, updates on the Middle East peace process, articles describing Palestine's relationship with the UN, news in International Relations, speeches, and daily news.
Palestine Times Monthly
A monthly political English newspaper that contains the Palestine news, world news, interviews and analysis.
Islamic Association for Palestine
An organization that provides news reports, maps, a section on refugee reports, articles on human rights and Zionist massacres, Zionism, and Palestinian resistance.
Palestinian Authority Negotiation Affaris Department
Foreign policy statements of the PLO.
Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR)
This site presents results from Palestinian and Israeli public opinion polls regarding domestic policy and government, strategic analysis, and foreign policy. The Center conducts academic and policy analysis.The Center is located in Ramallah.
Palestine News Network
Comprehensive news coverage in English from Palestine.

Paramilitary Associations

Terrorism Research Center
A Private institute that provides anti-terrorism reports and data, profiles on resistance groups, and supports its own security counsulting efforts.
Hizbollah
Website of the Hizbollah organization.
Terrorism-Council on Foreign Relations
Provides readers with the latest news on the war on terrorism, and gives informaiton on various resistance groups.
Hamas, Islamic Resistance Movement
Profiles the radical Islamic organization responsible for actions primarily in Gaza Strip and the West Bank.  Examines history and leadership.

Saudi Arabia

Arab News
English daily newspaper in Saudi Arabia
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Washington DC
Foreign policy statements from Saudi Arabia.
Ministry of Information Web Site
Provides information and links to information on Islam, Historical and Cultural Background, Government, Judicial System, and Useful Addresses. Also provides daily news.
Saudi Press Agency
SPAs English News Service dispatches an average of 40 articles daily. Allows searches for news articles and press photos. Also contains links to government offices such as the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, the Saudi Arabian National Gauard, and Aramco, the Saudi Arabian Oil Company as well as two newspapers.
Saudi Mission Homepage
"The Permanent Mission of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations New York."

Syria

Ministry of Information
Political, economic, geographical and historical information about Syria. Daily news, and a profile of President Hafez Al-Assad. Links to other news agencies, and information on the Golan, including the United Nations General Assembly Resolution concerning Israeli practices affecting the human rights of populations of occupied territories.
Golan Occupation
Contains cultural, historical, political, and economic information about the Golan as a part of Syrian territory seized by Israel.
Syrian Arab News Agency
Provides press commentaries, biography of President Hafez Al-Assad, history of parliament, Israeli terrorism outline.

Turkey

Embassy of the Republic of Turkey Website
Contains press releases, links to newspapers and other media, and information on culture, politics and policy and business. Also provides and extensive collection of links to governmental, media, educational and political links.
Web Page of the Office of the Prime Minister, Directorate General of Press and Information
Links to Turkish press, references, and information about the 57th government.

United States

Columbia International Affairs Online
Comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. Provides full-text access to think-tank working papers and reports, policy briefings, conference proceedings and books. Coverage begins in 1991 and is continuously upgraded.
CQ Researcher
Online version of this weekly publication, covering the most current and controversial issues of the day complete with summaries, insight into all sides of the issues, bibliographies and more. Full text of all articles published since 1991.
CQ Weekly
Nonpartisan information on what is happening on Capitol Hill, including legislative news and analysis. This is the online version of the weekly magazine, including full text of all articles published since 1983. Users may search for past articles by words, dates, subjects, etc.
Lexis/Nexis Congressional Testimony
Prepared statements and selected question & answer transcripts of government officials testifying before Congress, (1988-present)
State Department
Links to country web sites, news articles on peace talks, official texts of documents, press statements and country information.
White House
Contains an archive of all White House documents, which include press briefings, radio addresses, and executive orders. Also contains the most recent press releases, Saturday radio addresses, and federal statistics.

Journalists

Special note for those who are representing journalists:
Look for articles in the following communications databases.

Communication Abstracts
Covers world-wide communication-related articles, reports, papers and, books from a variety of sources. 1977 to present.
Communication and Mass Media Complete
Indexes journals in the area of communication studies and mass media, as well as articles on these topics from other research journals. Full text is available for 200 titles. Date coverage of titles varies.

Middle East - General Websites

Good websites on the Middle East with analysis done by scholars, think tanks and academics.

Bitterlemons.org
This is a website that presents Palestinian and Israeli viewpoints on prominent issues of concern. It focuses on Palestinian-Israeli conflict and peace process.
Middle East Information Network
Maintained by a non-profit, non-partisan group with interests in education and dedicated to offering the "best" of the Middle East Web sites. The unannotated links include online news wires, newspapers, magazines, treaties, charters, maps, banks, stock exchanges, colleges, and universities.
Middle East Internet Resources (Columbia University)
A collection of important electronic research resources on the Middle East and North Africa. It is not limited to political information and including also cultural and social subjects, like music, literature, language, even food. In addition to the topical choices, you will find categories of information sources, such as electronic journals, and newspapers, directories of scholars and bookstores/publishers, maps, images, and more! This is quite a treasure trove.
Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
The Middle East Media Research Institute explores the Middle East through the region's media. MEMRI bridges the language gap which exists between the West and Middle East, providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew media, as well as original analysis of political, idealogical, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East.
Middle East Network Information Center (MENIC)
University of Texas' Middle East network Information Center is a comprehensive directory of the major information sources, divided into subject categories and by country/region, about and from the Middle East.
Middle East Research and Information Project
Independent, current and varied information. MERIP is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides news and analysis about the contemporary Middle East. Offers many complete articles (since 1996) from MERIP's quarterly magazine, Middle East Report.
United Nations website on "The Question of Palestine"
Palestine problem from the United Nations perspective.

General News Sources

AL Jazeera
The premier Arab television news source
BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)
British Broadcast Channel's online news, links to television clips, and audio broadcasts.
CNN
A U.S. based international news agency with a video archive, audio clips, and the latest international news.
CountryWatch
Country Reviews provides political and economic information for the 191 countries of the world. Country Wire is made up of ten international news organizations and provides news updates on a country by country basis.
Global Newsbank
Information on international issues and events taken from more than 1500 international sources, including translated broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals and government documents. 1996 to the present.
Newspapers of the World on the Internet
Choose a country, then see a list of links to many sources of news for that country.
World News Connection
This is the Web version of the U.S. government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service, consisting of transcripts and translations of foreign news media, print and broadcast. The full database, going back to 1996, is available in the library only, and a librarian at the Reference Desk must log you in.
World Press Review online
Links to newspapers and magazine from a variety of countries, including Middle East countries. Lists the affiliation of the news source.

General Resources

Arab League
Forum for the 22 Arab states who make up the Arab League to debate the issues of the day.
Biography Resource Center
Search for biographies either by entering a person's name or other personal facts, or by searching for a word or phrase within a biography.
CIA World Factbook
General profiles of every nation.
Librarians Index to the Internet
Getting too many hits in Google. Try Librarians Index to the Internet, an index to the Web organized by librarians. There are far fewer websites, but each is reviewed and indexed by a librarian before inclusion in LII. Don't be put off by the initial clutter you see on the screen. It may not be snazzy, but it is efficiently organized, if you take a moment to look closely. Either browse that opening screen to your topic area or click on List of Subjects Used to be led to the best sites on the WWW. All entries are well annotated, so you know where you are going. Includes over 8000 sites.
Portals to the World
From the Library of Congress. This site is a selective set of links "… providing authoritative, indepth information…" (from their homepage) about countries of the world on the WWW.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Indexes over 1000 journals and books in the field of political science, as well as international relations, law, and public administration/policy. Covers 1975 to present. Updated monthly.

For an overview of your particular country, take a look at these books located in the Reference Room in Orradre Library.

  • Encyclopedia of World Political Systems, Ref JF51 .D465

  • The Middle East (Congressional Quarterly), Ref DS63.1 .M484

  • Middle East and North Africa, Ref DS 49 .M5

Security Issues

Centre for Defence and International Security Studies
A research center at Lancaster University in the UK provides access to research material concerning defense and security links, missile threats and other issues on this website.
Conflict Data Service
Provides information on international conflict resolution in the form of country guides, thematic guides, and peace agreements. The main audience for this service is academics as well as policy makers. Their criteria for including information is spelled out very clearly, and you should read it over! The producers of this service, INCORE, also provides valuable links to other related web resources. INCORE is a joint project of University of Ulster and the United Nations University.
FIRST (Facts on International Relations and Security Trends)
A joint project of the International Relations and Security Network (ISN) and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The databases contain information from research institutes all over the world. The emphasis is on specific military and armed conflict information. In FIRST, you must select at least one database and one country to search.
International Relations and Security Network
A Swiss website allowing searches on international security. Contains a library of links, a calendar on events on foreign security, and the FIRST reference database. Also provides research and publications.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Provides information in research areas such as arms transfer, military technology, and European security. Also includes recent SIPRI publications, databases, and links to other resources.
Center for Nonproliferation Studies
Contains publications, databases, and The Nonproliferation Review, as resources in the effort to combat the proliferation of weapons.
Center for Strategic and International Studies, The Military Balance
Nonpartisan group that researches issues related to national and international security for all of the world's major geographical areas.

Military/Defense Statistics

Looking for statistics on the military in your particular country, try the following books located in the Reference Room, Orradre Library.

  • Military Balance, Ref UA15 .L56
    "Updated each year to provide an accurate assessment of military forces and defence expenditures of 169 countries."

  • Defense & Foreign Affairs Handbook, Ref UA10 .D43
    "Political, economic and defense data on every country in the world."

  • Europa World Year Book, Ref D2.E85

Maps

Map Machine
A website of the National Geographic Society and the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). Allows you to search for maps by theme (i.e. political, cultural) and then customize and save the maps. Also provides flags and facts from the 1999 National Geographic Atlas of the World.
Maps of the Middle East
The Perry-Castaeda Library Map Collection of the University of Texas at Austin. Contains political, reference, and shaded relief maps produced by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Maps are listed both by region and by nation in alphabetical order

Citation Style Guides

Citing an Internet Resource APA & MLA Style
Simplified guide to citing Internet resources done by SCU Librarian, Gail Gradowski.
Citations Style Guides
From the Seattle Central Community College Library, this site shows you how to cite using examples from Modern Lanugage Association (MLA), Chicago (Turabian), American Psychological Association (APA), and American Anthropological Association (AAA) styles.

Content modified by Paula Popma, Orradre Library, 11/23/04.