Middle East

Search Engine Colossus and Search Engine Guide are comprehensive global master directories of local search engines for regional, country, or language-specific searches. Yahoo! provides country-specific, regional, and official government site search options. Google offers a comprehensive Language Tools Page to search in specific languages or countries, translate text, change language interfaces, or link to country-specific Google sites.

• Arab News-- English-language daily newspaper from Saudi Arabia.

• Arab Social Science Research-- Directory of research centers and virtual library for those studying the Arab world, searchable by country,  agency type, and topic, from the Arab Institute for Studies and Communication.

• Arab States-- From the Regional Bureau for Arab States of the United Nations Development Programme, an extensive site about development issues in the Arabic-speaking countries.

• Arabian Business-- Comprehensive business news and analysis site for Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf Arab states, with contributions from scores of journalists, a company directory, press releases, briefings, financial markets, currencies, video/audio, and more.

• Arabic News-- Daily newspaper covering Arabic-speaking countries.

• Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies-- "Seeks to contribute to the advancement of Middle East peace and security by conducting policy-relevant research on strategic subjects, particularly as they relate to the national security and foreign policy of Israel." Posts many research papers of various types.

• Bitterlemons-- "Presents Israeli and Palestinian viewpoints on prominent issues of concern. It focuses on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and peace process. Its goal is to contribute to mutual understanding through the open exchange of ideas [and] to impact the way Palestinians, Israelis and others worldwide think about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict." Edited weekly, with free subscription and on-site archive.

• Carnegie Endowment Middle East Page-- "Gives visitors easier access to Carnegie's extensive research and writing on the state of political change in the Middle East and the effects of U.S. and European efforts to promote democracy there. Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, and Lebanon are all major areas of focus."

• Council on American-Islamic Relations-- Organization whose "mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding," working "to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America." Posts information. news, and commentary about Islam, U.S. relations with Muslims, and related issues.

• Council for Peace and Security-- "Voluntary [Israeli] body with no party political affiliation ... with a membership that has rich experience of security, politics, economics and problems of society... A major aim is to bring members’ experience and knowledge to the public, thereby enabling the public to form knowledgeable opinions on security-related issues, particularly in connection with the Peace Process." Posts articles, news items and reports of events.

• CSIS Middle East Program-- From the Center for Strategic and International Studies, this program posts articles, publications, and presentations that cover "all aspects of U.S. policy toward the region, concentrating especially on identifying new voices, framing emerging challenges, and developing opportunities for positive change..."

• Encyclopaedia of the Orient-- Alphabetical compendium of information on North Africa and the Middle East, which "covers all countries and cultures between Mauritania in the west and Iran in the east, Turkey in the north and Sudan in the south," from the LexicOrient directory for the Middle East and North Africa.

• Gulf Business-- Covers business and general news in the region of the Persian Gulf.

• Gulf Law-- "Complete guide on Corporate Law in the Arab Middle East... information on general law and corporate law relating to the Arab Middle East, with a slant towards the Arabian Gulf and the GCC States. Details on Islamic or Shariah Law are included."

• Gulf Research Center-- Independent research institute in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, whose aim is "to pursue politically neutral and academically sound research about the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and disseminate the knowledge obtained as widely as possible." This excellent large site posts news, publications, large e-library, research gateway, and more.

• H-Mideast-Politics Discussion Network-- "Academic discussion forum where substantive information and analysis can be presented of Middle East current affairs and of its relevance to the foreign policy of states outside the region. The list takes the entire area from Morocco to Malaysia and from Kazakhstan to Somalia as its purview. The emphasis is on contemporary politics."

• Israel Insider-- Israel's daily news magazine on security, politics, diplomacy, opinion, and special features.

• Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs-- Information about the Ministry, recent developments in Israel, and various facets of Israeli government and life.

• Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs-- Independent, non-profit institute for policy research and education, located in Jerusalem and focusing on Israeli foreign affairs, security issues, Middle Eastern diplomacy, and international law.

• Media Line-- "Unique [American] non-profit news organization established to enhance and balance media coverage in the Middle East, promote independent reporting in the region, and break down barriers to understanding in the Arab and Israeli journalism communities," offering "written pieces as well as audio and video reports produced by The Media Line’s staff of seasoned journalists speaking the languages of the region."

• Middle East Institute-- "Important conduit of information between Middle Eastern nations and American policymakers, organizations and the public. We strive to increase knowledge of the Middle East among our own citizens and to promote understanding between the peoples of the Middle East and America." Posts policy briefs, press releases, country briefs, and other items.

• Middle East Media Research Institute-- "Explores the Middle East through the region's media... providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East." Posts in several languages, with archives.

• Middle East Research and Information Project-- From a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C., varied independent perspectives on and insightful analysis of events and issues in the Middle East, with online news, commentaries, studies, and the free Middle East Report Online.

• Middle East Studies Association of North America-- An academic group for the study of the Middle East since the rise of Islam, principally from the viewpoint of the humanities and the social sciences.

• Middle East Studies Resources-- From Columbia University and part of the WWW Virtual Library system, a major directory of bibliographic resources and research materials on the Middle East and North Africa available on the Internet.

• Middle East Virtual Library-- Excellent searchable information portal for Middle East and Islamic Studies, to provide "access to online information and to digital records of printed and other offline media," sponsored by a multinational European library consortium.

• MidEast Web-- From Israel, by a coalition of "Arabs, Jews and others who want to build a new Middle East based on coexistence and neighborly relations." Contains texts, analyses, proposals, cultural and other information, news, maps, statistics, and more.

• Persian Gulf Research Web Site-- The Gulf/2000 Project of the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University offers a fine range of news, background, research data, maps, and links about the eight countries of the Persian Gulf region.

• Programme on Governance in the Arab Region-- From the United Nations Development Programme's Regional Bureau for Arab States, "to provide resources and information on governance reform in the Arab states, including general and country-specific essays on the themes pertaining to... participation, rule of law, and transparency and accountability." Posts publications, statistics, indicators, thematic comparisons, databases, and links to related UNDP-RBAS websites.

• SyriaComment.com-- "A web log on Syrian politics, history, and religion" by Professor Joshua M. Landis, Middle Eastern Studies specialist in the History Department and the School of International and Area Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

• United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia-- News, information, many statistics, and many online reports are available free in full-text from this United Nations regional organization. Great source for authoritative online economic and social information about the eastern part of the Middle East.

• World Bank Middle East and North Africa Information-- Papers, discussion notes, and reports on economic, environmental, and social issues in the Middle East and North Africa today.

• ZAJEL-- "Part of Zajel Youth Exchange Program, based at the Public Relations Department of An-Najah National University, Nablus-Palestine... seeks to promote Palestinian culture, heritage, history and news."