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Is this the end for Middle East studies?

2 April 2025

Commentary
Edmund O’Sullivan
Former editor of MEED

The arrest and proposed deportation of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil and sanctions against others involved in Gaza conflict protests at the Ivy League college in 2024 are a disaster for those involved. Whether or not deserved – the conversation still rages among political pundits – the crackdown’s wider implications for academic freedom continue to resound.

On 14 March, the White House ordered the university to tighten disciplinary and admissions procedures and end the independence of its Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies department or risk losing federal financial support. 

It is a reminder of how much private US universities still depend on government money.

There are further threats to higher education’s financing from private donors, both in relation to the student protests and fresh scrutiny being directed towards the statements, lectures and published works of academic staff on Middle Eastern topics.

US state universities, which largely depend on public finance, are under the same pressure. And similar patterns can be seen in Canada and in the UK, where a Bristol University academic was sacked in 2021 following complaints about his stance against Zionism. Middle East specialists at universities worldwide are increasingly cautious about what they write and say.

And this is not only about contemporary matters. Anyone teaching Middle East history is obliged to cover the events leading to the 1917 Balfour Declaration and its ramifications. This could be tackled in the past provided that care was taken to ensure all versions of the event were covered. But that may now be impossible. Only one narrative is becoming acceptable.

Uncertain future

This may be a short-term storm that will eventually blow over, although that is unlikely. The war to control the Middle East narrative triggered by the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel could even intensify if the fighting continues.

Balanced reporting on developments in the region is difficult to locate. Those seeking alternative perspectives are being driven towards the fringes of the media, though that too is under siege via online management and censorship.

All this raises profound questions. Is there any point attempting Middle East studies when it is impossible to talk about contentious moments in the region’s recent past without the threat of sanctions that could be career-ending?

Unless this issue is addressed, the discipline may lose its purpose in shedding light on recent events. Among the many victims of a new era of destruction, the demise of free-thinking Middle East faculties is one that we may in due course have the most reason to lament.

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More from Edmund O’Sullivan:

> Trump’s foreign policy shakes global relations
> Between the extremes as spring approaches
> A leap into the unknown
> Middle East faces a reckoning
> Biden leaves a mixed legacy
> Desperate days drag on
> The beginning of the end
> The death of political risk
> Italy at centre of new reduced Europe
> US foreign policy approach remains adrift

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Edmund O’Sullivan

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