General Websites for Arab and Middle Eastern Countries:
General Information
For general country information, the CIA World Factbook:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html covers all the basics while
Library of Congress country studies http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs provide detailed
historical overviews.
Columbia University’s library http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/mideast/cuvlm
has a comprehensive list of Middle East resources from research institutions to countryspecific sites. For more links, try Arab Files: http://www.hejleh.com/countries/ which is
a decent first stop or Arab Net: http://www.arab.net which has a good amount of links
but is hit or miss.
Columbia University’s Gulf/2000 website http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/ provides a
selective and well organized set of links about the Persian Gulf and other Middle East
countries.
An extensive chronology of the Middle East from 1908 to the present is available at:
http://middleeast.reference.users.btopenworld.com/
Encyclopaedia of the Orient: http://lexicorient.com/e.o/index.htm
Politics and Diplomacy
Governments on the Web: http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en provides a list of links to
governmental sites for most countries (ministries, embassies, etc.).
Constitutions: http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/law has constitutions for most nations.
Elections: http://www.electionworld.org/election provides minimal election statistics and
links to information about political parties.
International Relations and Diplomacy
US State Department Near Eastern Affairs website http://www.state.gov/p/nea/
provides a wide variety of information and reports on US policy toward the Middle East.
European Institute for Research on Mediterranean and Euro-Arab Cooperation
http://www.medea.be/site.html?idx=54&page=2&lang=en&doc=#54 has good
information files on people, groups, UN resolution and stats and an Arabic press review
in French as well as info on the Euro-Arab parliamentary dialogue.
Press
See http://www.sahafa.com/ for Arabic, French and English papers from around the Arab
World. Also try http://www.middleeastnews.com/ for links to papers of various Arab and
Muslim countries.
Economics and Energy
World Bank http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/mna/mena.nsf has great data and statistics on
the countries of Middle East and North Africa. This site is well laid-out and definitely
worth a look.
For energy information, try the US Department of Energy’s Middle East information
page: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/cabsme.html or OPEC’s website at
http://www.opec.org which offers country-specific information, news and statements.
Security
The Federation of American Scientists http://www.fas.org/news/index.html monitors
weapons of mass destruction in various countries and provides weapons guides
(including information on intelligence services) for selected countries.
Human Rights
A variety of organizations compile reports on human rights in the Middle East, including
Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/mideast and Amnesty International:
http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/REGIONS/MIDDLE+EAST?OpenView&Start=1&Count=
30&Expand=1
International Organizations, Research Institutions and NGOs
The United Nations website www.un.org has an inordinate amount of information on
countries, UN resolutions, etc. There are also many other organizations dedicated to
research on the Middle East. The Middle East Institute in Washington DC
http://www.mideasti.org/html/links.html has a fairly comprehensive list of links to other
research institutions and sites.
Miscellaneous: a potpourri of sites for pleasurable browsing and
research
National Geographic’s map-making machine enables you to zoom in on a given region,
country, city or village, at: plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/, from the
perspective of topography, politics, ecology, climate, infrastructure, &c.
A search of National Geographic’s main Website, at www.nationalgeographic.com, will
produce country references from the archives, including maps and fabulous photographs.
(Regional websites for the Middle East and Africa are promised in the near future, at
www.nationalgeographic.com/siteindex/index.html#maps.)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Ancient World Mapping Center
Web Links are posted at www.unc.edu/depts/awmc/content/html4/links.html.
The Air University Library maintains Mideast country bibliographies and some nifty
security sites, at www.au.af.mil/au/aul/bibs/mideast/midest12.htm .
A helpful directory of international Websites is maintained by the French government at
lessites.service-public.fr.
The Norwegian Refugee Council maintains the Forced Migration Review at
www.fmreview.org/, with superb human-rights links for each country it covers.
And AI’s 2002 report on The Arab Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism, at
www.web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/index/IOR510012002?OpenDocument&of=REGIONS\MI
DDLE+EAST
TerrorismAnswers.com -- from the Council on Foreign Relations
http://www.terrorismanswers.com/home
"Terrorism: Questions & Answers" is run by the Council on Foreign
Relations in New York, publishers of Foreign Affairs magazine. Here's what
the site says: "If you're bewildered by anthrax, Afghanistan, and a lot
else that's happened since September 11, join the crowd. Our aim is to
help sort it all out for you -- in a question-and-answer format that's
authoritative, easily understandable, and nonpartisan. We'll tell you what
we know and what we don't know." Think of it as an online encyclopedia
about terrorism. It's a work in progress that is a good starting point to
learn more about the subject.
Perspectives on Terrorism: Defining the Line -- from the Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/terrorism
This site from the Christian Science Monitor deals with the thorny issue
of defining the word "terrorism." A multimedia site that uses text, photos
and audio, it is a special project that draws on the extensive reportage
of the Monitor and the expertise of Brian Jenkins, author of
"International Terrorism: A New Mode of Conflict." Using five case
studies, readers can try to define each situation and decide whether they
think it is terrorism or not. Powerful, thought-provoking material.
Geographic.org
http://www.geographic.org/
Easy to navigate reference site featuring country geographic, demographic information,
and key global rankings in areas such as energy, economy, etc.
Ancient History Sourcebook
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook03.html,
Excellent reference site for Ancient history. Produced by Fordham University
Islamic History Sourcebook
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/islam/islamsbook.html This is really a terrific resource.
Terrific website with chock full of information on Islamic history, from its beginnings in
Arabia up until today.
Arabnet.Com
http://www.arab.net/iraq/history/iraq_history.html
Another handy quick reference site for background info on all countries in the Middle
East
RadioFree Liberty
http://www.rferl.org
One of the best news sources for the Arab world.
University of Kentucky-Ekstrom Library
http://www.louisville.edu/library/ekstrom/govpubs/international/mideast/mideast.html
A very useful website, with many resources and information about individual countries
and key regional issues
Freedom House
http://freedomhouse.org
The best resource on the web for information about freedom and democracy around the
world