The Spring issue of The Middle East Journal features articles on religion, economics and an important partnership reaching outside the region. Iran’s multi-faceted relationship with Russia is the focus of one study; conventional claims about the messianic expectations of the country’s leadership are challenged in another. In two separate articles, analysts examine the effects of militarization of the welfare system and wasta (“influence”) on Jordan’s business practices. Iraq’s factional splits are also analyzed in an article that discusses the merits of the strong state control that had once prevented open conflict.

Mark Katz of George Mason University examines a crucial interregional partnership in “Russian-Iranian Relations in the Ahmadinejad Era.” Katz discusses not only the mutual benefits of the relationship, such as Russia’s shipment of nuclear material, but also the differences the two nations must overcome. In “Occultation in Perpetuum: Shi’ite Messianism and the Policies of the Iranian Republic,” Israeli scholar Ze’ev Maghen challenges the traditional view that President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian government are motivated by a belief in the imminent arrival of the Twelfth Imam, and emphasizes that this realization should impact the West’s dealings with Iran.

The Journal’s articles on Jordan’s economy offers a critical analysis of business practices and the country’s welfare system. Wasta, a practice based on networking and influence, is a common factor in economics and business throughout the Middle East; Markus Lowe, Jonas Blume and Johanna Speer discuss its negative effects on Jordan’s economy in “How Favoritism Affects the Business Climate: Empirical Evidence from Jordan.” In “Militarizing Welfare: Neo-liberalism and Jordanian Policy,” the Naval Postgraduate School’s Anne Marie Baylouny examines the impact of economic structural reforms on Jordan’s welfare system.

Iraq analyst Adeed Dawisha of Miami University of Ohio discusses the country’s formerly powerful central government and its role in preventing ethnosectarian conflict in “The Unraveling of Iraq: Ethnosectarian, Preference and State Performance in Historical Perpective.”

In this issue’s book review essay, Andre Elias Mazawi looks at books focused on education and learning materials in the Middle East, especially focusing on the role Islam has within educational institutions.

The Middle East Institute is dedicated to increasing Americans’ knowledge and understanding of the region. MEI offers program activities, media outreach, language courses, scholars, library resources and an academic journal to help achieve its goals.