Ostour is a peer-reviewed biannual journal dedicated to historical studies, published by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies
A Workshop on Disseminating Historical Knowledge: A Reading of Fragments d'histoire marocaine: Société et figures du pouvoir by Abdelahad Sebti
Author: Abdelahad Sebti Title: Fragments of Moroccan History: Society and Figures of Power. Original Title: Fragments d'histoire marocaine: Société et figures du pouvoir. Publisher: Casablanca: La Croisée des Chemins / Dar Al Fanek for Publishing and Distribution. Year of Publication: 2023. Number of Pages: 196 pages.
Copyright (c) 2026 Ostour for Historical Studies
Tunisia: From the Makhzen to the Modern State – Revisiting Mohamed-Salah Mzali's Intellectual Journey
Editor: Ilyes Jouini Book Title: Tunisia from the Makhzen to the Nation-State in Light of the Trajectory of Mohamed Salah Mzali Original Title: La Tunisie du makhzen à l'État national: À la lumière de l'itinéraire de Mohamed-Salah Mzali Publisher: Tunis: Institut de Recherche sur le Maghreb Contemporain (IRMC) Year of Publication: 2025 Number of Pages: 348 pages.
The book reflects on Israel’s war on Gaza after the October 7, 2023 Al-Aqsa Flood operation. It offers a critical perspective on the political debates it sparked and examines how history is invoked to interpret the present.
Agricultural Modernization in Independent Morocco: Operation Plow (1957-1962)
This study deals with an aspect of the modernization attempts adopted by Morocco after gaining independence to improve the conditions of Moroccans after a period that was fraught with oppression and deprivation in the era of the colonizers. At first, Morocco focused on modernizing the agricultural sector, as it is the source of livelihood for the largest part of Moroccans. In 1957, it began launching what was known as the plowing process, with the aim of increasing productivity and modernizing the sector by adopting modern methods in agriculture, benefiting from the colonial experience in this context. The young country also took advantage of the enthusiasm that accompanied the independence period to ensure that social resistance to change was contained, and to convince the Moroccan peasant of the feasibility of modernization. However, the study concludes that the political turmoil that befell the moment, and the state's bet on the rural world and its elites to ensure political balance. Besides the difficulty of technical and economic adaptation to the scheme, it will be quickly doomed to failure despite its positive effects in terms of profitability and the beginning of overcoming the subsistence economy.
Moreno Cirillo's Journey to Southern Morocco: A Study of Mentalities, Representations, and Motivations
Moreno Cirillo's account of his travel on the Moroccan Spanish mission to the Atlantic Sahara has remained an obscure text, largely neglected by scholars in terms of translation and study. This article therefore constitutes an important contribution to the growing scholarly interest in this account, which contains significant references and rich information relating to Morocco during the reign of Sultan Hassan I. This analysis focuses on the historical framing of the journey by situating it within its broader context; namely Spain's attempt, in cooperation with Morocco, to identify the location of Santa Cruz de Mar Pequeña, pursuant to agreements concluded between the two parties following the Tetouan War. It also interrogates the account itself in order to identify the stereotypes and myths that permeate the writer's depiction of the Moors, as well as the inhabitants of the Sous and Sahara regions, on a journey that lasted several months.
Microhistory is linked to the historiography developed by the Italian historical school in the 1970s. Initially, the pioneers of this movement, including Carlo Poni, Edoardo Grendi, Giovanni Levi, and Carlo Ginzburg, were recognized for their work in economic and social history and their openness to the major intellectual currents of European and American universities. This movement generated a significant renewal, shifting the focus from social structures viewed as autonomous entities to a microscopic approach examining individuals as actors and influencers within the mental, social, and economic systems to which they belong. This change in perspective, based on the life trajectories of these individuals and their personal choices, enabled the reconstruction of these systems. As a result, microhistory resonated widely in France, Germany, and the English- and Spanish- speaking worlds, becoming a fundamental reference point in historical writing.
Kenitra from the Village to the Douar: The Expansion of the Urban Environment and the Emergence of the Moroccan Proletariat (1912 - 1975)
The contemporary history of Kenitra represents a model of Moroccan cities that underwent social transformations as a result of their reliance on market-oriented economic production. The city functioned as a host for Europeans and Moroccans alike, within which social groups of diverse backgrounds and classes coexisted. The city took shape in two distinct sections: the European quarter known as the Village, and the local quarter known as L'Mdina, with a clear disparity in housing patterns, the social composition of residents, and ways of life. The Village developed within a framework of orderly urban planning, whereas L'Mdina and its outskirts underwent gradual transformations, evolving from a local neighbourhood into something resembling a douar , a predominantly rural residential settlement. Upon independence, the outskirts became a destination for rural migrants, who settled in constantly evolving douars . This interaction between human and spatial dimensions gave rise to a proletariat that data indicates constituted a driving force behind the expansion of the city's urban fabric and a key productive force by virtue of the human resources it supplied. This proletariat later also became an important electoral reservoir for left-wing parties and trade unions. Accordingly, this study argues for approaching the monographic history of cities through an analysis that brings together their spatial and human components.
Repercussions of the Ottoman – Russian War (1768–1774) on the Political Situations in Mount Lebanon and the Coast during the Reign of Emir Yusuf Shihab
The early years of the second half of the 18 th century saw the Russian Empire's resumption of its earlier expansions southward towards the Black Sea, where the Ottoman Empire obtained political, economic, and religious influence. Empress Catherine II, who wanted to follow in the footsteps of Peter the Great, builder and of the Russian Empire, moved the war with the Ottomans from the Caucasus, Crimea, and the Black Sea to Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. She contacted local ambitious rulers and governors inclining toward independence and supported them in order to create internal confusion in the Ottoman Empire and distract it further. Several conflicts over influence occurred between local governors in Egypt and Syria, which re-divided political roles and positions to suit the interests of the Sultanate. One of most prominent governors was Emir Yusuf Shihab of Mount Lebanon. This study attempts to explain the reasons that led to these political changes.
Urban Development of Jerusalem under Jordanian Rule: Narrating the Jerusalem International Airport, 1948-1967
This study argues that the establishment and expansion of Jerusalem Airport played a decisive role in the development of Jerusalem as a vibrant Arab metropolis, embedded within the social, political, and economic networks of the Arab region. It connected the city to Arab and Western capitals, attracted growing numbers of tourists and diplomats, and created a wide range of opportunities for Jerusalem's residents and the inhabitants of neighbouring Palestinian villages. The airport facilitated new investments and expanded and strengthened the ties of Palestinians, Jordanians, Kuwaitis, Saudis, Algerians, and Egyptians to the Arab city, transforming it into a cosmopolitan urban centre. It empowered the city's inhabitants and radically transformed its urban landscape. Israel's occupation of the airport and its severance from Arab Jerusalem after 1967 subsequently ushered in a period of decline following the urban emergence of Jerusalem under Jordanian administration.
“Styles” of Tunisian Historical Writing and Epistemic and Methodological Turns in the Modern and Contemporary Periods
How do we assess historical writing in Tunisia when it spans more than four centuries? What framework should we adopt to categorize this experience, and using which analytical tools? One way of addressing these questions is to trace moments of epistemic and methodological efflorescence in Tunisian historical writing by identifying the “styles” adopted by the pioneers of this tradition in the modern and contemporary periods. It is, however, difficult within the scope of this study to capture all the moments of epistemic renewal witnessed by this historiography. This paper reads the methodological and epistemic turns that marked this tradition as the product of the elaboration of new and innovative “styles”, each shaped by its own context and concerns. Every manifestation of renewal is thus expressed through a new “style” of historical writing. In this way, the present study opens a new avenue for reflecting on the trajectory of Tunisian historical writing in the modern and contemporary periods, in order to understand its development through comparison with other experiences in the Arab world.
Writing the General History of Tunisia over a Century: Changes and Challenges (1918-2019)
This article examines books written on the history of Tunisia over the century that passed from 1918 to 2019. These chronicles all seek to summarize the country's history according to specific time periods and issues, while excluding others. They can be divided into individual and collective works, some written in French and others in Arabic. Regardless of their nature, these historical studies were written within sensitive contexts, such as under colonial rule, the national movement, the building of the nation-state, and the state's subsequent crises. However “objective" these books may be, they are nonetheless linked to the state and identity, and they express the strategies of the actors involved, whether individuals or groups.
Hamilton Gibb and His Works on Islam and the Crusades: Between the Mirror of Orientalism and History
This study evaluates the works of the prominent British Orientalist Hamilton Gibb, who contributed to Islamic studies in the 20th century, particularly through his book Studies on the Civilization of Islam and his research on the Crusades. The study approaches his works first from an Orientalist perspective, which examines the intellectual backgrounds that shaped Western perceptions of Islam, and second, from a historical perspective, which analyses his methodology in treating Islamic texts as living material, combining textual investigation with historical analysis. The study focuses on how he handled the dichotomy of "Western" and "Islamic" narratives and seeks to re-evaluate his standing not only as a historian but as an influential actor who contributed to shaping the West's understanding of Islamic history, while offering a critical reading of his works and methodology.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ostour for Historical Studies
Wadi Musa and Petra in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
Author: Marc Bloch Translator: Oumria Soultani Title: The Strange Defeat: Testimony Written in 1940 Original Title: L'étrange défaite: Témoignage écrit en 1940 Publisher: Doha / Beirut: Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies Year of Publication: 2021 Number of Pages: 184
This study examines the biography of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, going beyond his image as a military leader, and questioning whether his achievements stemmed from personal ambition or other moral motives. It draws upon a number of resources, such as the writings of Ibn al-Athir, Baha al-Din Ibn Shaddad, Imad al-Din al-Isfahani, as well as the reports and letters issued by Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi's secretary, al-Qadi al-Fadil. The study argues that Saladin's success was not based on his military or administrative genius, but rather on his virtuous character and his ability to inspire and unite Muslims. He succeeded in mobilizing the necessary forces to confront the Crusaders. The study concludes that Saladin's greatest achievement was an ethical one, as he sought to revive Islamic unity in a time of fragmentation, setting before his eyes a goal loftier than personal power.
Local History in Mount Lebanon in the First Half of the Twentieth Century
The local history of Mount Lebanon is a cultural phenomenon that is only paralleled by the history of coastal Arab cities such as Tripoli, Beirut, and saida, and other inland cities such as Baalbek. In other words, it is a result of socio-economic developments. This history has dealt with cities that are, by their very nature, geo-polar cities, That is, it played economic and political roles in relation to its surroundings, and is distinguished by its demographic, social, and climatic characteristics, to the extent that summer marketing was one of the goals of local historians. The process of chronicling these towns has been characterised by common features, the first of which is their affiliation with the positivist school, which focuses on working with documents after critiquing them, and drawing on some auxiliary human sciences such as geography and archaeology. It also draws on Arab heritage in its treatment of family structures and their clannishness. After describing the historical method used, the geographical reality was described, the chronological patterns used, and the socio-economic, institutional, and educational history were examined. The research concluded with a descriptive-analytical summary of the characteristics of this history.
This study explores the historiography of Lebanese cities, highlighting the ideological frameworks that have shaped scholarly approaches. One current emphasizes the Phoenician heritage of Lebanon’s coastal cities to assert a distinct Lebanese identity, while another adopts a pan-Arab perspective, underscoring the formative role of Arab-Islamic periods in constructing urban identities. The study also examines the influence of archaeological discoveries and, more significantly, documentary sources—particularly the sijillāt of the maḥākim sharʿiyya (Islamic court registers)—on the development of historical research. In addition, it engages with sociological and anthropological studies, especially those focused on Beirut.
Atatürk. Eine Biographie By Klaus Kreiser
Author: Klaus Kreiser Translator: Soumiya Kouzal Title: Atatürk: A Biography Original Title: Atatürk: Eine Biographie Publisher: Doha / Beirut: Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies Year of Publication: 2023 Number of Pages: 184
Author: Suleiman Ali Ibrahim Al-Farajat Title: Wadi Musa and Petra: In the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Publisher: Amman: Jordanian Ministry of Culture and Arts Year of Publication: 2023 Number of Pages: 184
Ottoman Documents on the House of Hussein Pasha of Tunis in Istanbul
This article examines the rule of the Turkish Pasha Abu Muhammad Hussein over the province of Tunis (1591-1596) through three archival documents preserved in the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul. The documents reveal Hussein Pasha's purchase of a luxurious property in Beşiktaş, which includes two floors, a garden, and a stable, reflecting his desire to return to the centre of the Caliphate. The documents also illustrate the inclination of Turkish Pashas to settle near the tomb of Hayreddin Barbarossa and the Sinan Pasha Mosque. Furthermore, the article highlights the financial capability of the Pashas of the Western Odjak to acquire seaside palaces despite the economic crises that afflicted the capital of the Caliphate and the Tunisian Eyalet at that time.
Importance of the Serial and Quantitative Methodology in History and its Application in the History of Lebanon
This Article presents the new methodology for writing history that is issued from the problems of the present this methodology is based on a series of statistics and figures that cover a long-term period. This kind of history is focused on general factors and problems, far from specific events that occurred in local and specific circumstances. This methodology is in Solidarity with the other specializations in Human and social sciences and constitutes a reference for them in the long term. This methodology supposed the use of other sciences such as statistics, Geography, computer sciences, Sociology. This Article is also analyzing the works and research of new Lebanese historians who had applies this methodology. Research on history of demography, history of Waqf institutions, traditions and customs, taxes, the role of women in history had introduced a new trend in historical research. This new methodology is supposed to bring more objectivity in the writing of Lebanese History and less conflicts between historians.
The End of the Ottoman Caliphate and Muslims of the Subcontinent
This study discusses the historical and religious developments that brought about the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate. It begins with a brief overview of the roots of the caliphate institution, how the Ottomans understood it, and its central role within and without the Ottoman Empire. Hence, the study analyses the connections that emerged in India, based on the issue of the caliphate and the consequences of its abolition, among some Muslim scholars and Indian revolutionaries, at the time taking the form of the All-India Muslim League. The study concentrates on the impact of the caliphate question on the establishment of the "Central Khilafat Committee" through the Khilafat Movement, and how this movement mobilized Indian society around the question of the caliphate in the Ottoman Empire as a political issue of concern to Indian Muslims. Yet the movement lost its political power and attractiveness among the masses, as it was deprived of its raison d'être and there was internal discord among its leadership. More importantly, this contributed to the deterioration of Hindu-Muslim relations.
History and Psychoanalysis: The Genealogy of a Relationship
Historical knowledge necessitates an essential dialogue with psychoanalysis, whereby historical events transform into unconscious texts requiring critical deconstruction. This dialectical intersection extends beyond mere applications of "Freudian theory" to past events, advancing toward a fundamental reconceptualization of history itself as a therapeutic process that reveals the repressed traumas of collectivities and nations. Within this framework, psychoanalysis emerges as an analytical lens that exposes the hidden relationships between manifest structures and latent desires – mechanisms operating through projection, rationalization, and repression. Both historians and psychoanalysts pursue meaning through examining discursive gaps, epistemic displacements, and often more significantly, through analysing silence rather than speech. François Dosse's examination of this intricate relationship presents us with a central epistemological problem: How can historical inquiry maintain its claims to objectivity while being subject to the determinisms of the unconscious? Furthermore, to what extent can psychoanalysis provide a methodologically sound reading when addressing absent/present historical realities?
Separating Sultanate from Caliphate The Historical Context and Consequences of
This study examines the memorandum "The Caliphate and the Authority of the People" as a historical, jurisprudential, and legal study. It argues that this study laid the theoretical and ideological groundwork for the abolition of the caliphate after the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne. The papers three sections consider the historical context of the document's call to "separate the sultanate from the caliphate"; its most important ideas; and the consequences of separation, then abolition for Arab-Islamic thought, via the models of Muhammad Rashid Rida and Ali Abdel Raziq. The study concludes that although political, ideological, and religious reactions would subsequently centre on the abolition of the caliphate, the crucial implicit role of the document (as a research paradigm) among intellectuals, scholars, and jurisprudents in the Islamic world has been obvious and of great consequence in opening discussions between them.
The Exclusion of Arabs at Lausanne: A Decisive Historical Turn
This study discusses the exclusion of Arabs at Lausanne and offers a different reading of the fact that understanding the post-First World War moment in the Middle East cannot be confined to borders and national independence. It investigates the political movement in Syria by attending to exclusion at the Paris Peace Conference (1919- 1920); political and legal challenges to the mandate system in the Arab East (1920-1922); Arab "present absentees" [al-ghāʾibūn al-ḥāḍirūn] at Lausanne (i.e. the question of the Arabs was obscured despite their presence); and decolonizing the historical narrative by reading Lausanne as a decisive turning point in the political history of the Arab World. The study concludes by calling for an assessment of Arab movements after the First World War in the context of other anti-establishment movements in the 1920s in Europe and South Asia, which rejected the new liberal international order and neocolonialism and whose political aspirations in Syria and the Arab World would be dashed by Lausanne.
The Significance of Lausanne for Arabs and Turks
This study addresses the implications of the Lausanne Conference through a comparison between Arabs and Turks. It refutes arguments in the literature that the Arabs were not as politically or militarily mature as the Turks during Lausanne and attributes the failure of the Arabs at Lausanne to structural factors such as the central roles of the Great Powers (e.g. Russia, Britain, France) in the period's events, which ended the First World War in Turkey's favour. The study examines two important historical factors at this juncture: how Turkish-Russian relations transformed from hostility to close friendship, and how Arab-Turkish relations turned from animosity to cooperation, especially after the Sykes-Picot Agreement was announced and Britain backed the idea of a national home for the Jews. The study concludes that hostility between the Ottoman Empire and the Allied Powers on the one hand, and the new Turkish Republic's relations with the Great Powers on the other, helped end the war in the Middle East in Turkey's favour.
Alongside the Lausanne Negotiations The Belated Arab-Turkish Reconciliation Agreement
This study analyses the relationship between (a) Britain's exclusion of Arab representatives of the Hashemite government of the Hejaz from the Lausanne Conference and (b) that government's acceleration of communication channels with the leadership of the (Kemalist) Grand National Assembly to officially end the war between Turks and Arabs through an Arab-Turkish reconciliation agreement. The study reflects on official Hejazi-Turkish communications at the time of the conference; King Hussein's adoption of a neutral, pro-Turkish position toward the Turkish-British conflict on the question of Mosul; and the king's obstruction of the British-Hejazi treaty. These factors among others cleared the way for the collapse of his kingdom and his permanent exclusion from the region's geopolitical game.
From Imposed Peace to Peace Subject to Renegotiation
This study focuses on the occupation of the Ottoman Empire directly after the truce and the goals that motivated the Allied Powers, seeking to understand this transitional period that reshaped the landscape of the Middle East. The study's sections discuss projects after the First World War such as the San Remo Conference; the Treaty of Sèvres; the Allied conference in Paris in preparation for the conference in London; the diplomatic delegations to Anatolia (1921); and the Armistice of Mudanya and preparations for the peace conference in the East. The study concludes that the Treaty of Lausanne consolidated a new order in the Middle East but also sounded the death knell of the norms of international relations set forth by the Conference of Vienna (1815) following the Napoleonic Wars.
Review of The History of the Print and Publishing Movement in Morocco During the Protectorate Period (1912-1955)
Title: The History of the Print and Publishing Movement in Morocco During the Protectorate Period (1912–1955) Author: Fawzi Abderrazak Publisher: Rabat, Dar Alamane Year: 2023 Pages: 376
Review of Disclosures of Memory and Documents as Witnesses by M’Barek Bouderka (Abbas)
Title: Disclosures of Memory and Documents as Witnesses: From the Memoirs of M’Barek Bouderka (Abbas) Introduction and discussion: Tayeb Biad Year: 2020 Pages: 414
The Israeli Army’s Overseas Volunteers in the War of 1948
This study investigates how the Zionist movement and Israel managed to enlist approximately 26,700 troops from abroad. They belonged to two groups: the first, called “overseas conscripts” (Gahal) and numbering more than 22.000, were Jews in Eastern Europe who had survived the Holocaust. The second group, called “overseas volunteers” (Mahal) and numbering around 4,000, came primarily from the United States, South Africa, Britain, Canada, and some other states. This article examines the critically important role played by the "Gahal" soldiers and "Mahal" volunteers in the 1948 war, boosting the Israeli army’s numbers and significantly increasing its qualitative power. They provided the army with the experts, consultants, and professional soldiers whom it desperately needed, which had a major impact on the course and outcomes of the war.