MEI was launched in London 1971 by the late Christopher Mayhew and Claude Morris, and until it closed in 2005 it was regarded as the pre-eminent political magazine on the region. Edward Said called it simply “the best fortnightly magazine on the Middle East.” Former editors included Michael Adams, Michael Wall and Steve Sherman.

In October 2009, MEI returns – with new owners but with the same ethos and values as before. Earlier this year, Rimal Publications in Nicosia, Cyprus acquired the MEI title and with MUAB Holdings, formed a new company, Middle East International Publications, to re-launch and run the magazine. The new MEI Editor is Gerald Butt, formerly a BBC Middle East Correspondent and Editor of Middle East Economic Survey. He will be advised by a distinguished board of Consulting Editors, consisting of Rashid Khalidi, Zaki Nusseibeh, Jim Muir and Patrick Seale.

The new MEI will feature several of the correspondents in the Middle East and elsewhere whose analysis made the magazine in the past a unique authority on developments affecting the region. The new MEI will offer its readers every two weeks the best available analysis from the leading experts on the region.

MEI will be available in print form and on-line. The new MEI website will go live during the summer.