The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is frequently described in terms of both its vast natural resources and its complex sociopolitical landscape. Perhaps most notably, the region is endowed with a large concentration of energy resources, estimated in 2013 to be “860 billion barrels, which are 52% of global proven oil reserves” (Khatib, 2013). This concentration of natural resources has had a profound influence on both regional economies and global markets. At the same time, this wealth is unevenly distributed, contributing to significant economic variation across countries in the region.

Alongside these economic dynamics, the MENA Region has also been shaped by ongoing political instability, including wars, settler colonialism, displacement, and fragile governance structures. These conditions affect not only national economics but also educational systems, institutional development, and access to resources. As a result, writing support programs in secondary and tertiary education across the region operate within diverse and sometimes rapidly changing environments.

Defining the Region

Despite its widespread use, “MENA” is not a fixed or universally agreed-upon geographic category. Different organizations and scholars define the region differently, sometimes including or excluding countries like Turkey, Afghanistan, and Sudan (Chen, 2025). These variations reflect the fact that MENA is not defined solely by geography, but also by political, economic, and cultural considerations.

(World Population Review, 2025)

Countries in the region are often grouped together due to a combination of factors, including geographic proximity, historical or imperial connections, and shared cultural and linguistic influences. In many contexts, the widespread use of Arabic and the influence of Islam are cited as unifying features, although these characteristics are neither universal nor uniform across all countries.

It is also important to recognize that the term “Middle East” itself has colonial origins. The label emerged from a European perspective that positioned the region relative to Europe, between the “Near East” and the “Far East.” As such, it reflects a geopolitical framing imposed from outside the region rather than one grounded in local understandings.

In response, some scholars and institutions have adopted alternative terms such as “West Asia”, which reorients the region geographically rather than relationally. While no single term fully captures the diversity of the region, these naming debates highlight how language shapes not only representation but also knowledge production.

For the purposes of this project, we adopt the World Bank’s definition of the MENA Region (World Bank, 2020), while remaining mindful of its limitations and the histories embedded within the term MENA.

• Algeria
• Bahrain
• Djibouti
• Egypt
• Iran
• Iraq
• Jordan
• Kuwait
• Lebanon
• Libya
• Morocco
• Oman
• Palestine (West Bank and Gaza)
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Syria
• Tunisia
• United Arab Emirates
• Yemen

At the same time, it is important to recognize that these countries differ significantly in terms of language use, political structure, economic development, and higher education systems. The term “MENA,” therefore, should be understood as a useful but imperfect framework.

Why This Matters for Writing Centers

This broader regional context is essential for understanding writing center work in the MENA region. Writing centers operate at the intersection of linguistic diversity, institutional variation, and global academic structures, and cannot be understood apart from these conditions.

At the same time, it is important to recognize that the MENA region is often reduced—particularly in Western discourse—to its oil wealth or to narratives of conflict and instability. While these factors are undeniably part of the region’s history and present, they do not fully represent the lived realities of its people or the intellectual and cultural work taking place within its institutions.

Writing centers offer one way to shift this narrative. They provide a lens through which the region can be understood not only in terms of resources or geopolitics, but in terms of its people, their languages, their educational experiences, and their engagement with writing as a social and cultural practice. Across the region, students, tutors, and educators work daily across multiple languages, rhetorical traditions, and academic expectations. Their work reflects the richness and complexity of the MENA region in ways that are rarely captured in dominant representations.

References

Chen, J. (2025, August 27). Middle East and North Africa (MENA): Key economies and oil reserves insights. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/middle-east-and-north-africa-mena.asp

Khatib, H. (2013). Oil and natural gas prospects: Middle East and North Africa. Energy Policy, 64, 71–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.07.091

World Population Review. (2025, November 21). MENA countries. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/mena-countries