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The latest issue of the journal META (4/2015; Middle East – Topics &#38; Arguments) focuses on Area Studies. Based on the observation that  the concept of Area Studies has witnessed a remarkable renaissance in Germany in recent years. As inregionally focused institutes and centers all over the country the editores, Ines Braune and Achim Rhode, ask what the challenges for a critical area studies approach in the face of ongoing processes of globalization, and specifically with regard to Middle East studies, the impact of the Arab uprisings of 2011 and subsequent developments are. This issue wants to broaden the discussion regarding how and to what extent the institutionalization of knowledge production shapes its content because "knowledge production on the contemporary MENA region remains a contested discursive field in which a variety of players jockey for influence."View or download the full issue here.