The 2010-2011 Arab Spring reverberated far beyond politics, reshaping how the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) is studied. Analyzing 3.7 million Scopus-indexed articles published between 2002 and 2019, we find that mentions of ten of these countries in titles or abstracts rose significantly after 2011 relative to the global baseline, with Egypt receiving the greatest attention in the region. We link this surge to two intertwined mechanisms: an increase in research funding directed at the MENA region and the emigration of researchers who continued publishing on their countries of origin. Our analysis reveals that Saudi Arabia has emerged as a regional hub for studying the affected countries, attracting funding and scholars, and thereby playing a significant role in shaping the scientific narrative on the region. These findings demonstrate how political upheaval can reshape global knowledge flows by altering who studies whom, with what resources, and in which disciplines.

翻译：2010-2011年的阿拉伯之春的影响远不止于政治领域，它重塑了中东和北非地区（MENA）的研究格局。通过分析2002年至2019年间发表的370万篇Scopus索引文章，我们发现其中十个国家在标题或摘要中被提及的频率在2011年后相对于全球基线显著上升，其中埃及在该地区受到的关注度最高。我们将这一激增现象归因于两个相互关联的机制：针对中东和北非地区的研究经费增加，以及持续发表关于其祖国研究成果的研究人员外流。我们的分析表明，沙特阿拉伯已成为研究受影响国家的区域中心，吸引了资金和学者，从而在塑造该地区的科学叙事方面发挥了重要作用。这些发现揭示了政治动荡如何通过改变研究者、研究资源及研究领域，重塑全球知识流动的格局。