Rebecca Anne Proctor

In our extremely crowded and news-driven environment, not every article gets the attention it deserves. Below are 25 original publications from the past year that are worth another share, as selected by MEI’s editorial director.

Debates on a military solution to Iran’s nuclear program are heavily polarized between those arguing that a threat of war and a preventive non-proliferation military strike can be a solution and those arguing that military action will only accelerate Iran’s nuclear program. The truth is that it is highly unlikely that Tehran would abandon its nuclear program after a military strike.

Saudi Arabia’s leviathan sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has recently sold a 5% stake in the Saudi Telecom Company (STC). The firm is the largest and most profitable in the regional telecoms sector. The 3.2B USD sale, completed in early Dec. 2021, is yet another step in Riyadh’s privatization drive as part of its Vision 2030 agenda, and highlights the growing role of the Kingdom’s domestic financial sector.

The initial success in Afghanistan was achieved with a limited number of forces from the CIA, the U.S. military (especially special operations), and our partners in the Northern Alliance. In the opinion of many military experts and historians, it was a model for how to conduct a large-scale military operation with limited casualties and expenditure of resources.

Saudi Arabia’s strategy to push through its portfolio of clean and renewables assets was further strengthened in 2021 as the kingdom witnessed several project financings in the solar sector and launched the National Infrastructure Fund (NIF) to diversify its economy.

ما الذي تعنيه نتائج انتخابات العراق وكيف ستؤثر على واقع ومستقبل حراك تشرين؟ يحاور إبراهيم الأصيل الباحثة مارسين الشمّري في هذه الحلقة. — Ibrahim Al-Assil Marsin Alshamary

— إبراهيم الأصيل Ibrahim Al-Assil رشا العقيدي Rasha AlAqeeda

يحاور إبراهيم الأصيل ضيف الحلقة كريس أبي ناصيف حول أهم ما جرى في لبنان في عام 2020 وما يجب متابعته في 2021.

يحاور إبراهيم الأصيل ضيف الحلقة صفوان الأمين حول أهم ما جرى في العراق في عام 2020 وما يجب متابعته في 2021.

يحاور إبراهيم الأصيل ضيفة الحلقة رميثة البوسعيدي حول التغير المناخي في الشرق الأوسط وما يجب متابعته في 2021، وكارثة إعصار شاهين التي ضربت سلطنة عُمان.

هذا هو الجزء الأخير من سلسلة مكونة من ثلاثة أجزاء

عندما توفي آية الله روح الله الخميني، مؤسس جمهورية إيران الإسلامية، عن عمر يناهز 89 عامًا، تمتع هو والنظام الذي أسسه بدعم معظم رجال الدين رفيعي المستوى في البلاد.

لكن خليفته، المرشد الأعلى آية الله علي خامنئي، البالغ من العمر 82 عامًا، يواجه وضعًا مختلفًا للغاية. فمن الواضح أن معظم كبار رجال الدين لا يؤيدونه، وقد تسبب “انحراف” الجيل الجديد من رجال الدين في مخاوف متزايدة داخل النظام.

تكوين المراجع الدينية

“All About China” is a journey into the history and diverse culture of China through essays that shed light on the lasting imprint of China’s past encounters with the Islamic world as well as an exploration of the increasingly vibrant and complex dynamics of contemporary Sino-Middle Eastern relations.

For the MENA region, groundwater is a hidden but significant problem, as many countries extract more than is being recharged and most lack solid legal frameworks and national water policy regulations to determine use. As a result, there are questions and concerns about the current status of groundwater aquifers, especially with the increasing impact of climate change, as well as the type of sustainable alternative solutions that could assist in conserving them. Libya is no exception to this broader regional trend, and the country suffers from growing water scarcity.