This report considers the lack of Palestinian political agency as a driver of regional insecurity that must be resolved before wider conflicts can be settled. The author analyses the conditions that contributed to the destruction of Palestinian political capacity, including Israeli policies, Palestinian shortcomings, and exploitation by Iran, and makes recommendations for an Arab strategic initiative.
Iran’s New Grand Design: The Next Evolution of the Axis of Resistance
Iran is transforming its Axis of Resistance into a decentralized, Yemen-centered network that leverages the Houthis to threaten both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb, extending Tehran’s coercive reach over the world’s key maritime chokepoints and reshaping the post-war balance in the Middle East and Red Sea.
دور الشرق الأوسط في السباق بين الولايات المتحدة والصين للسيطرة على مجال الذكاء الاصطناعي
تعد الذكاء الاصطناعي محفزًا محوريًا للابتكار العالمي، حيث تتصدر الولايات المتحدة تطوير هذه التكنولوجيا التحويلية في خضم تنافسها المستمر مع الصين على القوة العظمى. يهدف هذا التقرير إلى تعريف مفهوم التفوق في مجال الذكاء الاصطناعي ومراجعة استراتيجية الولايات المتحدة في هذا المجال وفقًا لفهم أكثر شمولية له. كما يبحث التقرير في كيفية تأثير المنافسة على الأطراف الفاعلة في الشرق الأوسط، ولا سيما الإمارات العربية المتحدة والمملكة العربية السعودية، في محاولة لتوجيه الحوار حول السباق العالمي في مجال الذكاء الاصطناعي نحو مفهوم شامل لسيادة الذكاء الاصطناعي يرتكز على واقع الشؤون الدولية والتنافس بين القوى العظمى الأمريكية والصينية.
The Middle East has experienced an extraordinarily tumultuous year, as the ripples from Hamas’ assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, continue to fuel hostilities in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and the waters of the Gulf. Amid all of this, Syria has received very little attention, despite its central role in Iran’s regional agenda. Now the Biden administration is reportedly “hopeful” that Bashar al-Assad will soon permanently block Iran’s ability to support Hezbollah in Lebanon and is postured to reward Damascus for doing so. At best, such calculations should be described as optimistic; at worst, fanciful.
Tehran’s calculations to avoid all-out war with Israel and the US
Under past reformist presidents, Iran repeatedly tried to build a grand bargain deal with the United States, entailing compromises over its nuclear program in return for negotiating spheres of influence across the Middle East. This September, speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York, the current reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed that he was open to direct talks with Washington to end hostilities.
The multiple wars that have erupted since Oct. 7, 2023, have already changed the strategic landscape in the Middle East — and more change is likely to follow.
How Donald Trump might tackle the Middle East in 2025
it is possible to extrapolate how the incoming second Trump administration may respond to the complex situation in the Middle East by examining the president-elect’s record during his first term, what he has said since, as well as public statements of his running-mate, Sen. J. D. Vance. Two main issues are likely to dominate Donald Trump’s regional agenda when he comes to power: Iran and Israeli-Palestinian affairs.
ما وراء النفط: رهان جوجل الكبير على مستقبل الذكاء الاصطناعي في السعودية
في خطوة تاريخية تشير إلى الأهمية المتزايدة للشرق الأوسط في المشهد التكنولوجي العالمي، دخلت Google في شراكة استراتيجية مع صندوق الاستثمار العام السعودي (PIF)، وهو صندوق الثروة السيادي للمملكة. تؤكد هذه الشراكة على "الترابط المتزايد" بين الذكاء الاصطناعي والطاقة، حيث تستخدم المملكة العربية السعودية - إلى جانب الإمارات العربية المتحدة ودول الخليج الأخرى - فائضها من الطاقة لتشغيل مراكز البيانات، التي تعد ركيزة أساسية في البنية التحتية للذكاء الاصطناعي.
There is no alternative to Hezbollah’s disarmament
Last week, representatives from around 70 countries convened in Paris to pledge nearly $1 billion in aid for Lebanon. Moving forward, France and the US should work together to summon the political will needed to craft and implement a lasting political solution — one that can effectively safeguard against future wars between Israel and Lebanon.
Over the past month, Iran and its regional network of allies and proxies – the Axis of Resistance – has suffered a string of dramatic losses and defeats. What is the future of the Axis and its members, and what can the US and its allies do to confront and disrupt this Iranian-led network?
MEI Managing Editor Matthew Czekaj speaks to Meir Javedanfar and Alex Vatanka on Iran’s role in keeping its network of proxies together and the conflicting interests that may force the country to rethink its antagonistic regional strategy.
Last month marked the second anniversary of the death of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini and the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement born of her murder. The authorities’ subsequent brutal crackdown on the protesters is but one flagrant example of the government’s appalling human rights record. The regime’s disdain for international human rights norms is not the recent result of Iran’s transition from Islamic theocracy to nationalistic military-security state. Rather, it has been a feature of the regime from the beginning, as shown by (inter alia) the 1988 mass executions of Iranian prisoners.
