This report explores maritime security conditions in the Mediterranean and the evolving US engagement in the region. As critical infrastructure becomes increasingly vulnerable to sabotage, freedom of navigation is undermined by conflict, and energy disputes generate tension, US policy focus on the region has become fragmented and disengaged. The authors call for a sustained American role to strengthen maritime domain awareness, allied coordination, infrastructure protection, and the capacity to respond when Mediterranean crises affect US and transatlantic interests.
The Multiple Costs of the US–Iran War – From Hormuz to Europe and South Asia: The Widening Economic and Political Geography of the Conflict
Wars are decided by those who hold military power, but their costs are increasingly borne by those who have little or no voice in the decisions that start them. The US–Iran war shows this imbalance very clearly. Its economic consequences have gone far beyond the battlefield and have disrupted energy markets, trade routes, food supplies, public finances and investment in the Gulf, Europe, Africa and Asia. The most striking feature of the conflict, however, is not only the size of the damage but its very unequal distribution.
In less than two decades, a string of offshore discoveries has turned the Eastern Mediterranean into a significant gas-producing region, making Israel an exporter, twice lifting Egypt into the ranks of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters, and giving Cyprus finds it has yet to bring to market. This backgrounder explores the potential and challenges of exploiting and managing LNG resources in the region.
The failure of partner-led, US-enabled policy in the Horn of Africa: The case study of Somalia
Rather than addressing the critical gaps in Somalia’s security, President Hassan Sheikh has chosen to prioritize nation-building over state-building, diverting scarce resources needed to stabilize areas liberated from al-Shabaab. The Biden administration has enabled President Sheikh’s nation-building project through its partner-led, U.S.-enabled approach.
Shifting sentiments in the Sahel: Anti-France or pro-Russia?
In recent months, fervent anti-French sentiment has been on the rise in Burkina Faso and Mali. In February 2023, the Burkinabe army announced the end of the French Sabre Force in the West African country. This came three weeks after the transitional government withdrew from the 2018 defense agreements with France that had previously allowed 400 French troops to be stationed in a cantonment outside of the capital, Ouagadougou.
Navigating complex maritime security challenges in the Black and Mediterranean seas: Insights from the updated EUMSS
Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine helped influence the updated European Maritime Security Strategy’s approach to the Black and Mediterranean seas, with implicit and explicit references to the war dispersed throughout the document. The updated EUMSS showcases the wide array of security issues present in the region, including seaborne UXOs, human and drug trafficking, and threats to critical infrastructure. But security in the Black and Mediterranean seas will require greater cooperation with non-EU countries.
As fighting in Sudan rages, Russia’s primary goal is to ensure authoritarian rule
Although Russia has vested interests in the Burhan-Hemedti conflict, it is unlikely to actively pursue a blanket destabilization strategy in Sudan. Instead, it is likely to balance close ties with both warring parties and continue actively opposing a democratic transition in Sudan.
المؤسسات الحكومية الجديدة في تونس، الشرعية، ومستقبل التحول السياسي
أجرى الرئيس التونسي قيس سعيد إصلاحات في هيكل الحكومة التونسية، مما أثار مخاوف من تراجع الديمقراطية في هذا البلد الشمال أفريقي. وسط الاضطرابات الاقتصادية المستمرة وتفاقم مشكلة الهجرة، يتساءل الكثيرون عما إذا كان لا يزال من الممكن الحفاظ على الديمقراطية في تونس. تنضم شيراز أربي وليليا بليز إلى انتصار فقير، مديرة برنامج شمال إفريقيا والساحل في معهد الشرق الأوسط، لمناقشة الوضع السياسي الحالي ومستقبل تونس.
أثار تصريح الرئيس قيس سعيد خلال خطاب ألقاه في 6 أبريل/نيسان، والذي ادعى فيه رفضه للشروط، أو "الإنفاذ"، كما أسماها، المرتبطة بقرض محتمل من صندوق النقد الدولي، جدلاً واسعاً. ويبدو أن ردود الفعل على الخطاب وكذلك الإجراءات التي اتخذها المسؤولون التونسيون قبله وبعده تتعارض مع مقصده، مما تسبب في إرباك حول ما إذا كانت الصفقة لا تزال قائمة. وفي الوقت نفسه، اعتبر آخرون الخطاب علامة على أن تونس تدرس بجدية إمكانية وجود بدائل لتمويل صندوق النقد الدولي أو حتى إعادة توجيه جيوسياسي.
Getting ahead of the Middle East’s climate refugee conundrum
Over the coming decades, the worsening effects of climate change will increasingly displace many millions of vulnerable people in the Middle East and North Africa, and many of these refugees will attempt to relocate to the Global North. To avert such a monumental looming problem requires pragmatic solutions and their swift implementation.
Fish Farmers in the Nile River Delta: Empty Lakes and Dirty Waters
Egyptian fish farmers are facing mounting pressures: Year after year, their fish are getting smaller and less healthy, their production decreases, and they are forced to take out loans they are later unable to pay back. The Egyptian government’s recent efforts to invest heavily in aquaculture, though intended to address future food shortages, may only worsen the position of local fish farmers in the Nile Delta by exacerbating the effects of urbanization and climate change while undercutting prices.
The road to Marrakech: US-China tensions loom over IMF/WB spring meetings
Last week’s spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, D.C., were an important occasion for financial and economic leaders from the MENA region to meet with their counterparts from these IFIs and major bilateral donor countries. At the same time, they serve as a lead up to the important Annual Meetings that will be held in Marrakech, Morocco, in the fall — the first time they will be hosted by an Arab or African country.
تُعد المجلة الرئيسية لمعهد الشرق الأوسط أقدم مطبوعة محكّمة مكرّسة لدراسة الشرق الأوسط الحديث، وتغطي المجلة الرئيسية في المعهد السياسة والمجتمع والثقافة في المنطقة.
