Expert Views: The Biden administration and the Middle East: Reflecting on the first 100 days
At the end of Joe Biden’s first 100 days as president of the United States, where do things stand when it comes to U.S. policy toward the Middle East and North Africa? We asked experts and scholars from across MEI to weigh in with their thoughts on the changes we’ve seen so far, the new challenges that have emerged, and what we know about the administration’s key priorities for the region.
The new wave of normalization in Turkey’s Middle East foreign policy
In the past several weeks, news has been coming out of Ankara regularly about normalization in relations with countries with which Turkey has had problematic relationships for some time.
The Biden administration should play a key role in building a stronger Egypt where human-rights abuses are both rare and addressed by pushing back against the potential for any new regime.
The Roadblocks to a Regional Security Dialogue in the Middle East
It’s easy to see why there’s an enduring attraction for a regional security dialogue in the Middle East. Countries in the region face shared and borderless challenges — including terrorism, insurgency, environmental safety, arms races, cybersecurity, maritime piracy, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction — that can be dealt with more effectively through multilateral measures.
What does the transition in Chad mean for Middle Eastern regional powers?
On April 20, Chadian President Idriss Déby was killed by Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) rebels in the country’s northwestern Tibesti region. The sudden death of Déby, who seized power in Chad via a military coup in December 1990 and was re-elected on April 11 with 79.3% of the vote, risks plunging Chad into a state of prolonged instability.
There Is No Indo-Pacific Without Egypt and the Suez Canal
As a major strategic chokepoint for this trade and maritime security, Suez is fundamental to the West’s commitment to a “free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”
Jonathan Winer and Mirette Mabrouk join host Alistair Taylor to discuss Libya’s new interim government, the complex regional and international dynamics at play, and what Libya’s future might look like.
Egypt: The Pandemic Experience in a Time of Reform
Egypt announced its first COVID-19 fatality on March 8, 2020, a few months after concluding a “reform” program supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan it had obtained in 2016. The pandemic thus posed the first test for the IMF-prescribed economic and social policies adopted by the Government of Egypt. As this article will show, whereas the reforms helped propel economic growth in a time of global recession, they did not provide a strong social safety net for vulnerable families during the crisis.
Egypt should go green by putting a price on carbon
It is time for Egypt to put a price on carbon. While Cairo has taken small steps toward developing a sustainability plan, it needs a bold idea to stop rising carbon emissions. Establishing a carbon exchange — or putting a price on carbon — would be good for the country and help make Egypt an environmental leader in the region.
