The Iranian media sees the heightening tension between Qatar and Saudi Arabia – two member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (G.C.C.) – as an opportunity to weaken the U.S.-Arab alliance against Iran and its proxies in the region.
In this week’s Briefing, MEI experts Charles Lister, Gonul Tol, and Gerald Feierstein provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the beginning of the final phase of the battle to retake Mosul, Germany’s consideration for withdrawing troops from Turkey, and Qatar’s fragile relations within the G.C.C.
The cinema has long been a contested space in Egypt. Following its nationalization in 1966, a formerly flourishing film industry ran steadily downhill and movie theater operators were subjected to censors’ increasingly puerile whims. The only independent company allowed to operate was Misr International Films—founded in 1972 by Egyptian director Youssef Chahine (1926-2008)—to produce, distribute, and exhibit films while coincidentally enabling the state to posit itself as an indulgent patron of cinematic art. The annual state-run Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF, est.
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Paul Salem, Alex Vatanka, Eran Etzion, and Gerald Feierstein provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the Pope’s upcoming visit to Egypt, Ahmadinejad’s public feud with Ayatollah Khamenei, Israeli efforts to draw Russian support away from Iran, and the appointment of Prince Khalid bin Salman as Saudi Ambassador to the U.S.
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Paul Salem, Yousef Munayyer, and Randa Slim provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the meeting between Egyptian President Sisi and President Trump, the upcoming meeting between President Trump and Jordan’s King Abdullah, and the Trump administration’s adoption of Obama-era policies in Syria.
Read the full article on The National Interest.
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s visit to President Trump signals the restoration of the close U.S.-Egyptian relations that have been a key pillar of U.S. policy toward the Middle East for four and half decades. The United States has an abiding interest in a stable, prosperous and well-governed Egypt, and Egyptians have an interest in close relations with the United States’ government, economy and society.
Six years after the fossilized authoritarian regime of Hosni Mubarak was swept from power by a tide of popular discontent, Egypt continues to face a multitude of economic and other challenges. This essay discusses the role that India has played, and could play in helping set Egypt’s economy on a more stable footing while broadening and deepening the bilateral relationship.
When I was approached last summer by New York University’s Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies to teach a class this spring, I did not imagine the changes that would take place in the American political landscape. Since Donald Trump took office, his promise to place “America first” has manifested itself in numerous ways. Although I am committed to the university and the students, traveling to the United States is becoming less and less enticing.
Qatar is throwing its financial muscle to woo Russia in a bid to regain lost political influence in the Syrian conflict, and the broader Middle East. Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani visited Russia in January to address Middle Eastern geopolitics and energy issues.
Egypt and Hamas continue to explore potential cooperation against a common threat in the Islamic State in the Sinai, as well as on the domestic Palestinian scene. Egypt’s Public Intelligence Chief, Khaled Fawzy, hosted the Vice President of Hamas’s political bureau, Ismail Haniya, and his associates Rawhi Mushtaha and Moussa Abu Marzouk for several days of consultations in late January.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s official trip to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar has prompted anxiety in Tehran. Erdogan arrived in Riyadh on Monday night after a visit to Bahrain, and he is scheduled to go to Qatar next.
Findings and Recommendations of the Conference on “Arab-U.S. Relations in Perspective” hosted jointly by the School of Global Affairs at AUC and the Middle East Institute, on January, 29-30, 2017, in Cairo, Egypt.
The introduction of the draft in Gulf monarchies — after decades of sovereign statehood — presents an interesting puzzle. What are the reasons behind the newly implemented conscription? What broader implications does this phenomenon have for the Gulf? This essay addresses these questions.
Notwithstanding Egypt’s political and judicial contretemps, the Egyptian parliament is expected to vote soon in favor of the return of Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia. The decision, after months of controversy in Egypt, will fulfill the April 2016 agreement reached between Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al Sisi and Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud that formally acknowledged Saudi sovereignty over the two small islands and provided for their return to Riyadh’s control.