The existential challenge of Jordan’s unquenchable thirst
Jordan is facing an existential challenge and it has nothing to do with the deadlocked Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the war in neighboring Syria, or the threat of militant Islamists. The challenge is climate change, which is responsible for poor rainy seasons over the past few years. The situation has become so bad that in the past few weeks the government admitted that six of the kingdom’s 14 active dams have now completely dried up, exacerbating endemic shortages of water used for drinking, irrigation, and industry.
OPEC+ faces new tests to its market balancing strategy in 2022
When President Joe Biden’s White House announced that it had successfully enlisted several major oil-consuming countries in an effort to coordinate releases from strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs) around the world, it looked like this would be the only major factor in oil markets that OPEC+ would need to consider at its upcoming meeting on Dec. 2. Then came Omicron. The newly discovered variant of the COVID-19 virus sent benchmark oil prices plunging on Nov. 26 as uncertainty over its impact roiled global markets.
Mohammed Mahmoud, director of MEI’s Climate and Water Program, and Abbey Krulik, who attended the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, as an observer, discuss takeaways from the conference and the Glasgow Pact that was signed there.
The Fragile State of Food Security in the Maghreb: Implication of the 2021 Cereal Grains Crisis in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco
North Africa has entered a food security crisis. Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco are witnessing food inflation levels not seen since the civil unrest of the Arab Spring a decade ago. Although the Maghreb’s current food crisis was precipitated by the local and global economic shocks brought on by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and its 2021 aftermath, the structural fragility of the food systems in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco is responsible for severity of the problem. At the core of this fragility is the failure to implement adequate measures to address the impact of increased water scarcity and debilitating climate change.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: Slower may be better
In September, China and Pakistan convened the tenth session of their joint coordination committee that oversees the CPEC — the largest of the BRI corridors. The long-anticipated meeting ultimately yielded no major breakthroughs. The momentum of CPEC appears to be losing steam once again, but for Pakistan, slower may actually be better.
من 31 أكتوبر/تشرين الأول إلى 12 نوفمبر/تشرين الثاني، يجتمع عشرات الآلاف من قادة العالم والمفاوضين والعلماء ورجال الأعمال والنشطاء والمراقبين في غلاسكو باسكتلندا لحضور مؤتمر الأمم المتحدة السادس والعشرين لتغير المناخ. تُعرف هذه الهيئة المميزة أيضًا باسم مؤتمر الأطراف (COP)، وهي تجتمع سنويًا لاتخاذ قرارات بشأن تنفيذ اتفاقية الأمم المتحدة الإطارية بشأن تغير المناخ (UNFCCC).
Afghanistan’s economy is collapsing. The Taliban’s forceful seizure of power led to a curtailment of almost all foreign aid, a devastating development for a nation overwhelmingly dependent on international assistance. Widespread drought, pervasive corruption, the perennially inadequate use of the country’s human capital, and a population largely unvaccinated against COVID-19 have exacerbated this longstanding problem of foreign financial dependence.
During the National Day of Villages and Nomads in Iran on Oct. 6, President Ebrahim Raisi visited Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province and spoke about combatting rural deprivation, an issue that has become central to Raisi’s domestic agenda.
التطلع إلى COP26: كيف يمكن للتطورات الأخيرة أن تصيغ اجتماع هذا العام
في الأسبوع المقبل، سيجتمع عشرات الآلاف من قادة العالم والمفاوضين والعلماء ورجال الأعمال والنشطاء والمراقبين من جميع أنحاء العالم في غلاسكو بإسكتلندا لحضور مؤتمر الأمم المتحدة السادس والعشرين لتغير المناخ، والذي سيستمر في الفترة من 31 أكتوبر/تشرين الأول إلى 12 نوفمبر/تشرين الثاني. المؤتمر المعروف أيضًا باسم مؤتمر الأطراف (COP)، تجتمع فيه هذه الهيئة المتميزة سنويًا لاتخاذ قرارات بشأن تنفيذ اتفاقية الأمم المتحدة الإطارية بشأن تغير المناخ (UNFCCC)، والتي تهدف إلى “منع تدخل الأنشطة البشرية في النظام المناخي”.
Expert Views: What should be the key outcomes from COP26?
As the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) kicks off in Glasgow, climate change is front and center on the global agenda. Few regions of the world have more at stake than the Middle East and North Africa, given the current environmental and sustainability challenges and potential future scenarios. Experts from across MEI weigh in with their thoughts on what should be the key outcomes from COP26.
A storm brews over the Black Sea: Turkey’s contradictory maritime policy
Turkey’s official policy supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Georgia, and it sells UAVs and ships to Ukraine. Yet, trade continues with the Russian-occupied territories of Abkhazia and Crimea. By allowing this illegal trade, Turkey undermines both its own credibility and its trading partners’ security. Shipped goods not only help connect occupied zones to Russia, but trade also brings hard currency into these zones, which are outside the international banking system.
Looking ahead to COP26: How recent developments could shape this year’s meeting
Next week, tens of thousands of world leaders, negotiators, scientists, business executives, activists, and observers from all over will gather in Glasgow, Scotland for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will run from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12. Also known as the Conference of the Parties (COP), this distinguished body meets annually to make decisions regarding the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which aims to “prevent anthropogenic interference with the climate system.”
Turkey finally ratified the Paris Agreement. Why now?
Turkey, like many countries worldwide, has recently faced severe environmental events. Suffering from floods and the worst wildfires in its history in the summer of 2021, the country finally took an important step to tackle climate change, ratifying the Paris Agreement international treaty on climate change on Oct. 6, 2021.
