Research & Commentary Results

Since the end of the civil war in Syria, government officials have inaugurated high-end tourist projects and upscale urban housing schemes, while at the same time preventing Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons from returning to their ruined neighborhoods or rebuilding their demolished homes. The focus on luxury housing in a country devastated by conflict and within a city suffering from massive destruction and housing shortages encapsulates the contradictions of the regime’s policy for reconstruction and early recovery not only in Damascus but in the whole country.

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.

Israel’s escalation of its military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon has severely disrupted the cross-border flow of goods into Syria that have long served as a critical lifeline for Damascus. These interruptions have worsened existing shortages, triggering sharp increases in the prices of essential commodities for Syrian who were already struggling economically.

A leader in renewable energy in the Middle East and North Africa, Morocco is developing a dynamic green energy ecosystem that is beginning to incorporate renewable power into major sectors of its economy. Moving forward, renewable energy and the green energy ecosystem hold significant potential to drive the creation of employment opportunities for its growing population. Indeed, the expansion of green industrial manufacturing and agricultural production in Morocco could become the engine of sustainable human development more broadly. This case study explores current and planned efforts to expand the kingdom’s renewable energy sector and green energy ecosystem, assessing the opportunities and challenges in using these new green industries as a driver of long-term employment, particularly among women, youth, and rural populations.

The strategic alliance between Pakistan and China, driven largely by opportunism and geostrategic interests, seems unshakable. However, the extent of its mutual benefit remains under scrutiny, especially for Islamabad, whose reliance on Beijing continues to deepen. Although China claims to base its foreign policy interactions on five key principles — respect for sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence — its dealings with Pakistan indicate an unequal power dynamic that primarily serves its own interests. This imbalance in the Pakistan-China strategic alliance has led to a situation in which Islamabad’s autonomy is increasingly curtailed, and its vulnerability to Beijing’s influence is becoming more apparent.

عندما زار الرئيس محمد بن زايد آل نهيان (MbZ) رئيس دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة البيت الأبيض في 23 سبتمبر، كان البيان المشترك بين الولايات المتحدة والإمارات العربية المتحدة أحد أكثر البيانات شمولاً حتى الآن، حيث تضمن تعهدات بالتعاون في جميع القطاعات التكنولوجية تقريباً، وأشار إلى هدف واضح يتمثل في تحويل العلاقات الثنائية بعيداً عن الهيدروكربونات.

إن دورة الانتقام ضد أصول الطاقة، على الرغم من أنها بعيدة كل البعد عن أن تكون نتيجة مضمونة، ستكون ضارة للجميع ولن تعود بالنفع على أحد.

تحليل إقليمي متخصص من قبل باحثي ومساهمي معهد الشرق الأوسط.

في أروقة السلطة في بروكسل، من الشائع سماع أن منصب الممثل الأعلى للاتحاد الأوروبي للشؤون الخارجية والسياسة الأمنية هو مهمة مستحيلة. وقد يصبح الأمر أكثر صعوبة بالنسبة لرئيسة الوزراء الإستونية المنتهية ولايتها كاجا كالاس، التي من المقرر أن تخلف الإسباني جوزيب بوريل كرئيسة للسياسة الخارجية للاتحاد الأوروبي في الأسابيع المقبلة.

The question of whether Armenia’s recent shift away from reliance on Russia is reversible is central to understanding its democratization trajectory. In recent years, Armenia’s dependency on Russia for security and economic stability has been severely tested, particularly during the 2020 Second Karabakh War and subsequent Azerbaijani incursions on sovereign Armenian territory, where Russia’s lack of support led to widespread disillusionment. This discontent has spurred Armenia to diversify its security, economic, and diplomatic ties, with a notable strengthening of relations with the United States. However, the sustainability of this shift remains uncertain, as it hinges on various societal factors and internal dynamics.

Azerbaijan’s takeover of Karabakh in September 2023, while a disruptive event, has opened the window for renewed dialogue to peacefully resolve the longstanding tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia. While the ongoing negotiations are unlikely to lead to a comprehensive peace deal in the near term, they could alter the strategic calculus of key actors in the region. The most likely and consequential outcome of the talks will be a peace framework agreement that could rebalance the regional status quo, potentially leading to a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan seeks to establish itself as a major actor in the global energy transition space as it prepares to host the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, on November 11-22. COP29 offers many opportunities to improve US-Azerbaijani energy cooperation, including by coordinating the United States’ clean energy technology goals with Azerbaijan’s renewable energy revolution.

After the Cold War, the Romanian government chose to slim down its sizeable defense industry, but it essentially maintained its state-backed structure, personnel, and management, thus producing a thoroughly inefficient system. Today, Romania retains a proclivity to purchase Western, and particularly American, defense equipment; but it has often neglected any thorough assessments of life cycle costs or real force design considerations.

تشكل الجهود المستمرة التي تبذلها مختلف الفصائل في ليبيا للسيطرة على البنك المركزي الليبي (CBL) خطراً واضحاً ومحدقاً على البلد بأسره، مما يهدد سلامته وأمنه واقتصاده.

As the Middle East becomes more autonomous and empowered domestically, the leaders in the region might consider more synergetic relations with each other and prepare national long-term plans that provide a balanced and integrated approach to social, technological, environmental, economic, and political development and progress.