الأبحاث والتعليقات

Over the past few weeks, the US State Department and the US Defense Department released separate but similar statements about the changes each organization has instituted to the Foreign Military Sales, or FMS, process. There are 80 recommendations coming out of the Pentagon, but in short, they all advocate for less bureaucracy and more speed.

For the sake of safeguarding transatlantic — and thus also American — security interests in the South Caucasus, it is becoming increasingly imperative that the United States better anchor itself economically, politically, and militarily in the eastern Black Sea region, especially strategically placed Georgia.

India and Israel have embarked on a mission to enhance their bilateral strategic cyber partnership. Private-sector collaboration and investment have laid the foundation for this partnership, which has now expanded to government-level agreements and frameworks.

خرجت دول الخليج من الجائحة العالمية برياح اقتصادية مواتية. لكن الأحداث البارزة مثل استضافة قطر لكأس العالم لكرة القدم وإكسبو الدولي في الإمارات العربية المتحدة استمرت في إخفاء نقطتي ضعف خفيتين ولكنهما مهمتين عانت منها هذه الدول لعقود. لماذا تفتقر اقتصادات الخليج إلى الابتكار؟ ولماذا تكافح من أجل خلق فرص عمل في القطاع الخاص للمواطنين؟

تحليل إقليمي متخصص من قبل باحثي ومساهمي معهد الشرق الأوسط.

Saudi leaders have stepped up their plans for developing peaceful nuclear energy, inviting technical bids to the planned construction of two 1.4 gigawatt-electric nuclear reactors and restating the kingdom’s intention to use domestic uranium resources for producing low-enriched uranium as nuclear fuel.

Iraq has long had a troubled history with its ethno-religious minorities, one full of oppression and violence. This was true under the Ba’athist regime and continued after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, reaching a nadir with the rise of the Islamic State terrorist group. Although Iraq is now enjoying its most stable period in the past two decades, it is also a case study of the pernicious effects of structural violence, especially toward the more marginalized and vulnerable segments of society.

The current complex situation in the global oil market seriously tests the abilities of OPEC+ to play the role of a regulator, forcing Saudi Arabia to assume the main burden of responsibility for keeping oil prices from declining further and for shoring up the cartel ranks.

American and European eyes are set on Riyadh. Both the Biden administration and the European External Action Service are currently trying to advance policy moves that involve Saudi Arabia and that – if successful – will reshape the Middle East. Alas, when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian issue, these European and American efforts are quite different, and even seem contradictory.

Gender parity in the Middle East is still many decades away, but it will largely determine the future of economic, social, cultural, and political development in the region.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, French President Emmanuel Macron’s envoy to Lebanon, made a preliminary diplomatic visit to Beirut last week. Le Drian’s appointment marks a potential though uncertain opening to consolidate international support for Lebanon to facilitate an end to the political gridlock and leadership vacuum. A short but timely boost in robust diplomacy on the part of Washington, strengthened by clear coordination with Paris and regional partners, can play a decisive role in preventing the unraveling of another failed authoritarian state that could further destabilize the region and force even more costly engagement in the future.

According to multiple media reports, Taliban anti-narcotics units have managed to effect a drastic reduction in opium cultivation in Afghanistan. Assisted by armed Taliban soldiers, stick-wielding personnel are hopping from one opium-growing field to another, destroying standing crops in a large number of provinces. Overseen by international media, such operations may have resulted in an almost 80 percent reduction in opium cultivation this year in the country, which not long ago accounted for 85 percent of the world’s opium.

Several foreign ministers gathered in an Asian capital to negotiate an end to regional turmoil. One of the countries represented at the meeting brokered an agreement to end hostilities between the others.

Another United Nations Security Council (UNSC) vote on continuing the resolution that allows Syria’s cross-border aid delivery is due in July, but the regime’s use of “consent” to allow an extra two crossings from Turkey into the area could be used to undermine the resolution’s necessity, which would risk destabilizing the conflict along with it. Twelve years of hard-won lessons show that until there is a broader political agreement with clear guardrails and guarantees, only a UNSC resolution that permits unimpeded humanitarian access to northwest Syria can secure the critical and consistent operational space required to meet the region’s growing needs as articulated by the NGOs working in the area. 

After issuing positive statements around greenfield blue hydrogen projects in late 2022, the company, Bloomberg now reports, may be migrating away from the hydrogen scheme and toward LNG exports. Both would require significant capital investment. Assuming the company decides to pursue an LNG export project, it will face many potentially value-erosive challenges and risks that must be overcome before achieving economic success.