A closer look at the impact of domestic and international developments on Algeria’s agenda as the country prepares for a complicated and critical presidential race in December 2024.
In 2017, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and a number of Jordanian banks established the Saudi-Jordanian Investment Fund to channel $3 billion into the Jordanian economy. Two SJIF projects provide relevant case studies of the challenges facing Jordan’s broader efforts to attract more FDI and drive economic development.
As questions about regarding who can take over governance of the war-torn Gaza Strip, Washington and other are pinning their hopes on a revitalized Palestinian Authority. But such “revitalization,” if limited to “strengthening” the PA cabinet and making only minor improvements in governance, will ensure that Gaza will remain a “super camp” and a source of recurring/persistent instability for Palestine and Israel.
Since early last year there has been a surge in drug-related assassinations in Syria’s southwestern Daraa Province, adding a new layer to the region’s persistent violence. The regime’s complicity, driven by financial and political motives, has fostered a climate where drug networks operate with impunity, spurring locals to take matters into their own hands.
In the mid-1980s, during the long war between Iran and Iraq, students at Tehran’s Jewish high schools would watch their friends suddenly disappear, and then reappear six months later in Europe, the U.S., or Israel. They would get there through a sophisticated smuggling operation that spirited Iran’s Jews out of the country and into Pakistan.
As two contradictory trends of de-escalation in the Persian Gulf and a new round of war between Palestinians and Israelis unfold at the same time, Iran is trying to play its best cards and navigate its position. Iran views the region’s geopolitical and security conflicts as a chance to uphold its position and leverage it to advance its defined national interests.
In response to the Oct. 7 attacks and subsequent bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip, most media outlets and think tanks concluded that Hamas initiated the war to sever the path toward normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Prior to the Hamas strike, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) said his country was moving steadily in the direction of normalizing relations with Israel.
“Bahrain” literally translates as “the land of two seas,” referring to the two sources of water within and around the island: the sweet-water terrestrial and submarine springs, and the saltwater surrounding oceans. Water has played a central role in the Gulf island nation’s history and has been a major influence on the work of Bahraini artists, along with the country’s unique landscape and natural environment, as well as the impact of rapid economic and urban development.
Iranian strategy in the Middle East has long centered on nurturing regional proxies and partners — a so-called “Axis of Resistance” — to mount an existential threat to Israel by encircling it in a ring of fire. The bloody war between Israel and Hamas sparked by the latter’s Oct. 7 massacre is the first large-scale implementation of this Axis of Resistance doctrine. Quds Force commander Esmail Ghaani’s lasting contribution will be the network’s entry into the battlefield in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa orchestrated a paradigm shift in Pakistan’s traditional geostrategic focus, transitioning from geopolitics to geoeconomics. His successor, Gen. Asim Munir, in command of Pakistan’s military for the past year, now faces the challenging task of turning Gen. Bajwa’s unrealized vision into a reality, a goal that requires cultivating positive interdependence and multi-alignment with a diverse range of partners, while also ensuring domestic stability.
Over the past two months, the Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched missiles and drones into Israel, attacked several commercial ships in the Red Sea, and threatened to block all ships sailing to Israel, regardless of nationality, until Gaza receives humanitarian aid. In the Gulf, there is a growing fear that the situation could constrain ongoing de-escalation talks between Riyadh, the Republic of Yemen Government, and the Houthis, or even take them back to square one were conflict dynamics to escalate.
As Gulf nations embrace the opportunities presented by developing smart cities, challenges such as cybersecurity and infrastructure sustainability must be addressed through strategic policies and trusted partnerships to ensure a secure and sustainable digital transition.
In recent years, the international community has witnessed a surge in momentum toward the development of standards for artificial intelligence (AI) governance. The AI Safety Summit, convened last month by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, marked a diplomatic milestone and a definite step in the right direction. However, its impact is contingent on the ability of the global community to navigate the multiparty landscape of AI governance.
While war is still raging in Gaza following Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel, it nonetheless arguably offers an opportunity for a profound shift in the modalities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which looked unlikely in the period preceding the war. Based on analysis of several examples from the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this article asserts that in order to seize the opportunity, both sides will need legitimate leaderships that enjoy international support and are willing and determined to make concessions and build trust.