The July 2022 leaders’ meeting took good steps on energy and food security, but Egypt and Saudi Arabia can help take the I2U2 to the next level when it comes to regional security.
On Apr. 26, Egyptian President Sisi launched a call for political dialogue with all opposition parties except for the Muslim Brotherhood. Many opponents remain skeptical of the government’s recent change of heart. But some regime opponents have started being released from prison, and state media has again begun allowing critics of Sisi back on the air.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi’s recent, six-day European tour, which took him to Germany, Serbia, and France, aimed to boost his image and status as a central player on the world stage despite widespread criticism of his regime’s human rights record.
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Expert regional analysis by MEI scholars and contributors.
The emergence of Egypt as an Eastern Mediterranean energy hub resulted from a culmination of years of deliberate efforts. Increasingly, Egypt will be able to re-export Israeli natural gas or convert it into blue hydrogen, generate green electricity for export, or utilize its growing wind and solar power capacity to produce green hydrogen.
Read MEI’s weekly briefing featuring expert analysis of key regional developments for the week ahead.
هذا يضعنا أمام تسأل مهم، لماذا باتت ردود الفعل للمجتمعات المحلية على الإدارة الذاتية وجناحها العسكري ردود محدودة أو منعدمة في كثير من الأحيان؟، رغم أن هذه المجتمعات خاضت معارك طاحنة ضد النظام و تنظيم “داعش” لذات هذه الأسباب.
In early June, the SDF, the military wing of the AANES, raided the al-Mouh neighborhood in Abu Hamam in eastern Deir ez-Zor. They burned down several houses under the pretext that their owners were wanted for smuggling oil derivatives to areas under Syrian regime control, but the incident did not provoke any response from the al-Shaitat tribe affected. This raises an important question: Why do local communities respond to attacks by the AANES and its military wing in at most a limited way when these same communities fought fierce battles against the Syrian regime and ISIS when they carried out similar attacks?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is notorious for pursuing a one-man foreign policy strategy to consolidate his popularity with his nationalist voter base. He has utilized bold, and sometimes reckless, foreign policy as a vehicle for his political ambitions. Now, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has opened up new high-risk opportunities for Erdoğan to improve his domestic image, especially as the next Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections approach.
As the threat of a new Turkish military incursion into northern Syria looms, other international stakeholders in the Syrian crisis continue to voice their concerns over Ankara’s ambitions. At odds with Turkey since 2011 over its desire to overthrow the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its support for an array of armed opposition factions, Iran has been increasingly vocal of late in opposing a potential new Turkish military operation.
After 16 years under Angela Merkel, Olaf Scholz’s assumption of Germany’s chancellorship on Dec. 8, 2021 marked a new chapter in the nation’s politics. Within the “traffic light” coalition government formed by the Social Democrats, the Free Democratic Party, and the Greens, Annalena Baerbock heads the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before taking office, the co-leader of Alliance 90/The Greens was known for both her welcoming attitude toward immigrants and her full-throated condemnation of human rights violations by authoritarian governments. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has no shortage of the latter: According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index, 17 out of the 20 countries in the region are “authoritarian” and not one is characterized as a “full democracy.” Beyond human rights, other key MENA policy issues for the new government include Iran, Turkey, ongoing conflicts in the region, and immigration. The challenges are numerous, if well-known, but how will Berlin respond? Is Germany’s policy toward MENA likely to change or remain the same under the new government?
Expert regional analysis by MEI scholars and contributors.
Water is slowly emerging as yet another potential cause for dispute between Ankara and Tehran. As of late, the two neighboring states have been at loggerheads over a number of issues, including Syria and Iraq, where they have opposing interests. After years of quiet diplomatic juggling, the issue of transboundary water management is gradually taking center stage in the two countries’ relations, a development that could, in the medium run, have serious repercussions for regional security.
Read MEI’s weekly briefing featuring expert analysis of key regional developments for the week ahead.