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What does Israel want to see come out of US mediation efforts on Israel-Lebanon?
Photo by AFP via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • What does Israel want to see come out of US mediation efforts on Israel-Lebanon?

    The weeks ahead are crucial for Israel and Lebanon and will likely indicate whether a broader confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah can be avoided diplomatically or if it is inevitable. Israeli officials have called on Lebanon and the world to deliver a solution; but in practice, Israeli eyes are set on Washington, DC.

    January 26, 2024

    In the eye of the storm: The battle over fossil fuels at COP28
    Photo by YU FANGPING/ Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • In the eye of the storm: The battle over fossil fuels at COP28

    As the existential threat of climate change continues to intensify, the future of fossil fuels has been thrust into the international spotlight. Reducing hydrocarbon production and consumption has gained traction in international climate talks amid warnings that the window to avoid catastrophic warming is closing quickly.

    After Prigozhin: The future of Wagner and Russian gray zone activities in MENA
    Contributor/Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • After Prigozhin: The future of Wagner and Russian gray zone activities in MENA

    As the Wagner Group has an entrenched military presence in Syria, Libya, and Sudan, the evisceration of its senior leadership will have serious repercussions for Russia’s influence in the MENA region. Wagner’s military contractors are unlikely to depart, since they guard strategically valuable oil and mining facilities; but they are likely to now be swiftly integrated into the regular Russian Armed Forces.

    August 31, 2023

    Saudis in charge: Managing OPEC+’s unhappy days
    Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Saudis in charge: Managing OPEC+’s unhappy days

    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.

    Libya’s ongoing debate over the role of political parties
    Photo by Hazem Turkia/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Libya’s ongoing debate over the role of political parties

    Libya’s political players have grappled with how to build a political party culture since the country held its first post-Gadhafi elections in 2012. Under Moammar Gadhafi, political organizing was banned. Decades of regime propaganda against outlawed opposition movements made Libyans suspicious of political groups and parties. 

    June 26, 2023

    Space sector developments across the GCC
    Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Space sector developments across the GCC

    In the Middle East, the Gulf states — working together and on their own — are looking to achieve new scientific and commercial breakthroughs in various areas of the space industry. These ambitions carry major geopolitical implications with them, as an ever-growing number of spacefaring countries negotiate a sensitive and increasingly high-powered sector.

    April 20, 2023

    Missed opportunities: The billions sacrificed annually to generate electricity in the GCC
    Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Missed opportunities: The billions sacrificed annually to generate electricity in the GCC

    The GCC governments still cover over 40% of the cost of domestic electricity production. Yet, electricity subsidy bills alone do not reflect the full extent of their economic losses. Once the forgone revenues from the export of natural gas and oil used to meet rising domestic energy demand are added in, the total economic cost of the GCC’s electricity is too great to ignore.

    March 27, 2023

    Economic Diversification, Energy Transition, and the Labor Market in Iraq and the Gulf
    Photo by ASAAD NIAZI/AFP via Getty Images.
  • Analysis
  • Economic Diversification, Energy Transition, and the Labor Market in Iraq and the Gulf

    As part of a continued collaboration with the Middle East Peace and Security Forum held in Iraqi Kurdistan at the American University of Kurdistan, the Middle East Institute and the Iraq Policy Group held a workshop on Nov.15, 2022 focusing on challenges of economic diversification, energy transition, and impacts on labor markets in Iraq and the Gulf region. This report provides the insights and analyses of a select group of participants from the workshop.

    The Libyan Banking Sector: A Microcosm of Global Enduring Disorder
    Photo by MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP via Getty Images.
  • Analysis
  • The Libyan Banking Sector: A Microcosm of Global Enduring Disorder

    This paper investigates the ongoing Libya conflict through the Enduring Disorder paradigm, focusing on the financial and banking sectors, honing in on stakeholder perceptions of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), its transparency/opacity, and the “narrative wars” over who is to blame for, and who benefits from, Libya’s economic dysfunction, the lack of an annual budget, and the current lack of a quorum on the CBL board.

    March 13, 2023