Middle East

Britain Missing in Action on India-Middle East-Europe Corridor

During the G20 summit in September 2023, the United States and its closest allies and partners—the European Union, France, Germany, India, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—announced the formation of the India-Middle East Europe Corridor (IMEC). The...

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The End of De-Escalation in the Middle East?

The Hamas incursion from Gaza into Israel and the subsequent attack on Israel’s Southern District that began on October 7, 2023, led to the death of more than 1,500 Israelis and foreigners. The atrocities, widely reported as Israel’s 9/11,...

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Between Swords of Iron and the Al Aqsa Deluge: The Regional Politics of the Israel-Hamas War

Until October 7, it seemed there was a positive dynamic in the Middle East. A slew of detentes took place in the region in the past two years: between Turkey and Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and...

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Peshmerga Reforms: Navigating Challenges, Forging Unity

The Peshmerga—“those willing to face death”—a term resonating with Kurdish valor, traces its origins to the twentieth-century struggle for Kurdish rights in Iraq. Amidst this fight, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) emerged...

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Recentralization Imperils Iraq’s Stability and Fuels Regional Tensions

Iraq is at a pivotal juncture, diverging from its post-2003 vision of a federated state as pro-Iranian Shia groups in Baghdad aggressively drive recentralization. This transformation is most evident in Baghdad’s aggressive attempts to erode the federal status of...

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A Dangerous New Phase in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

James Ryan On October 7, members of the military wing of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched a surprise attack on civilian and military targets in southern Israel. The scope and scale of the attack was shocking and brutal...

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Atoms for Peace 2.0? On Negotiations Between Israel and Saudi Arabia

In the early 1950s, the Eisenhower administration pushed the Atoms for Peace program forward as part of the American Cold War strategy. The idea was to supply emerging nations with nuclear technology so they could produce energy and run...

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A Long, Hot Summer for Eastern Mediterranean Gas Politics

In the past month, there has been a flurry of diplomatic activity between countries that, typically, don’t get along: Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, and Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met in New York with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin...

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Empowering Iraq: The $27 Billion Deal for Iraq’s Energy Sufficiency

This past July, Iraq and France’s TotalEnergies finalized the Gas Growth Integrated Project, a $27 billion energy deal aimed at Iraq’s natural resources and improving the country’s electricity supply. Despite Iraq’s natural wealth, decades of conflict and corruption have...

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Biden’s Middle East Balancing Act: Iran’s Nuclear Program and Saudi-Israeli Ties

For some months now, officials in Washington and other world capitals assumed that diplomatic efforts to reach a deal between the United States and Iran to curb the Islamic Republic’s growing nuclear program would reach a dead end.  But...

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