Essays
Prioritizing Peace Ahead of Economic Growth
Afghanistan’s economic fate is intricately tied to its post-conflict peace plan, which is currently in the making
Cohesion through Decentralization
The rebuilding process in Libya will be complex and arduous but must be done with a focus on local actors and an acknowledgment of the realities on the ground
How Yemen Rises
Reconstruction is never easy, and in Yemen the road will be longer than most. The first step is to pass on “best practice” in favor of a critical, reflexive approach
Rethinking Gaza’s Reconstruction
With living conditions in the Palestinian enclave fast approaching breaking point, anything short of a comprehensive approach to peacebuilding and reconstruction will not work
End of War, but Not of Conflict
State (re)building in war-torn countries can only happen in a conducive political process on all levels ranging from the local to the international, which is exactly what seems lacking in MENA
Forward… But Where to?
The end of Bouteflika, the centrality of General Ahmed Gaïd Salah, and the parameters of change in Algeria
Thinking Arab Futures
Drivers, scenarios, and strategic choices for an improved Arab World
A Regional Order Contested
Extreme instability has prompted a fundamental reconfiguration of the contemporary Middle East; as the old order crumbles, a new one has yet to emerge
The Return of Geopolitics
In the post-Arab Spring Middle East, the forces of geopolitics and geo-economics are shaping the region and potentially point to a more cooperative future
Erdoğan’s Failure on the Nile
How Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan went from being a regional Islamist leader in the Arab Spring to being the Middle East’s odd man out
Turkey’s Pan-Islamist Foreign Policy
Understanding Turkey’s diplomatic moves post-2011 by looking back to the Ottoman conception of ittihad-i Islam
A Win-Win for Iran and the Region
Iran’s role in the “end-state diplomatic model” of conflict resolution and crisis management in the Middle East
Swamped in a Triple Crisis
Following the 2017–18 uprising, Iran is sick, stuck in three endemic crises with a foreign policy unlikely to alleviate what ails it
Rule of the Rigid Compromiser
President Xi Jinping’s populist leadership of China, six years on, has been a lesson in the art of mixing strict policies with flexibility—alongside the ultimate goal of growing his own power and that of China
Can Israel Survive Netanyahu?
Following Benjamin Netanyahu’s reelection Israel is a land of contradictions, democratic and wealthy yet with dangerous demographic divisions
Kurdistan: A State or a State of Mind?
Can the Kurds, the largest ethnicity in the Middle East without their own nation, overcome their internal disunity and find ways to exist as an independent state or as autonomous regions?
Keeping the Hope of Peace Alive
The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini asserts that the Oslo and Camp David Accords must be complemented by the realization of a two-state solution for the Palestinian–Israeli conflict in order to secure a lasting peace for the Middle East.
No-Peace Solution
Peace did not prevail because certain ambiguous provisions contained in the Camp David Accords enabled Israel to deliberately evade its obligations and frustrate the entire peace process
The Players of Camp David
An insider Israeli view on the personalities and ideas that drove the history-making Camp David Accords