Essays

Will water be the cause of the next war in the Middle East? Is water important for regional food security? Can economic diversification really work? Time to bust the myths around questions of food and water security in the region

Averting a Total Collapse

By Thomas L. Crisman

How is the water-energy-food nexus impacting ecological, social, and political systems in the Middle East and North Africa?

Striving for Water and Food Security

By Omer Karasapan

The focus for MENA countries should not be to achieve self-sufficiency, but rather food security

No Land in Paraguay

By William Costa

The preservation of indigenous peoples’ territories in Paraguay has a vital role in maintaining spiritual, cultural, and communal wellbeing. Despite this important reality, many indigenous communities’ bonds with their land have been shattered.

Seeds of Gulf-Africa Agribusiness

By Sarah Townsend

When Gulf nations face food, security, and water scarcity issues, one response is to seek lucrative agricultural investments in fertile African lands. Yet, while such deals can bring benefits to the countries involved, there are also sizeable risks

Israel in the Age of Netanyahu

By Allison Hodgkins

Winter 2019

He crafted the post-Oslo consensus, overhauled the economy, and mastered the Knesset. Now the kingdom he built wants its keys back

Sailing Into a Universe of Knowledge

By Tarek Osman

Liberal arts education has major benefits for student growth and transformation as exemplified by the United States’ university system and Al-Azhar University’s original learning model

Facing the Nuclear Storm

By Ali Ahmad, and Benedetta Bonometti

Countries across the Middle East are building or have already started operating their nuclear power plants. To assess how “resilient” their nuclear energy systems are, one must look at a number of important risks and factors

Beyond Sanctions

By Farnaz Alimehri

Understanding how North Korea circumvents sanctions offers key insights into the world of WMD finance—and ways to stop other would-be proliferators

A Nuclear Curse and a Nuclear Blessing

By Selim Sazak

The decline of the United States is mirrored in the rise of Russian and Chinese nuclear energy reactors being built across the Middle East and beyond

The Neo-Ballistic Middle East

By Karim El-Baz

Over the past forty years, Iran has written the book on Lebanization and using non-state actors in interstate warfare

Middle East WMD-Free Zone: Thinking the Possible

By Paul Ingram, and Emad Kiyaei

A core group of civil society members together with international experts and diplomats is at the forefront of an initiative to create a zone free from Weapons of Mass Destruction

A Disaster of the Political Class

By David Wearing

While Brexit is above all a calamity of the Conservative Party’s making, it is born of entrenched xenophobia and racism in British society.

When the Shooting Stops

By Suma Chakrabarti

The president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development highlights the bank’s commitment to supporting post-conflict nations in the Middle East and beyond

Reinventing Peace in Syria

By Achim Wennmann

For Syria, and the rest of the world, the era of liberal peacebuilding has passed. But there are other ways to make peace, which call for a return to basics and a new kind of “software”

In Syria, Reconstruction Brings Little Hope for Peace

By Jasmine El-Gamal

While maintaining the status quo for the time being might seem the easiest option, it is also the worst possible one

Rebuilding Iraq: Prospects and Challenges

By Abbas Kadhim