Resources

Another Step Toward Peace: The Lebanon-Israel Maritime Agreement

By Constantinos Yiallourides /

A new deal for Israel and Lebanon promotes security and prosperity and sets a precedent for diplomacy in the Eastern Mediterranean

A Palestinian Outlet to the World, A Path toward Peace? Considerations and Options for a Gaza Seaport

By Asaf Ashar and Joel Singer / Summer 2022

Between economic considerations, intra-Palestinian divisions, and Israeli security concerns, there are a number of challenges facing the building of a seaport in Gaza, or in its alternatives. Nevertheless, it may be an opportunity to establish a tri-state free trade zone, and, ultimately, peace.

Competing Economic Visions in the Gulf

By Robert Mogielnicki / Winter 2022

Economic visions offer regional governments roadmaps for development, but they can also serve as a tool for measurement and—ultimately—accountability

A Climate Crisis in Africa: The Case of South Sudan

By Nhial Tiitmamer / Fall 2021

The African continent will be the most severely affected by climate change. Within Africa, the least developed and politically unstable nations like South Sudan are likely to be the hardest hit. What can be done, and who should be at the forefront of these changes?

The Slow Violence of Climate Change

By Garret Barnwell and Savo Heleta / Fall 2021

A warming planet places the heaviest burden on the countries and people least responsible for climate destruction. Survival necessitates justice, redress, and structural change.

Covid-19’s Not Through With Us Yet

By Dahr Jamail / Fall 2021

As vaccines offer hope for a world after Covid, experts warn that in many ways, the fight is only beginning.

The Renaissance Dam after the Security Council

By Nabil Fahmy / Summer 2021

Egypt and Sudan continue to insist on a tripartite agreement to manage Ethiopia’s contentious plan to execute its Renaissance dam on the Nile.

A Pandemic of Vaccine and Technology Hoarding: Unmasking Global Inequality and Hypocrisy

By Lauren Paremoer / Summer 2021

Intellectual property waivers are key to dismantling global vaccine apartheid and providing equitable vaccination to Africa and other continents.

Millions of People Continue to be Forcibly Displaced in Africa

By Maysa Ayoub / Summer 2021

Even though forced displacement is a global crisis, it is no more obvious than in Africa.

In Malawi, the battle to save mangoes

By Charles Mkoka / Summer 2021

Malawi, like other African fruit producers, is drawing on local and global resources to combat a pest which threatens vital fruit exports.

A New Water Paradigm for Sub-Saharan Africa

By Djiby Thiam / Fall 2021 Summer 2021

To make clean water and sanitation truly accessible to local communities across the continent, African institutions must take the lead in understanding the specific challenges and opportunities they face.

Global vaccine equity is a moral and economic imperative—here is how to get it right

By Junaid Nabi /

With increasingly dangerous variants of the COVID-19 virus spreading across the Global South, vaccine equity is not only a moral imperative, but also key to keeping the global economy afloat.

Doughnut Economics: Living in a Sustainable World

By Dania El Akkawi /

How humanity can transform from traditional growth-first economic policies to a 21st century vision centered around sustainable development.

Summers of Strife: From Libya to Ethiopia

By Nabil Fahmy / Spring 2021

Ethiopia’s obstinance puts the region at a sensitive crossroads again

The Iran Nuclear Deal: A Springboard for a New Middle East Security Architecture

By Nabil Fahmy / February 25, 2021

The Iran nuclear deal could be the first building block in a new Middle East security architecture.

Why the Phrase “Arab Spring” Should be Retired

By Sean David Hobbs / Winter 2021

It’s time to stop using a Western-based concept ten years on from the events that began the Arab Uprisings.

Learning from a Diplomatic Trailblazer to Tackle Global Inequalities

By Sean David Hobbs /

Guest speaker at the 16th Nadia Younes Memorial Lecture, Dutch Minister Sigrid Kaag, presented ideas for geopolitical challenges in the Middle East and North Africa during and after the coronavirus pandemic.

South Africa after Covid-19: Recovery or Recession

By Helmo Preuss / Fall 2020

South Africa has had a plethora of economic plans, but most have not been implemented

Exposing Inequality, Accelerating Innovation: COVID-19 and the Digital Economy

By Omar Auf /

COVID-19 has highlighted the great promise borne by the digital economy, as well as the challenges standing in the way of reaping its full potential.

Enhancing Mediterranean Integration

By Blanca Moreno-Dodson / Summer 2020

Trade liberalization, human capital development, and sectoral reforms can bring Mediterranean countries closer together.

Embracing Change: U.S. Foreign Policy Shifts

By Sean David Hobbs / Fall 2020

Former U.S. diplomat and American University in Cairo President Francis Ricciardone discusses whether a Biden win will see a return to a rules based international order.

Resisting the Tide of Bigotry

By Jonathan Weisman / Fall 2020

American Jews are left divided and looking for new directions as Donald Trump embraces the white supremacism of the alt-right and the Zionism of Benjamin Netanyahu

What the Beirut Blast means for Lebanon’s Refugees

By Ola G. El-Taliawi and Tamirace Fakhoury / September 11, 2020

Inclusive refugee policies and a renewed approach to humanitarian relief will be needed to protect Lebanon’s most vulnerable.

The EU and the Med: Is Geography Still Destiny?

By James Moran / Summer 2020

Europe needs to find ways of reinvigorating its relations with MENA countries to bring stability in its southern neighborhood and Mediterranean region.

Gas Finds for the People?

By Jason Beckett / Summer 2020

Public international law—tied as it is to existent western-centric neo-colonial structures—will likely block the natural gas finds in the Eastern Mediterranean from benefiting regional states.

The Prospects for Conflict or Cooperation

By Ellen Laipson and Henri J. Barkey / Summer 2020

Will the Eastern Mediterranean natural gas discoveries lead to regional transformation?

Turkey’s Energy Geopolitics

By Meliha Benli Altunışık / Summer 2020

Turkey is at one end of competing geostrategic visions in the Eastern Mediterranean, but are there avenues for reconciliation with countries at the opposite pole?

Life Under Lockdown on a Small Island: a Personal Perspective

By Tim Cullen /

One small state’s ability to weather the coronavirus storm by remaining transparent and drawing upon the population’s sense of community.

Urban-Rural Disconnect: COVID-19 and Sustainability

By David Dumke and Thomas L. Crisman and Zachary S. Winters /

The Urban-Rural Disconnect and how COVID-19 is influencing the Nexus of water, energy and food.

Annexation Makes No Policy Sense

By Daniel C. Kurtzer / June 15, 2020

The fors and againsts of the West Bank’s annexation.

COVID-19 and Social Policies in the MENA Region

By Ghada Barsoum /

A new test to overly-stressed systems.

How to Deal with COVID-19 in Africa

By Arnaud Oulepo and Carl Manlan /

Strengthening the capacity, the data networks, and the community response to win against COVID-19.

Women and Education in the Arab World

By Sean David Hobbs /

Malak Zaalouk, education expert, discusses the position of women and access to education in the Arab World with the Cairo Review’s Senior Editor Sean David Hobbs in a special podcast recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic lock-down.

Long-term Implications of COVID-19

By Amina Abdel-Halim /

Most policy-makers are taking on COVID-19 as a one-time challenge, but a multi-round scenario could have disastrous implications for the global economy.

COVID-19 Impact on Africa Elections

By Arnaud Oulepo /

The pandemic is forcing African states to choose between holding elections on time and postponing them for safety. The risks run both ways.

Sustainable Solutions for an Economic Crisis

By Amina Abdel-Halim /

As the world grapples to mitigate a looming economic crisis, a roadmap already exists: the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

A Surplus of Deficits

By Amr Adly / Spring 2020

From a political economy perspective, there are four key forces working against the peace and prosperity of Middle Eastern and North African states. To defeat them, robust institutions are essential.

The Geo-economic Fallout of COVID-19 for the Middle East

By Neil Bhatiya /

The COVID-19 coronavirus will cause long-term consequences for the Middle East; a combination of chaos in oil markets and contraction of gross domestic product will present challenges for years to come.

Can Arab Cities Be Eco-Sustainable?

By David Sims / Spring 2020

Separating fiction from reality, and corporate interests from true innovation in the new “eco-cities” of the Middle East.

The Water-Energy-Food Nexus in COVID-19

By Thomas L. Crisman and Zachary S. Winters /

The nexus between water, energy, and food today is fragile—made all the more so by climate change, catastrophic weather events, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Water Rivalry on the Nile

By Hani Sewilam / April 14, 2020

In an effort to overcome competition over water resources, Nile Basin countries can collaborate in harvesting more rainfall and increase Nile flow to maximize benefit sharing to reach a win-win solution.

America’s Shift to Online

By Sydney Wise / April 11, 2020

COVID-19 has introduced the concept of working from home to many who have never experienced it. But, different industry needs, varying family and gender roles, and a need for interaction may explain why it wasn’t already the norm.

A Future Filled With Pathogens

By Dahr Jamail /

The combination of a worsening climate crisis and ongoing human encroachment on the wilds will bring more pandemics.

Toward Arab Food Security

By M. Anis Salem and Natasha Banks / Winter 2020

A roadmap for a sustainable future without wasteful subsidies and mismanagement

Edge of Survival

By Peter J. Jacques / Winter 2020

The interaction of food, energy, and water in North Africa is complex and building into a cascade of trouble. It is time to listen to the rural communities facing it on the frontline

Myths about Food Security and Water

By Eckart Woertz / Winter 2020

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 / Winter 2020

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 / Winter 2020

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

Seeds of Gulf-Africa Agribusiness

By Sarah Townsend / Winter 2020

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

Our Future as Climate Refugees

By Amanda Tapp / Winter 2020

Journalist Dahr Jamail discusses the impact of climate change on the Middle East and calls for immediate collaborative action