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Middle East and North Africa

Turkey and Greece Extend Olive Branches

It was a busy week for Turkey’s representatives at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with...

Turkey Advances in the South Caucasus

Though his military forces are still in the process of absorbing Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met on Sept. 25 with his Turkish counterpart,...

The Future of Israeli-Saudi Normalization

Over the past week, there have been conflicting reports on the status of Israeli-Saudi normalization talks. Last Sunday, London-based Elaph reported, citing an Israeli...

The Turkish-Israeli Gas Pipeline Is Dead in the Water

A partial solution to Europe’s energy crisis can be found off the coast of Israel, roughly a mile beneath the surface of the Mediterranean...

The Viability of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor

We live in an age of interregional connections. China’s Belt and Road Initiative, after a decade and hundreds of billions of dollars in spending,...

Turkey’s Resurgence in the Black Sea Basin

Russia’s weakening, especially following its invasion of Ukraine, has serious implications for its southern flank. In the years ahead, Moscow’s ability to project power...

Turkey’s Pivot to the West

As a geopolitical actor, Turkey’s greatest advantage is its domination of intersections. It sits at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa, and it...

Upheaval in Eurasia and Iran’s Shrinking Options

Eurasia is in a fit of historic change as Russia, China and India each undergo major transformations. Less obvious but no less impactful is...

Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Art of Managing Expectations

Last month, Israeli spy chief David Barnea quietly met with Biden administration officials at the White House. The brief meeting reportedly centered on Israeli-Saudi...

Iran, Afghanistan and the Problem With Islamist Rule

A French scholar of Islamism named Olivier Roy wrote in 1994 that, as a form of governance, political Islam was doomed to fail. He...

Daily Memo: Polish-Ukrainian Diplomatic Dispute Heats Up

Tempers flare. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy intervened Wednesday in an escalating diplomatic rift between Kyiv and the Polish government, urging calm and expressing gratitude...

Daily Memo: US-Ukraine Talks, Egyptian Energy Deals

Support for Kyiv. The head of the Ukrainian presidential office said negotiations with the United States will begin next week on security guarantees. The...

Escalations in the Gulf of Oman

Tensions are rising as Iran and the United States beef up their presence in Middle Eastern waters. The Pentagon said it would deploy a...

The Bitter Legacy of French Colonization of Algeria

Algerian-French relations have never been normal. They've never been governed by the principles and customs of traditional diplomacy between countries. The Algerians' collective consciousness...

North Africa’s Mini-Uprising in France

Violent riots broke out in France last week after police shot dead a young man of Algerian descent in the Paris suburb of Nanterre....

Arab Perspectives on Europe’s Migration Problem

Earlier this month, a fishing boat carrying more than 700 migrants capsized off the coast of Greece, leaving hundreds dead or missing. The tragedy...

Latest Posts

The meltdown of autocratic regimes currently underway in the Arab world has led to the growth of ungoverned spaces. The resulting vacuum is being dominated by armed Islamist non-state actors – in particular Salafist-jihadist militias.

The three non-Arab powers – Turkey, Iran and Israel – are trying to manage the regional commotion according to their national interests.

It was during the Cold War era that a deep ideological chasm in the Middle East began to coagulate. The struggle between those who adopted European secularism and those who crafted an ideology based on religious tradition had its roots in late 19th century Ottoman Empire. Roughly 100 years later, this struggle had polarized the region.

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Required Reads: Middle East and North Africa

From our Forecast...

The Vienna nuclear talks will result in a settlement. The Israeli Air Force will not attack Iran’s nuclear sites.

Middle East and North Africa in our Memos

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Latest Posts

Europe’s Stagnant Economy

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(click to enlarge) Europe's economy stalled in the second quarter of 2023, registering no growth at the European Union level and growth of just 0.1...

Daily Memo: Turkish-Azerbaijani Energy Deal, Eurozone Inflation

Closer ties. Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a deal on a roadmap to build energy trading infrastructure between the two countries. Earlier this week, during...

Turkey and Greece Extend Olive Branches

It was a busy week for Turkey’s representatives at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with...

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