July 18, 2017
Stupendous Hubris…and Its Damage
The Washington Post’s revelation that the United Arab Emirates was behind the hacking of the Qatar News Agency (QNA) to spread false quotes from Qatar’s ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is nothing short...
Learn more »July 12, 2017
Jordan and the US-Russia Deal in Southern Syria
After two months of secret negotiations in Amman, US and Russian officials reached a ceasefire agreement in southwestern Syria. While a few crucial details are not ironed out yet, the deal was announced following the...
Learn more »July 11, 2017
Qatar-US Memorandum of Understanding: A Game Changer
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signed today with Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani about cooperation on fighting terror financing is arguably a...
Learn more »July 11, 2017
Youth Unemployment Remains the Main Challenge in the Gulf States
All Arab Gulf states have embarked on economic reform and austerity measures over the past few years because of their still heavy dependence on hydrocarbon revenues which dropped sharply as a result of the fall...
Learn more »July 10, 2017
The Independence Referendum: A Pyrrhic Victory for Barzani
Despite increasing pressures from Iraqi authorities, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Masoud Barzani, declared that there is no turning back from holding the Kurdish independence referendum which is scheduled to take place...
Learn more »July 10, 2017
Current Competing Dynamics in the GCC Region
The current crisis among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states––pitting Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain against the State of Qatar––has exposed an unwelcome split within the Trump Administration. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson...
Learn more »July 05, 2017
When Friends Spy on Friends: A US Spy Tool Could Spell Trouble for the Middle East Under Trump
Since June of this year, the debate about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act of 2008 has appeared to gain momentum. Discourse on the spying law has started in earnest now because the...
Learn more »July 05, 2017
A Case for Human Rights and Democracy in US Middle East Policy
The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in December 1948 by majority vote of the UN General Assembly. It was rooted in President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms”—freedom of speech and expression,...
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