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  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    GCC States Seek Diplomacy During US Absence

    Nov 12, 2024Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    The expansion and partial regionalization of what is already the longest and deadliest conflict in the Israeli-Palestinian arena since 1948 presents the Gulf A…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arab WorldUS Foreign Policy

    A Second Trump Administration: Potential Policy Toward the Middle East

    Nov 5, 2024Charles W. Dunne

    The November 5 presidential election is likely to have major implications for US foreign policy, as it pits a centrist and robust internationalist candidate (V…

  • Policy Analysis
    UAERegional Relations and Geopolitics

    UAE Restricts US Military Strikes from Its Territory

    May 22, 2024Gregory Aftandilian

    Fearing an attack by Iran or its allied militias in the region, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has restricted US military aircraft from targeting these proxy g…

  • Policy Analysis
    UAERegional Relations and Geopolitics

    The UAE and the Red Sea Security Crisis

    Feb 27, 2024Giorgio Cafiero

    Despite the Israeli war on Gaza killing nearly 30,000 Palestinians, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has clung to the Abraham Accords, which it signed with Israe…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeyRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Turkish-Gulf Relations in the Context of Regional Reconciliation

    Feb 14, 2024Salim Çevik

    Since 2021, Turkey has been resetting its policies in the Middle East and has started to reconcile with its rivals in the previous decade—Egypt, Israel, Saudi …

  • Policy Analysis
    Palestine/IsraelRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Normalization Survives Despite the Gaza War

    Jan 11, 2024Imad K. Harb

    The current Israeli war on Gaza, now well into its fourth deadly month, has cast a calamitous shadow over the lives of Palestinians and Israelis, as well as ov…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfEnergy and Economics

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

    Oct 10, 2023Giorgio Cafiero

    At the G20 summit held in New Delhi in September 2023, the leaders of France, Germany, India, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States,…

  • Policy Analysis
    IranRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Russia, Iran, and the Territorial Dispute with the UAE

    Aug 16, 2023Kourosh Ziabari

    Under President Ebrahim Raisi, Iran has carved out an overseas agenda that is a patent departure from the country’s 1979 Revolution-era notion of “neither East…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    The UAE-Saudi Arabia Rivalry Becomes a Rift

    Jul 6, 2023Charles W. Dunne

    Saudi Arabia and the UAE are waging a quiet struggle to determine who will emerge as the Arabian Gulf’s—and maybe the Arab world’s—preeminent power.

  • Policy Analysis
    SudanConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    The Sudan Crisis: How Regional Actors’ Competing Interests Fuel the Conflict

    May 11, 2023Khalil Al-Anani

    The outbreak of military clashes between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have resulted in the deaths of hundreds and t…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arab WorldThe War in Ukraine

    Arab and Israeli Positions on Ukraine War Continue to Frustrate the US

    Jan 18, 2023Charles W. Dunne

    The positions taken by many governments in the Middle East have proven a notable exception to the global groundswell of support for Kyiv.

  • Viewpoint
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfEnergy and Economics

    With Friends Like These: OPEC’s Oil Production and US-Gulf Relations

    Oct 7, 2022Imad K. Harb

    In a move that will certainly have serious political and economic repercussions in the United States and around the world, OPEC+, a group of oil-producing nati…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfEducation and Development

    Women’s Education at Western Universities in Qatar and the UAE

    Sep 9, 2022Alainna Liloia

    As more and more western universities set up branch campuses in Gulf Arab states, many women are finding themselves with greater opportunities than ever before…

  • Policy Analysis
    Palestine/IsraelReligion and Politics

    American Evangelicals, the Gulf States, and Israel: A Cynical Covenant

    Aug 24, 2022Mimi Kirk

    Each July, Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States, holds a multi-day conference that culminates in a day…

  • Policy Analysis
    YemenConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Yemen’s Prospects for Unity Are Uncertain after Many Years of War

    Jul 28, 2022Afrah Nasser

    In 2018, the United Nations Security Council’s Panel of Experts on Yemen suggested that the Yemeni State had begun to fragment as a result of a conflict that i…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfUS Foreign Policy

    The Biden Administration Is Struggling to Develop a Middle East Strategy

    Jun 10, 2022Daniel Brumberg

    Despite the declining capacity of the United States to shape the Middle East’s strategic architecture, it is unlikely that effective regional solutions to secu…

  • Policy Analysis
    YemenConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Offers Hope Amid Uncertainty

    May 24, 2022Gregory Aftandilian

    The surprise resignation of Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi in early April and his immediate replacement by an eight-member Presidential Leadership Coun…

  • Policy Analysis
    Palestine/IsraelRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Middle East Leaders Contend with Strains in an Evolving Regional Entente

    May 13, 2022Daniel Brumberg

    In its unfolding bid to expand ties with Middle East governments, Israel must grapple with a basic challenge: how to ensure that events in the Palestinian-Isra…

  • Policy Analysis
    EgyptEnergy and Economics

    Gulf Countries’ Aid to Egypt: It Is Politics, Not the Economy, Stupid!

    May 5, 2022Khalil Al-Anani

    On April 4, 2022, Gulf Arab countries pledged $22 billion to help Egypt avert a currency crisis resulting from the Russian war on Ukraine. The Egyptian pound l…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Rehabilitation of the Assad Regime

    Dec 15, 2021Radwan Ziadeh

    With the approaching date of the next Arab Summit to be hosted by Algeria in March 2022, some member countries of the League of Arab States have become more vo…

  • Policy Analysis
    SudanRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Sudan Coup: The Regional Interference behind a Faltering Transition

    Dec 11, 2021Khalil Al-Anani

    On October 25, 2021, Sudan’s General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan staged a coup, declared a state of emergency, dissolved the power-sharing Sovereign Council, sacked…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Turkey and the Gulf States: A New Era of Détente

    Dec 8, 2021Mustafa Gurbuz

    Turkish officials celebrated the November 24 visit of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Ankara as the beginning of “a new era” between Tur…

  • Policy Analysis
    YemenUS Foreign Policy

    Biden’s Yemen Conundrum

    Oct 5, 2021Nabeel Khoury

    US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan traveled to Riyadh on September 27 and was accompanied by US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking. The visit highl…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    A New Strategic Architecture Is Emerging in the Gulf

    Sep 24, 2021Imad K. Harb

    As the Gulf crisis of 2017 recedes into memory, following the reconciliation in January at the “solidarity and stability” summit in Saudi Arabia’s al-Ula on th…

  • Viewpoint
    Saudi ArabiaRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Is a Saudi-Emirati Rift on the Horizon?

    Jul 7, 2021Imad K. Harb

    The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) appears to be approaching another unwelcome rift, this time between its two most vocal and influential members, Saudi Arabia…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfEducation and Development

    Arab Space Programs Level Up

    Apr 30, 2021Charles W. Dunne

    People in the Arab world have gazed at the stars with curiosity and genius for centuries. The first observatory was built in the 8th century by Abbasid Caliph …

  • Viewpoint
    Morocco

    Does Arab Public Opinion on Palestine Still Count in 2020?

    Nov 18, 2020Khalil E. Jahshan

    Although public opinion research in the Arab world has evolved significantly in recent years, it does not seem to be taken seriously by American policymakers i…

  • Policy Analysis
    UAEUS Foreign Policy

    The Middle East Accords: An Arab Perspective

    Nov 2, 2020Imad K. Harb

    The recent agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Sudan will not help the cause of regional peace.On August 13, President D…

  • Policy Analysis
    UAEReligion and Politics

    The UAE’s Manipulative Utilization of Religion

    Sep 29, 2020Khalil Al-Anani

    The August announcement of normalizing relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has led to a backlash among Arabs and Muslims around the wor…

  • Viewpoint
    UAESecurity and Defense

    Comments on the UAE’s Acquisition of the F-35

    Sep 8, 2020Abdulwahab Al-Qassab

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have condoned the sale of the advanced American F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to the United Arab Emirates afte…

  • Policy Analysis
    YemenConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Riyadh Agreement 2.0 Changes Nothing in Yemen

    Aug 19, 2020Nabeel A. Khoury

    Nabeel Khoury contends that the lack of trust between Yemen’s Hadi government and southern secessionists is likely to at least delay the implementation of the …

  • Policy Analysis
    Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy

    The UAE-Israel Deal that Keeps Peace Away

    Aug 17, 2020Imad K. Harb Zaha Hassan Tamara Kharroub Kristian Coates Ulrichsen Yousef Munayyer

    The UAE-Israel agreement to normalize bilateral relations serves immediate political purposes for the Israeli prime minister and President Donald Trump without…

  • Policy Analysis
    Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy

    The UAE-Israel Deal: Exploring the Motives

    Aug 17, 2020Khalil E. Jahshan

    Khalil E. Jahshan explores the political reasons behind the agreement to officially normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, stating th…

  • Policy Analysis
    UAE

    Reflections on Mohammed bin Zayed’s Preferences Regarding UAE Foreign Policy

    Jul 24, 2020Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    Assessing the UAE’s foreign policy, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen contends that Mohammed bin Zayed’s personalistic rather than institutionalist style exposes his c…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaSecurity and Defense

    Can Saudi Arabia and the UAE Develop National Arms Industries?

    Jul 22, 2020David B. Des Roches

    With a speed rarely seen in history, the Gulf Arab states have evolved from mere afterthoughts of colonialism to advanced countries. Located in a strategic reg…

  • Policy Analysis
    Palestine/Israel

    By Hedging, the UAE Abandons the Palestinians

    Jul 17, 2020Imad K. Harb

    Imad K. Harb writes that the UAE’s hedging strategy explains its headlong openness on Israel. It is thus abandoning the Palestine question just as the Israeli …

  • Viewpoint
    YemenConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    A Unified Yemen May Soon Cease to Exist

    Apr 27, 2020Imad K. Harb

    With President Hadi too weak to respond to the self-rule declaration by the UAE- supported Southern Transitional Council, and Saudi Arabia too economically tro…

  • From our Affiliates
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfThe GCC

    Is a resolution of the GCC crisis imminent?

    Nov 18, 2019Ibrahim Fraihat

    Ibrahim Fraihat argues that the September 14 attack on Aramco has had a significant effect on Riyadh and has forced Saudi Arabia to revise its policies toward …

  • From our Affiliates
    YemenRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    The Riyadh Agreement on Yemen: Arrangements and Chances of Success

    Nov 18, 2019Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS)

    The Riyadh Agreement’s success will depend in large part on the local parties’ conviction that it serves their purposes at this time more than continued war do…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    A Crumbling Saudi-Emirati Alliance in Yemen May Change US Gulf Policy

    Sep 4, 2019Charles W. Dunne

    The UAE's backing of Yemen’s southern separatists has angered Saudi Arabia and helped lead to a reevaluation of American policy toward the conflict. More volat…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Conflict in Aden: Implications of the Pro-Hadi Forces’ Defeat

    Aug 26, 2019Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS)

    There remain serious obstacles on the road to secession by Yemen's Southern Transitional Council, especially the contrary aims and programs in the various sout…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Changes in UAE Policy: Reasons and Motivations

    Aug 20, 2019Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS)

    he UAE considers this as the right moment to distance itself from confrontation, anticipating US-Iranian negotiations that might leave it to harvest the fruits…

  • Policy Analysis
    BahrainConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    The Drama since Manama: Kushner’s Failed Initiative

    Aug 15, 2019Yousef Munayyer

    Jared Kushner’s latest trip to the Middle East appears to have failed in charting a way forward for the Trump Administration’s illusive peace deal between Pale…

  • Policy Analysis
    QatarConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    The Arabian Gulf Must Not Sleepwalk toward War

    Aug 7, 2019Imad K. Harb

    The volatile situation in the Arabian Gulf has put the region on edge and increased anxiety about intra-Gulf peace, safety of navigation in the strategic Strai…

  • Policy Analysis
    EgyptRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Saudi-Emirati-Egyptian Alliance Steering US Middle East Policy

    Jun 26, 2019Charles W. Dunne

    With the American retreat from the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt are presenting themselves as reliable allies. However, they are pursuing an ag…

  • Policy Analysis
    QatarThe GCC

    Can a GCC Reconciliation Summit at Camp David Succeed?

    Aug 14, 2018Gregory Aftandilian

    President Trump is planning to host a GCC reconciliation summit in September to shore up Arab support for his Iran policies; but to succeed, he will need to re…

  • Policy Analysis
    QatarConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    The Needless Crisis in the Arabian Gulf

    Jun 5, 2018Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    The Trump Administration would do well to work with the Saudis and Emiratis to identify a face-saving way to back down and end the blockade of Qatar.

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaThe GCC

    Missed Opportunities and Failed Integration in the GCC

    Jun 1, 2018Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    The crisis that erupted on June 5, 2017, when three members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) turned on a fourth—for the second time in three years—has hig…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaSecurity and Defense

    Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the Yemeni Hemorrhage

    Mar 20, 2018Imad K. Harb

    It is necessary to point out that the Saudi-led intervention in March 2015 has exacerbated human suffering and underscored the differences between Yemen’s elit…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfSecurity and Defense

    Strategic Considerations of the UAE’s Role in Yemen

    Mar 9, 2018Abdulwahab Al-Qassab

    There are legitimate questions about whether the UAE is interested in keeping Yemen unified and sovereign under a national government recognized by the interna…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Fits and Starts Characterize UN Mediation in Yemen, Syria, and Libya

    Feb 7, 2018Mohammed Cherkaoui

    United Nations diplomacy regarding Yemen, Syria, and Libya may be undergoing a period of fatigue, or perhaps exhaustion, in searching for efficient formulas to…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfSecurity and Defense

    The Aden Battle and Yemen’s De Facto Partition

    Feb 2, 2018Joe Macaron

    It is clear from ongoing developments in the Middle East that the United States and Russia will continue to play a role that meets their own national interests…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Troubling Ambiguities in the UAE’s Role in Yemen

    Sep 8, 2017Imad K. Harb

    The UAE’s ambiguous policies in Yemen expose the entire restoration of Yemeni legitimacy to uncertain circumstances, put it and Saudi Arabia at cross purposes,…

  • Policy Analysis
    QatarConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Stupendous Hubris…and Its Damage

    Jul 18, 2017Imad K. Harb

    Revelations in the Post article stand the entire GCC crisis on a new footing, now that tangible information has been made public and confirms the Qatari govern…