The severe tensions between the US and Saudi Arabia didn’t happen overnight; nor will they be somehow magically addressed by the sugar high the Donald Trump administration created by coddling MBS. Read More Here
Leading regional powers operate outside the traditional Middle East in much the same way as they operate inside it, and many of the rivalries most important to the region now play out beyond those assumed borders. Read More Here
Even more than the Emiratis, the Saudis hold the key to oil wells and expect big concessions from the United States before opening their taps and reversing their pro-Russia oil policy. Read More Here
With inflation at a 20-year high, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned to foreign policy to help pull his economy out of a tailspin. He is reaching out to ideological foes in the Middle East in the hopes that their investments can revive a plummeting lira, reduce unemployment, and ensure his return to power […]
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has not only dominated global headlines, but also triggered a wide-ranging debate in Iran and among Iranians about Tehran’s ties with Moscow. Read More Here
Perhaps the most stunning rapprochement has been between the UAE and Turkey — few saw that one coming. The two were pitted against each other in almost every regional conflict for the better part of the past decade and found themselves on opposite ends of the ideological spectrum. Read More Here
It is no secret that the Biden administration is hoping to recalibrate and “deprioritize” America’s focus on the Middle East. For domestic and foreign proponents of such a strategic shift, this is welcome news. However, America’s partners in the region are still unclear as to what this means in practice. Read More Here
Traditionally, Beijing had been wary of getting embroiled in a region that a Chinese scholar once described as a “chaotic and dangerous graveyard burying empires.” But in 2014, Xi vowed to more than double trade with the region by 2023. Read More Here
The country’s leadership has come to understand that the kingdom’s old model, based primarily on an oil-funded welfare state and rigid gender segregation, is no longer sustainable. Read More Here
The struggle for geopolitical primacy between Iran’s Shiite theocracy and the countries led by Sunni Arabs and, more recently, Sunni Turkey is stoking conflict across the region—eroding social compacts, worsening state dysfunction, and catalyzing extremist movements. Read More Here
looking beyond borders 