... the emergence of a new era in US public diplomacy, including in the Middle East. As is usual in public diplomacy, the results of what the Americans are doing (or not doing) now will only become apparent in several years’ time.
The “Post-Syria” Middle East: A Chance for Russia?
Natalia Berenkova:
Opportunities for Russian Higher Education in Syria and Lebanon
The erosion of the regional elites’ confidence in the Obama administration and in the USA’s ability to protect them has caused many governments in the region to change their perception of America as omnipotent, even though it remains the most influential external player. Russia’s “return” to the Middle East has boosted but did ...
It takes a strong state, suppressing political violence, and a legitimate authority to succeed in combating the consequences of military conflicts in the Middle East during a pandemic
The question of the political and socioeconomic consequences the COVID-19 pandemic will have for global development has prompted heated analytical discussions among leading politicians, economists and political scientists....
... sanctions can cause grave problems for individual companies and projects. The risk of new sanctions stems from a series of political factors: the Ukrainian crisis and conflict in Donbass, the U.S. elections and the alleged meddling, the developments in the Middle East, etc.
— Regarding Ukraine, the crisis has noticeably stabilized. However, we should not expect any significant breakthroughs in terms of compliance with the Minsk Agreements in the coming year. The stabilization of the situation in Donbass ...
The latest alarming global events, like the coronavirus pandemic, the oil price crash and the slowdown of world economic growth have eclipsed the armed conflicts in the Middle East, which drop off and flare up from time to time. The temporary disappearance of Syria from front page news and new Russia-Turkey agreements on a ceasefire in Idlib are far from comforting. This is merely a tactical pause that should give serious ...
....-Saudi Arabia-Iran Tensions: It Seemed We Were Moving Towards a Conflict More Dramatic Than Anything We Have Already Seen
Key ideas from Daniel Levy’s speech during the “Persian Gulf: War and Peace” session of the
9th Valdai Discussion Club’s Middle East Conference
(Moscow, February 17–18, 2020).
Wars have terrible consequences, conflicts are devastating, the human cost primarily, then economic and opportunity costs, entire generations are denied their future. And it’s the people on the ...
...
One of the central pillars of US counterterrorism policy is that capturing or killing a terrorist group's leader is effective. Yet this pillar rests more on a foundation of faith than facts. In Leadership Decapitation, Jenna Jordan examines over a thousand instances of leadership targeting—involving groups such as Hamas, al Qaeda, Shining Path, and ISIS—to identify the successes, failures, and unintended consequences of this strategy.
Is this strategy effective, or are there more effective ones ...
... continue to serve as a physical platform for the US–Iranian confrontation.
The Iranians promised to take a violent revenge on the Americans for their actions. After the funeral processions in honor of Soleimani that brought together hundreds of thousands of people throughout the Middle East, Iran exercised the promised military response to the Americans. On January 8, Iran launched surface-to-surface missiles at bases with American soldiers in Iraq, hitting the Ain al-Assad base in Anbar province and a military base near Erbil....
Iran and the Arab states of the Gulf would gain from taking control over their security interests
The beginning of 2020 was marked by yet another major crisis in the Middle East region. The crisis culminated with the US elimination of General Qasem Soleimani and could have slipped towards direct military confrontation between the US and Iran — with unpredictable consequences not just for the MENA region but also ...
... backing from at least two permanent members of the UN Security Council — Russia and China — while Iran is busy working to build support for the initiative in the region.
Shehab Al Makahleh, Maria Al Makahleh:
2020 Forecast: Revealing the Future of the Middle East
The Emir of Qatar visited Iran for the first time during the recent crisis, calling for de-escalation and regional dialogue. Other regional states are also on record stressing the need for a genuine inclusive regional process that aims to ...
... Jordan’s 2020 outlook will be promising as it is not involved in regional tensions. Although Jordanian diplomacy keeps walking the Middle East tightrope policy, the country closely monitors extremist factions and terrorist group leadership which seek to restore ... ... Jordanian Israeli bilateral relations will be tense because of Israel’s intransigence concerning the Palestinian issue, East Jerusalem and the expectation that the Israeli government would annex the Jordan Valley, exerting more pressure on the Palestinians ...
