Israel, water and natural gas
Summary: Israel is positioning itself well when it comes to exploiting natural resources in the Middle East.
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Jordan
IDPs in Yemen: an untold story
Summary: the war and the humanitarian disaster it has caused have received intermittent coverage but the story of Yemen’s 4.3 million IDPs has been virtually ignored.
Iraq: a Functioning or a Failing State?
Summary: Iraq has still to form a government nearly a year after parliamentary elections. The impasse is indicative of a far bigger malaise: a dysfunctional state whose sovereignty is held hostage to armed groups and sectarian interests.
Emirati – Qatari Information War: Round 2
Summary: an end to the blockade of Qatar last year has, on the surface, eased tensions between Abu Dhabi and Doha but look a little deeper and the animosity remains.
Reconciliation between Iran and Jordan: motivations and incentives
Summary: Jordan sees in a cautious rapprochement with Iran an opportunity to improve strained relations with the GCC and to find a way out of its economic crisis.
The Arab Digest Podcast Top Ten Countdown: number 9
Coming in at number nine in our all-time Arab Digest top ten is Annelle Sheline’s podcast The Weaponisation of Moderate Islam, first broadcast 30 July 2021. Annelle is a Research Fellow in the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and an expert on religious and political authority in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Arab Digest Podcast Top Ten Countdown: number 10
This podcast conversation aired 14 May 2021 as violence flared in the wake of Israeli security forces actions at Al Aqsa mosque and the attempted eviction of Palestinians from their homes in the East Jerusalem quarter of Sheikh Jarrah. Jordan’s Prince Hassan has long advocated on behalf of interfaith and humanitarian issues with particular stress on the human dimension of conflicts.
Sisi and the zero sum game
Summary: a big hike in interest rates as inflation gallops ahead shows that the economic model Egypt’s president is using is in danger of running out of road with grievous implications both for the country’s poor and an increasingly beleaguered middle class already slipping into poverty.
Captagon’s ever-expanding Middle East footprint
Summary: as the captagon trade continues to boom in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf, its security and geopolitical implications have become harder to ignore.
Turkey looks to move refugees back to Syria
Summary: with resentment growing in Turkey towards Syrian refugees, President Erdoğan offers homes and promises of a ‘self-sufficient economic infrastructure’ to encourage 1 million to leave.