Summary: even though the Middle East and North Africa are on the frontlines of climate change the structures of governance are ill-suited to manage arguably the greatest threat the region and its people have ever faced.
Summary: Mohammed bin Zayed has diligently, carefully and quietly built his small Gulf state into a regional powerhouse. Matthew Hedges analyses how he has done that.
Summary: French President Emmanuel Macron’s record in the Middle East and North Africa has been at best a mixed one marked by a lack of collaborative strategic thinking and occasional diplomatic gaffes.
Summary: the UAE and Saudi Arabia took stock of America’s declining status in the Middle East, saw Washington seemingly ready to do a deal with Tehran that once again cut them out and decided that they needed a fresh approach and new strategies in dealing with the threat of Iran.
Summary: child abuse is a huge problem but social taboos and government indifference means little action is taken; in war zones such as Syria physical and sexual abuse is a deliberate regime weapon; breaking the taboos, providing sanctuary and support for survivors and arresting, convicting and jailing perpetrators is urgently required.
Summary: as he systematically deconstructs the last vestiges of Tunisia’s experiment in democracy many are wondering what the Tunisian president’s end game is or if he has an end game at all.
Summary: COP28, scheduled to take place in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December, has invited the Syrian president to attend as the Arab world continues its rehabilitation of a leader once reviled as a pariah.
Summary: OPEC+ faces a conundrum over the extent to which the slide in the price of oil since the 3 April cut in output reflects real substance or an unsubstantiated shift in market sentiment.
Summary: as outside players become more engaged and the violence in Sudan gathers pace so too does the risk of a major conflagration that could engulf the region.
Summary: the 2020 Abraham Accords put a formal stamp on relations between Israel and the UAE but the two already had a shared objective, one that operates in a grey zone in the information age using a weaponised narrative to subvert the Arab Spring.
