Kuwait’s al-Barrak – Back to the Future?
Summary: a fiery opposition leader builds momentum as Kuwait’s parliamentary system staggers on from one crisis to the next.
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A convergence of interests in the Mediterranean
Summary: Italy, Algeria and Tunisia share an energy nexus of interest that has the potential to alter the economic landscape for all three as Europe scrambles to free itself from its dependency on Russian oil and gas.
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.
MbS slips the pariah trap
Summary: as President Biden seeks to turn Putin into a global pariah, he has let slip another target, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is increasingly gaining international approval and acceptance despite his ruthless suppression of Saudis at home and attacks on critics abroad.
Kurdistan’s Barzani proposes a very loose confederation
Summary: while avoiding uncomfortable or unrewarding topics Masrour Barzani talks a good game about solving Iraq’s woes but it is one that is short on detail and long on rhetoric.
Erdoğan and the mending of MENA fences
In this the 100th Arab Digest podcast editor William Law is in conversation with Aslı Aydıntaşbaş a journalist and a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Their focus is on the remarkable volte-face of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the Middle East. An economic crisis and collapsing popular support have forced him into a major rethink and in the case of Saudi Arabia a significant climbdown.
Putin’s war and a MENA food crisis
Summary: before the Russians invaded Ukraine, food insecurity was already an issue for many MENA countries but as of 24 February a bad situation got a whole lot worse.
Balancing the Russian bear
Summary: a delicate balancing act in the wider Middle East sees three countries sharing common strategic ground as Putin’s war in the Ukraine continues with unabated ferocity.
The Iberian Solution could offer Europe more gas
Summary: the Ukraine/Russia crisis has laid bare Europe’s dangerous reliance on Russian energy but at the same time it has opened up new opportunities for the exporting of Libyan and Algerian gas to the continent.