The Institutionalization of the GCC Conflict
by Giorgio Cafiero Five months into the Qatar crisis, the future outlook for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as an institution of six Arabian countries is gloomy. In light of expectations that the...
View ArticleSaudi Arabia: Wellspring of Regional Instability
by Paul R. Pillar The anachronistic family enterprise known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long been politically fragile. In some respects it is remarkable that this entity has endured into the...
View ArticleCan Qatar Hedge Its Bets on Security Guarantors?
by Matthew Hedges and Giorgio Cafiero Saddam Hussein’s invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990/1991 taught Qatar that its alliance with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)’s powerhouse—Saudi...
View ArticleOn the Destabilization of the Middle East
by Derek Davison One of America’s favorite talking points on Iran is its “destabilizing” role in the Middle East. There’s no question that Iran does things that contribute to regional instability. In...
View ArticleKuwait and Kurdish Separatism
by Giorgio Cafiero and Jesse Schatz The unresolved Kurdish question remains a highly influential dynamic in the Middle East’s geopolitical order. Recent developments in Iraqi and Syrian Kurdistan are...
View ArticleAl-Sisi steps up repression to cover policy failure
By James M. Dorsey Egyptian general-turned-president Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi would likely be the first to admit that an iron fist is no guarantee for retaining power. Not because of the fate of the...
View ArticleThe Qatar Crisis in an Age of Alternative Facts
by Kristian Coates Ulrichsen The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) holds its annual Summit in Kuwait City this week, exactly six months since three of the six GCC states—Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the...
View ArticleThe Killing of Former President Saleh Could Worsen Yemen’s War
by April Longley Alley The dramatic collapse of the Huthi-Saleh alliance is likely to prolong Yemen’s war and the suffering of its people. After killing former President Saleh, the Huthis, viewed by...
View ArticleDoha and Abu Dhabi’s Incompatible Visions for the Arab World
by Giorgio Cafiero When Gamal Abdel Nasser’s secular Arab nationalist regime began purging Egypt of Muslim Brotherhood members during the 1950s and 1960s, many of these Islamists relocated to the Arab...
View ArticleThe Logic Behind Iran’s Regional Posture
by Adnan Tabatabai On December 3, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei convened Iran’s top military brass. Iranian media circulated one key sentence of his remarks on the front pages of newspapers:...
View ArticleTunisia Feels Heat from the GCC
by Giorgio Cafiero and Khalid al-Jaber On December 22, tension between Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) heated up. Citing “credible security information” about militant female members of the...
View ArticleGulf Crisis Expands into the Horn of Africa
by James M. Dorsey The six-month-old Gulf crisis has expanded to the Horn Africa, potentially fuelling simmering regional conflicts. Renewed fears of heightened tension in the Horn, a region pockmarked...
View ArticleThe Militarization of the Red Sea
by Shehab al-Makahleh and Giorgio Cafiero The Red Sea has historically connected traders from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Today the strategically valuable body of water is vital to...
View ArticleGulf Crisis Turns Qatar into “Region’s Israel”
by James M. Dorsey Prominent US constitutional lawyer and scholar Alan M. Dershowitz raised eyebrows when he described Qatar as “the Israel of the Gulf states.” Known for his hard-line pro-Israel...
View ArticleMissile Dialogue Between Iran and the West
by Seyed Hossein Mousavian U.S. President Donald Trump has made it clear that his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal—known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—is mainly rooted in Iran’s...
View ArticleArab Neoconservatives and Peace in the Persian Gulf
by Eldar Mamedov Recent years have seen a rise of what could be described as Arab neoconservatives: ambitious leaders such as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman and the Crown Prince...
View ArticleWhy Iran Is Not a Mideast Hegemon
by Adnan Tabatabai For many observers, Iran emerged as the major winner of Middle East developments in 2017. They saw a “new superpower” in the region now securing military victories “outside its own...
View ArticleSaudi Arabia and Iran Compete in the Sahel
by Javad Heiran-Nia and Somayeh Khomarbaghi Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirate are supporting the Sahel Joint Military Force, the latest indication of a competition for influence with Iran in...
View ArticleCeasefire in Syria—Now What?
by Robert E. Hunter The United Nation Security Council has agreed to a ceasefire in Syria, “a durable humanitarian pause for at least 30 consecutive days throughout [the country].” Like all such...
View ArticleA Nuclear Standard for Saudi Arabia
by Paul R. Pillar Later this week Secretary of Energy Rick Perry will lead a U.S. delegation to negotiate a possible nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia. The subject already has been a...
View Article
