Islam
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Georgia is slowly moving into Turkey’s orbit
In the aftermath of the most recent fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey has emerged as a key player in the Caucasus. This new status will increase its pull over some of its smaller neighbor states. Georgia could soon find itself seeking security guarantees from Ankara, instead of Western organizations – a worrisome development for both Washington and Moscow.
Saudi Arabia’s key role in the Middle East
Journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder has upset the Middle East’s geopolitical balance in two dimensions: the three-sided rivalry between Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and the conflict between the Muslim Brotherhood and stable monarchies in the region. For the Saudis, the crisis poses an unexpected opportunity to improve governance. For the ...
GIS Dossier: Europe as a global player – the Middle East and North Africa
Europe’s influence as a great power is nowhere more apparent than in the attraction it exerts on the poorer countries to its south – in the Middle East and Northern Africa. This is the region where European Union member states, often without U.S. support, have deployed their full foreign-policy arsenal, ...
Middle East regimes challenge religious order, move toward modernization
In Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, leaders are chipping away at religious traditionalism to make way for the economic and social reforms their peoples demand. Usually, the vehement backlash to such attempts has thwarted any momentum toward modernization. But this time, the leaders are taking slow, careful steps, and have ...
Opinion: Jerusalem recognition narrows U.S. options on Iran
President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has hurt U.S. efforts to build a Sunni alliance against Iran. Given the risk of a region-wide conflict erupting near the Golan Heights or in southern Lebanon, its timing was also unfortunate. However, there could be a deeper logic behind ...
