Eurasia

The U.S. and Russian presidents staged high visibility visits to the Middle East in the past week and a half. The visits were designed to assert each great power’s influence in the region at a time of escalating great power conflict. But both presidents cut a diminished figure on the …

The decades-long confrontation between Israel and Iran is now arguably becoming more dangerous. Economic, political, and military pressures have failed to stop Iran from becoming an almost nuclear threshold country. The Islamic Republic does not recognize the Jewish state and the latter considers the former an existential threat. Now, amid …

The Russian invasion and the Middle East The impact of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has reverberated around the world, and the Middle East is no exception. Regional leaders, who heretofore generally managed to maintain good relations with both Washington and Moscow, are now being pressured to pick a side. …

As countries around the world cope with supply shortages of staple foods, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Israel, and India are creating an India-Middle East Food Corridor — a new West Asia value chain that harnesses the three states’ commercial and technological synergies to form what promises to be a …

The U.N.-sponsored truce of April 2022 between the government of Yemen, the Saudi-led military coalition, and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels remains very fragile. Yet it is the longest pause in fighting Yemen has experienced since the Houthi armed rebellion broke out in September 2014 and the Saudi-led coalition forces intervened …

MI5 Director General Ken McCallum’s joint address with the FBI Chief on 6 July saw a welcome rebalancing of the security service’s focus towards nation-state threats. Counterterrorism is an important function, but it was allowed to dominate for two decades while Russia, China and other belligerent states were insufficiently monitored. …

As evidence mounts that the Global South is leaning closer to the Russia–China position over Ukraine, the West needs to think hard about how to regain the initiative in the narrative battle. The Ukraine war has further entrenched and exacerbated the geopolitical rivalry between the West and the Russia–China camp. …

This paper examines the perceptions of Iran and the six GCC states of the interaction between the Iranian nuclear issue and regional security dynamics in the Gulf. This paper endeavours to capture the perspectives of Iran and the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states on the interactions between the …

According to Tehran, five people have been arrested for planning attacks in Iran in cooperation with Israel’s national intelligence service. The Iranian intelligence organization known by its Persian acronym FARAJA has announced the arrest of five people accused of plotting to carry out attacks inside Iran in cooperation with Israel’s …

Russian gas giant Gazprom’s sudden “maintenance” shutdown of a major pipeline carrying gas to Turkey coincided with the talks over Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership bids. With Russian gas giant Gazprom this week again slashing its gas exports to Europe and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accusing Moscow …