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Middle East and North Africa

"Aniseh Tabrizi, a senior research fellow and Iran expert at the Royal United Services Institute, agreed.
“It’s reversible, especially if done in the short term,” she said of Iran’s uranium metal production. “There has been condemnation, but no signal that this is the end of any attempt to revive talks on the JCPOA.” "
Iran’s uranium metal production is ‘most serious nuclear step’ to date, but deal can still be saved
In The News, 16 February 2021 Tags: International Security Studies, Unpacking the MENA, Iran, Middle East and North Africa
The Peace Process in Yemen is Broken
Commentary, 8 February 2021
Jack Watling
If the Biden Administration wishes to broker peace in Yemen it needs to reconcile its contradictory policies towards the country and recognise that offensive military action is a necessary component to meaningful negotiation.
Tags: Military Sciences, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding, Middle East and North Africa
Jordan After Trump: Between Hope and Uncertainty in the Middle East
Commentary, 29 January 2021
Tobias Borck
As US President Joe Biden assumes office, many governments in the Middle East are looking to Washington to see what the change in the White House will mean for them.
Tags: United States, Americas, Middle East and North Africa
Yemen: Engaging, Not Isolating
Commentary, 25 January 2021
Simona Ross and Stefan Wolff
Five years of war in Yemen have caused one of today’s worst man-made humanitarian crises. To resolve the conflict the Biden administration will have to grasp the nettle of subnational governance reform and be prepared to work with – not against – the Houthis in finding a sustainable political settlement.
Tags: United States, Unpacking the MENA, Middle East and North Africa
RUSI to Empower Civil Society and Journalists Exposing Corruption in Latin America and East Africa
News, 25 January 2021
A new RUSI project will focus on empowering civil society actors and the media community to tackle illicit financial flows in Latin America and East Africa.
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, Central and South America, Middle East and North Africa
Migration Routes: Trails of Hope and Desperation in Yemen
RUSI Journal, 8 December 2020
Susan Schulman
A photo essay on the challenges faced by migrants.
Tags: Horn of Africa, The Gulf Region, Global Security Issues, Africa, Middle East and North AfricaPages

The Peace Process in Yemen is Broken
Commentary, 8 February 2021Jack Watling
If the Biden Administration wishes to broker peace in Yemen it needs to reconcile its contradictory policies towards the country and recognise that offensive military action is a necessary component to meaningful negotiation.
Military Sciences, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding, Middle East and North Africa
Jordan After Trump: Between Hope and Uncertainty in the Middle East
Commentary, 29 January 2021Tobias Borck
As US President Joe Biden assumes office, many governments in the Middle East are looking to Washington to see what the change in the White House will mean for them.
United States, Americas, Middle East and North Africa
Yemen: Engaging, Not Isolating
Commentary, 25 January 2021Simona Ross and Stefan Wolff
Five years of war in Yemen have caused one of today’s worst man-made humanitarian crises. To resolve the conflict the Biden administration will have to grasp the nettle of subnational governance reform and be prepared to work with – not against – the Houthis in finding a sustainable political settlement.
United States, Unpacking the MENA, Middle East and North Africa
After the Referendum: Reviving Dialogue in Algeria
Commentary, 2 December 2020Riccardo Fabiani and Michael Ayari
A November constitutional referendum has failed to address the Algerian protest movement’s demands for political change. The need to establish a dialogue mechanism to tackle the country’s growing economic problems remains as urgent as ever.
Middle East and North Africa
The Impact of a Biden Presidency on the Middle East and North Africa
Commentary, 13 November 2020Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, Antonio Giustozzi, Michael Stephens, H A Hellyer and Tobias Borck
Our analysts and associate fellows look at what awaits the Biden presidency in the region.
International Security Studies, Iran's Nuclear Programme, United States, Unpacking the MENA, Middle East and North AfricaPages

The UAE-Israel Peace Deal
Multimedia, 14 August 2020RUSI Associate Fellow Michael Stephens looks behind the first peace deal between Israel and a Gulf Arab state.
Tags: Middle East and North Africa
Iranian Command and Control for Proxy Warfare
Multimedia, 1 May 2020Dr Jack Watling sheds light on Iran's approach to Command and Control and proxy warfare.
Tags: Adversarial Studies, Iran's Nuclear Programme, Military Sciences, Profession of Arms, Iran, Middle East and North Africa
Dr Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi on the Iran Nuclear Deal
Multimedia, 18 June 2019Dr Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi talks to BBC News about the Iran Nuclear Deal. One year after the U.S. withdrew from the Iran Deal, Iran is looking to scale back its commitment.
Tags: International Security Studies, United States, Iran, Americas, Germany, Russia, France, UK, Europe, Middle East and North Africa
Psychological Occupation and Resistance in Mosul
Multimedia, 6 April 2018Mike Stevens on a new study published by RUSI that tells the extraordinary story of how resistance activists and fighters in Mosul ‘punctured Daesh’s image of invincibility’ leading to the city’s...
Tags: Iraq, Middle East and North Africa
The Iran Protests
Multimedia, 5 January 2018Pages

Migration Routes: Trails of Hope and Desperation in Yemen
RUSI Journal, 8 December 2020Susan Schulman
A photo essay on the challenges faced by migrants.
RUSI Journal, Horn of Africa, The Gulf Region, Global Security Issues, Africa, Middle East and North Africa
Delegate, Disrupt and Protract: Biden’s Path Dependency in the Middle East
RUSI Newsbrief, 27 November 2020Andreas Krieg
Joe Biden is likely to follow a trajectory of path dependency in the Middle East, by leading from behind, delegating rather than implementing, being disruptive rather than constructive, and thus...
United States, RUSI Newsbrief, Middle East and North Africa
The Constraints of Infallibility: The Pronouncements of Iran’s Supreme Leader
RUSI Journal, 28 May 2020P Sadeghi and Jack Watling
It is hard for the Supreme Leader to change his position on major policy questions.
Iran's Nuclear Programme, Military Sciences, RUSI Journal, Iran, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, Middle East and North Africa
Proxy Warfare and the Future of Conflict: Take Two
RUSI Journal, 2 April 2020Vladimir Rauta
The Syrian conflict shows that there are ever-more reasons for states choosing to use proxies.
RUSI Journal, US Defence Policy, Syria, Defence Policy, Middle East and North Africa
Redefining ‘Propaganda’: The Media Strategy of the Islamic State
RUSI Journal, 17 March 2020Charlie Winter
The Islamic State was very selective when choosing to employ deception.
RUSI Journal, Terrorism and Conflict, Information, Terrorism, Middle East and North AfricaPages

Mapping the Pandemic: How Coronavirus is Affecting the Middle East
Events, 9 April 2020RUSI experts offered their assessments on the impact of Covid-19 in the Middle East.
Coronavirus, Middle East and North Africa
Briefing by Saudi Foreign Minister Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir
Events, 20 June 2019His Excellency Adel Al-Jubeir, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs delivered a briefing at RUSI on the Saudi view on Middle East security.
Middle East and North Africa
The Great Betrayal: How America Abandoned the Kurds and Lost the Middle East
Events, 21 May 2019At this event Professor David Phillips will examine US Middle East policy, how it relates to Kurdish political aspirations and the role of Kurdish fighters combating ISIS in Iraq and Syria
RUSI International, Middle East and North Africa
Yemen: A Pathway to Reconciliation
Events, 16 May 2019This event will explore ways in which both Yemeni society and its disparate political groups can begin to reach compromise.
RUSI International, Middle East and North Africa
Learning to Fight Daesh
Events, 11 March 2019A lecture by Lieutenant General Jameel Kamil Al Shimary, President of Iraq’s Defence University for Military Studies.
Iraq, Middle East and North AfricaPages

"Aniseh Tabrizi, a senior research fellow and Iran expert at the Royal United Services Institute, agreed. “It’s reversible, especially if done in the short term,” she said of Iran’s uranium metal production. “There has been condemnation, but no signal that this is the end of any attempt to revive talks on the JCPOA.”"
Iran’s uranium metal production is ‘most serious nuclear step’ to date, but deal can still be saved
In The News, 16 February 2021 Tags: International Security Studies, Unpacking the MENA, Iran, Middle East and North Africa

"On June 19, the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a resolution expressing “serious concern” over Iran’s refusal to provide the agency with access to two facilities suspected of possibly having hosted undeclared nuclear materials and activities. The resolution came two years after the U.S. pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal (also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA) and reimposed sanctions on Iran. It was drafted and tabled by France, Germany and the United Kingdom (known as the E3), leading to speculations that Europe might have finally decided to join the U.S. maximum pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic. However, despite the optics of the resolution, this does not appear to be the case."
Europe Continues to Brush Off the U.S. Maximum Pressure Campaign Against Iran
In The News, 15 July 2020 Tags: International Security Studies, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, Iran, Middle East and North Africa
"On June 19, the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a resolution expressing “serious concern” over Iran’s refusal to provide the agency with access to two facilities suspected of possibly having hosted undeclared nuclear materials and activities. The resolution came two years after the U.S. pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal (also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA) and reimposed sanctions on Iran. It was drafted and tabled by France, Germany and the United Kingdom (known as the E3), leading to speculations that Europe might have finally decided to join the U.S. maximum pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic. However, despite the optics of the resolution, this does not appear to be the case."
Europe Continues to Brush Off the U.S. Maximum Pressure Campaign Against Iran
In The News, 15 July 2020 Tags: International Security Studies, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, Iran, Middle East and North Africa
"HA Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and the Carnegie Endowment, said: “Generally, the Egyptian military is very conservative about engagement beyond its borders – it’s why they haven’t seriously engaged elsewhere in the past decade, such as Yemen or Syria. “Cairo isn’t about to jettison that kind of attitude, but at the same time, it has a strikingly serious view about security along its border with Libya. If Cairo decides to move, it would probably do so coordinating with the rest of its own regional axis, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE.”"
End of Tripoli siege raises fears of full-scale proxy war in Libya
In The News, 26 June 2020 Tags: Libya, Middle East and North Africa
Fighting for the soul of Western militaries
New Zealand's Indo-Pacific Recalibration
Dependent Deterrent? US Support for the UK’s New Nuclear Warhead