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Middle East and North Africa
Delegate, Disrupt and Protract: Biden’s Path Dependency in the Middle East
RUSI Newsbrief, 27 November 2020
Andreas 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 protracting conflict resolutions.
Tags: United States, Middle East and North Africa
The Impact of a Biden Presidency on the Middle East and North Africa
Commentary, 13 November 2020
Aniseh 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.
Tags: International Security Studies, Iran's Nuclear Programme, United States, Unpacking the MENA, Middle East and North Africa
The UAE-Israel Peace Deal
Multimedia, 14 August 2020
RUSI Associate Fellow Michael Stephens looks behind the first peace deal between Israel and a Gulf Arab state.
Tags: Middle East and North Africa
Sitrep 6th August
In The News, 7 August 2020
Covid 19 and food supplies; Gurkha training; Balaclava medals. The Government offers aid and support from military personnel after the massive explosion in Beirut. What impact is the Covid 19 pandemic having on food supplies around the world? And a special report on training with the UK Gurkha Company.
Tags: Lebanon, Middle East and North Africa
China and the Middle East: Friends in Need and Deed?
Commentary, 5 August 2020
Guy Burton
Reports of a pending China–Iran alliance are premature, and ignore a more hesitant Chinese approach to the Middle East.
Tags: China, 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 AfricaPages
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 Africa
China and the Middle East: Friends in Need and Deed?
Commentary, 5 August 2020Guy Burton
Reports of a pending China–Iran alliance are premature, and ignore a more hesitant Chinese approach to the Middle East.
China, Middle East and North Africa
Europe and the Coronavirus Pandemic in the Middle East
Commentary, 6 April 2020Tobias Borck
The pandemic preoccupies Europe. But the continent should not lose sight of potential new crises in the Middle East.
Egypt, Iran, The Gulf Region, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Israel, Middle East and North Africa
Data-Driven Responses to the Coronavirus Pandemic and the Privacy Implications
Commentary, 2 April 2020Sneha Dawda and Rebecca Lucas
Many states are using data in innovative ways to tackle the spread of the coronavirus. From track and trace capabilities to the use of telecommunications data for quarantine enforcement, we highlight some of these data-driven national responses and discuss potential implications.
Coronavirus, Cyber, Cyber Security, Information, Law and Ethics, Technology, Central and South Asia, Middle East and North Africa
Don’t Lose Sight of the Enduring Global Terrorist Threat
Commentary, 30 March 2020Raffaello Pantucci
As the world’s attention remains understandably concentrated on the Coronavirus pandemic, it is important to remember that other threats have not gone away.
UK Counter-terrorism, Terrorism, 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 2018 Tags: International Security Studies, Iran, Global Security Issues, Middle East and North AfricaPages
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 Africa
No Exit: Outside the Camp, Daesh Incidents are on the Rise. Inside, Tempers are Seething.
RUSI Journal, 18 December 2019Susan Schulman
A photo essay on northern Iraq sheds light on the situation in camps for displaced persons.
RUSI Journal, Iraq, 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
"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
""I think Vision 2030 is more or less over," says Michael Stephens, a Middle East analyst at the Royal United Services Institute in London. "I think it's finished." The kingdom, he said, was facing "the hardest time it's been through, certainly the most difficult period of Mohammed bin Salman's tenure"."
Saudi crown prince bites the bullet as kingdom faces its biggest crisis ever
In The News, 20 May 2020 Tags: Middle East and North Africa
What Does Biden’s Victory Mean for the Indo-Pacific?
Episode Five: New Technologies, Old Methods in Terrorism Financing
Episode Six: FATF’s Strategic Review