Current Journal
Middle East Policy in Transition: Issues for the 117th Congress & the New Administration
Jeffrey Feltman, Negar Mortazavi, Chas W. Freeman Jr., James P. Moran
The following is an edited transcript of the 103rd in a series of Capitol Hill conferences convened by the Middle East Policy Council. The event took place on January 29, 2021, via Zoom, with Council Vice-Chair Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley moderating, Council President Richard J. Schmierer contributing, and Council Executive Director Bassima Alghussein serving as discussant.
The New Gulf Order: Crisis, Mediation, and Reconciliation
Majed Mohammed Hassan Al-Ansari, Bülent Aras, Emirhan Yorulmazlar
The longevity and depth of regional challenges in the Middle East have elevated political and security concerns to a new level within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in recent years. Three conflicting worldviews have confronted one another, resulting in debilitating consequences for the region. Increasing fragmentation of Arab politics, in turn, has engendered attempts at enforced Arab unity that have ultimately failed, further dividing and destabilizing the regional order.
The Abraham Accords and Religious Tolerance: Three Tales of Faith-Based Foreign-Policy Agenda Setting
Hae Won Jeong
How do religious tolerance and religious freedom affect foreign policy? How are they institutionalized across the signatories of the Abraham Accords? This article examines foreign policy agenda setting of religious tolerance in the United States, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates. In the first section, the article analyzes discursive representations of the common roots of the three monotheistic religions and identifies recurrent tropes that highlight idealistic undertones in the Abraham Accords Declaration.
The Syrian Refugee Crisis and the International Community
Najib Ghadbian
This article analyzes the problematics of the international community's response to the Syrian refugee crisis: patterns of displacement, including the lack of attention to basic needs, the limited economic opportunities in host countries, the conditions facing Syrian refugee children, the risk involved in migration, and the challenge of adapting to host societies.
“Moderate” Arab States: From the Cold War to the Syrian Conflict
Yaniv Voller
Moderation has been a recurring theme in international politics, particularly in the international politics of the Middle East, where foreign and regional actors have often categorized others and themselves as either “moderates” or “radicals.” However, very few works have sought to deconstruct the meaning of moderation in this context. Those that have addressed the issue have mostly treated moderation as a Western attempt to simplify regional geopolitics and dichotomize the actors to justify their choices of allies and foreign policy toward the region.
The Return of Great-Power Competition to the Middle East: A Two-Level Game
Jonathan Hoffman
Great-power competition has once again assumed primacy in the international arena. Facing a rising China and a resurgent Russia, the United States formally reoriented its National Security Strategy in 2017 to place more emphasis on the return of great-power politics and global multipolarity.
Playing with Information: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in the Russian Press
Dmitry Strovsky and Ron Schleifer
This article examines how the modern Russian press covers the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both historically and currently. Since print media are some of the most popular sources of information in Russia, such analysis helps us understand the media's priorities in presenting the conflict to Russian society. The article focuses on the inherently manipulative, albeit hidden, essence and layout of this material, which increases the likelihood of information bias.
Can Lebanon's Economy Be Saved? A Plan for Revival
Leila Dagher and Raoul Nehme
The recent financial and economic meltdown in Lebanon is the result of 30 years of social, economic, financial, and fiscal mismanagement, amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic and further exacerbated by the Beirut port explosion. Lebanese citizens’ trust, as well as the international community's trust in the government, have unfortunately been destroyed.
Eastern Mediterranean Gas Discoveries: Local and Global Impact
Sang Yoon Shin and Taehwan Kim
The ongoing discoveries of natural-gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean region significantly affect international relations. Since their viability has been increasingly confirmed, they have attracted public attention in the international energy market. Focusing on current gas production and trading in the Middle East, this paper studies the anticipated impact of gas production in the sea on geopolitical relations in the Middle East and investigates how these results may change the geoeconomic strategies of global energy-market players as well as nearby countries.
Dam Wars: Are Ethiopia, Turkey, and Iran Leading to Water Armageddon?
Mohammed Bani Salameh
Water shortages are a global problem; the world is moving fast toward a fresh-water crisis. Water resources are unevenly and irregularly distributed, and the Middle East is one of the driest regions in the world. Three-quarters of its land mass is arid, and most water resources originate outside the region. Continuing current practices will plunge the region deeper into crisis, creating conditions where conflicts and wars over scarce resources at local or national levels become inevitable.