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MENASource

May 7, 2019

Why the MENA region needs to better prepare for climate change

By Mahmoud Abouelnaga

Due to their strategic locations, countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have been hotspots for exploration and exploitation of energy resources—especially oil and gas—for decades. Yet, the Mediterranean climate is proven to be just as volatile as its security issues.

Climate Change & Climate Action

UkraineAlert

May 6, 2019

Why we can’t get enough of Ukraine

By Francis Fukuyama

The impact one can have on building institutions like the modern state, the rule of law, and democracy is limited. The area where it’s easiest is the third category, building democracy. The first two, building the modern state and building a real rule of law, are much harder, and those are the areas that have been […]

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

May 6, 2019

The illusions of Putin’s Russia

By Anders Åslund

The best defense of the West against Putin’s authoritarian and kleptocratic regime is transparency, shining light on this anonymous wealth.

Corruption Financial Regulation

New Atlanticist

May 6, 2019

A shaky truce in Gaza

By Shalom Lipner

Although similar to earlier occasions on which blows were traded over Israel's Gaza frontier, this past week’s altercation was extraordinary nonetheless for its intensity.

Conflict Israel

MENASource

May 6, 2019

Risking it all: The Palestinian Authority faces mounting challenges

By Grace Wermenbol

The appointment of Mohammed Shtayyeh as head of a new Palestinian government on March 10 constitutes an overt attempt to consolidate Fatah’s dominance in the Palestinian political arena and, in the process, delegitimize rival party Hamas. Shtayyeh’s installation as prime minister, however, does not just further complicate reconciliation attempts between the two feuding political parties. Heightened tensions with Israel’s overtly right-wing government and economic hardship in the West Bank mean that Shtayyeh faces an almost impossible task.

Israel Middle East

IranSource

May 6, 2019

Are Iranians turning away from the ‘Resistance Front’?

By Mahmoud Pargoo

In Iran, public opinion about foreign policy has become extremely divided. Even recent flooding provided ground for opposing parties to promote their stances, especially in regard to Iran’s backing of foreign militias in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Iran Israel

UkraineAlert

May 3, 2019

Children as a tool: how Russia militarizes kids in the Donbas and Crimea

By Iryna Matviyishyn

With an eye to the future, officials in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine are waging a campaign of “patriotic education” aimed at reaching the hearts and minds of those most susceptible to ideological persuasion: children. Russia has always used the militarization of public life to indoctrinate local populations and continues that practice today. Currently, thousands […]

Conflict Human Rights

IranSource

May 3, 2019

Mixed reactions in Iran to Trump’s maximum pressure policy

By Tahereh Hadian-Jazy

Harsh measures by the Trump administration against Iran have largely united Iranian political factions against the United States but have triggered a variety of reactions from ordinary Iranians.

Iran

MENASource

May 3, 2019

What are the implications of Haftar’s offensive?

By Karim Mezran

The brutal attack unleashed by General Khalifa Haftar’s militia, the Libyan National Army, against the city of Tripoli is indeed a game-changer.

Libya

New Atlanticist

May 3, 2019

The growing Russian challenge and what should be done about it

By Ashish Kumar Sen

All around the world, Russia is increasingly asserting itself, propping up dictators, and, in some instances, posing a direct challenge to US interests.

Libya Syria