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07 August 2022
The web of relations within the Israel-India-USA-UAE (I2-U2) alliance
By Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies On 14 July, during his visit to Israel, US President Joe Biden held a virtual meeting with the leaders of a new economic group kno...
Read more25 July 2022
Biden's Middle East tour: Israel, energy and Israel
Many people are questioning the value (and even the purpose) of US president Joe Biden’s visit to the Middle East last week. While the trip’s objective was obfuscated by the ...
Read more25 July 2022
What Saudi-Israeli rapprochement means for the MENA region
on Saudi Arabia
By Zeenat Adam The recent visit by US President Joe Biden to Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Saudi Arabia was underwhelming, but cast a spotlight on the unprecedent...
Read more15 April 2022
Palestine’s widening geography of resistance: Why Israel cannot defeat the…
By Ramzy Baroud There is a reason why Israel insists on linking the series of attacks carried out by Palestinians recently to a specific location – the the Jenin refugee camp in t...
Read more17 November 2021
The Israel factor in Libya’s election: Haftar’s son visits Tel…
on Libya
By Giorgio Cafiero On 7 November, Haaretz reported that Saddam Haftar, the son of Khalifa Haftar, flew on a private French-made Dassault Falcon jet out of the Unite...
Read more26 October 2021
Political Islam and the democracy crisis in North Africa
on North Africa
By Ramzy Baroud When the news circulated that Morocco’s leading political group, the Development and Justice Party (PJD), had been trounced in the latest election, held in Septemb...
Read moreIsrael’s sneaking into the African Union threatens to split the…
Since its founding in 2002, as the successor to the Organisation of African Unity, the African Union (AU) has prided itself on mai…
No Apologies: The US military often kills civilians – and…
By Pesha Magid Civilians are regularly killed by the USA in its numerous wars across the world. The families of these victims rar…
Behind the latest Algerian-Moroccan breaking of relations
By Khadija Mohsen-Finan Algeria's decision in August to break off diplomatic relations with Morocco was the latest episode in a l…
'Covering' Afghanistan: Orientalist binaries
by Larbi Sadiki Much of the reporting and commentary on Afghanistan over the past few weeks has been awash in Orientalism. Many o…
07 August 2022
The web of relations within the Israel-India-USA-UAE (I2-U2) alliance
By Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies On 14 July, during his visit to Israel, US President Joe Biden held a virtual meeting with the leaders of a new economic group kno...
Read more25 July 2022
Biden's Middle East tour: Israel, energy and Israel
Many people are questioning the value (and even the purpose) of US president Joe Biden’s visit to the Middle East last week. While the trip’s objective was obfuscated by the ...
Read more25 July 2022
What Saudi-Israeli rapprochement means for the MENA region
on Saudi Arabia
By Zeenat Adam The recent visit by US President Joe Biden to Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Saudi Arabia was underwhelming, but cast a spotlight on the unprecedent...
Read more15 April 2022
Palestine’s widening geography of resistance: Why Israel cannot defeat the…
By Ramzy Baroud There is a reason why Israel insists on linking the series of attacks carried out by Palestinians recently to a specific location – the the Jenin refugee camp in t...
Read more17 November 2021
The Israel factor in Libya’s election: Haftar’s son visits Tel…
on Libya
By Giorgio Cafiero On 7 November, Haaretz reported that Saddam Haftar, the son of Khalifa Haftar, flew on a private French-made Dassault Falcon jet out of the Unite...
Read more26 October 2021
Political Islam and the democracy crisis in North Africa
on North Africa
By Ramzy Baroud When the news circulated that Morocco’s leading political group, the Development and Justice Party (PJD), had been trounced in the latest election, held in Septemb...
Read more
Israel’s sneaking into the African Union threatens to split the continental body
Since its founding in 2002, as the successor to the Organisation of African Unity, the Afr…
Read more
No Apologies: The US military often kills civilians – and rarely offers compensation
By Pesha Magid Civilians are regularly killed by the USA in its numerous wars across the …
Read more
Behind the latest Algerian-Moroccan breaking of relations
By Khadija Mohsen-Finan Algeria's decision in August to break off diplomatic relations wi…
Read more
'Covering' Afghanistan: Orientalist binaries
by Larbi Sadiki Much of the reporting and commentary on Afghanistan over the past few wee…
Read more
After Afghanistan: Can Europe regain its ‘independence’ from the USA?
By Ramzy Baroud Suddenly, the idea put forth by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, la…
Read more
Engaging the World: The ‘fascinating story’ of Hamas’s political evolution
Romana Rubeo and Ramzy Baroud On 4 February 2021, representatives from the Palestini…
Read more
15 April 2022
Palestine’s widening geography of resistance: Why Israel cannot defeat the…
By Ramzy Baroud There is a reason why Israel insists on linking the series of attacks carried out by Palestinians recently to a specific location – the the Jenin refugee camp in t...
Read more12 October 2021
Israel’s sneaking into the African Union threatens to split the…
on Israel
Since its founding in 2002, as the successor to the Organisation of African Unity, the African Union (AU) has prided itself on maintaining a united stance as a continental organisa...
Read more05 March 2021
Engaging the World: The ‘fascinating story’ of Hamas’s political evolution
on Palestine
Romana Rubeo and Ramzy Baroud On 4 February 2021, representatives from the Palestinian movement Hamas visited Moscow to inform the Russian government of the latest developmen...
Read more11 February 2021
How Russia is capitalising on US Retreat in the Middle…
By Ramzy Baroud Israeli anxiety was palpable after Israel’s prime minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, waited for days to be contacted by the new US president, Joe Biden, after...
Read more09 December 2020
Palestine in the Global South: Israel’s ‘Scramble for Africa’
By Ramzy Baroud In September 2017, organizers of the ‘Africa-Israel Summit’ indefinitely postponed their event which was scheduled to be held in Lomé, Togo, from 23 ...
Read more01 December 2020
UAE-Israel cooperation in the oil market: More political than economic
on Israel
By Nikolay Kozhanov Introduction The Israeli-Emirati Memorandum of understanding and cooperation on the use of storage capacities and pipeline infrastructure ...
Read moreExpansion and mass eviction: Israel ‘takes advantage’ of Trump’s remaining…
By Ramzy Baroud In a few words, a close associate of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu summed up the logic behind …
Read moreZimbabwe seeks US investment by strengthening relations with Israel
Zimbabwe is set to become the latest African country to embrace Israel as it seeks to get off the US sanctions list. Zimbabwe’s pr…
Read more
As Washington retreats, eastern Mediterranean conflict further marginalises NATO
By Ramzy Baroud The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has largely become an alliance in name alone. Recent eve…
Read moreSyria’s conflict continues amidst a never-ending political quagmire
Despite relative calm in fighting in many parts of Syria, the north-western Idlib province has been under heavy Russian and Syrian…
Read more
25 July 2022
What Saudi-Israeli rapprochement means for the MENA region
on Saudi Arabia
By Zeenat Adam The recent visit by US President Joe Biden to Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Saudi Arabia was underwhelming, but cast a spotlight on the unprecedent...
Read more24 January 2021
Iran’s risky ‘counter pressure’ against the fallout of Trump’s ‘maximum…
on Iran
By Ali Fathollah-Nejad On 4 January, a day after the one-year anniversary of the US assassination of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, Iran took two steps as a show...
Read more14 December 2020
After Fakhrizadeh killing: Why Iranian over-reaction is unlikely
on Iran
By Ali Fathollah-Nejad The November presidential election victory of Joe Biden against the incumbent Donald Trump raised alarm bells within the anti-Iran front in the Middle East ...
Read more03 December 2020
The geopolitical roots of Iran’s economic crisis
on Iran
By Mahdi Ghodsi and Ali Fathollah-Nejad The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged Iran’s already ailing economy, but the country’s economic crisis is rooted in factors beyond the pandemic...
Read more27 October 2020
The US election through the eyes of Iran’s moderates and…
on Iran
By Ali Fathollah-Nejad and Amin Naeni The outcome of the 3 November US presidential election will reverberate far beyond the USA, especially in Iran, where it may influence t...
Read more13 October 2020
Trump’s new harsh sanctions on Iran could signal more ‘October…
on Iran
By Phyllis Bennis When US president, Donald Trump, announced his latest threats against Iran on Rush Limbaugh’s show last week, it was unclear whether he or his steroids...
Read moreTurkish airstrikes in northern Iraq anger Baghdad and expose relations…
Turkish airstrikes against the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) in northern Iraq last month attracted the attention of reg…
UAE’s normalisation with Israel follows years of secret relations
Within days of the United Arab Emirates and Israel signing a deal to normalise relations, the UAE indefinitely postponed …
What UAE seeks to gain from the Covid-19 crisis
By Jonathan Fenton-Harvey Crashing oil prices and further economic woes from the coronavirus outbreak are hit…
The conservative victory in Iran’s parliamentary elections
By Ali Fathollah-Nejad * Iran’s 21 February parliamentary (Majlis) elections, which took place amid massive internal an…
17 November 2021
The Israel factor in Libya’s election: Haftar’s son visits Tel…
on Libya
By Giorgio Cafiero On 7 November, Haaretz reported that Saddam Haftar, the son of Khalifa Haftar, flew on a private French-made Dassault Falcon jet out of the Unite...
Read more26 October 2021
Political Islam and the democracy crisis in North Africa
on North Africa
By Ramzy Baroud When the news circulated that Morocco’s leading political group, the Development and Justice Party (PJD), had been trounced in the latest election, held in Septemb...
Read more30 September 2021
Behind the latest Algerian-Moroccan breaking of relations
on Algeria
By Khadija Mohsen-Finan Algeria's decision in August to break off diplomatic relations with Morocco was the latest episode in a long crisis of confidence between the two countries...
Read more05 September 2020
Internal wrangling dampens optimism of Libyan ceasefire
on Libya
Disputes within Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA), highlighted last week by the suspension of the interior minister, Fathi Bashagha, suggests a power struggle w...
Read more29 July 2020
Tunisia’s political discord: Crisis of democratisation?
on Tunisia
By Larbi Sadiki and Layla Saleh Introduction: A Turbulent Transition For the third time in six months, Tunisia’s political elites are scrambling to form a new government. This la...
Read more09 July 2020
For Tunisian protesters, democracy is not enough
on Tunisia
By Larbi Sadiki Since 2017, Tunisia’s interior and south have witnessed a wave of ongoing protests, characterised by the slogan ‘al-rakh la’, meaning ‘No Relenting’. These p...
Read moreForeign interests paramount in Libyan war
The Libyan conflict has endured for years despite numerous failed attempts at mediating a solution by the UN, African Union, and e…
Libya’s zero-sum politics and defiance of legitimacy – Part 2
by Mohammed Cherkaoui Retired general Khalifa Haftar stated that his ‘Libyan National Army (LNA)’ had a ‘popular mandate’ to rule…
Libya’s zero-sum politics and defiance of legitimacy – Part 1
by Mohammed Cherkaoui Several puzzling questions have emerged in the volatile Arab geopolitical environment after two major …
Lack of consequences emboldens Libya's Haftar
The 18 February 2020 attack on Tripoli’s main seaport is the latest in a series of measures by Libyan warlord, General K…
03 August 2020
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the changing balance of power…
on Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s announcement on 21 July that it had already filled its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) to its first year’s target has temporarily quelled tensions ...
Read more20 July 2020
Mali’s instability resulting from corruption, militancy and foreign interference
Recent protests in Mali pose the greatest threat to the regime of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who has led Mali since 2013. Endemic corruption, Keita’s failure to curb the mil...
Read more12 October 2018
Ethiopia, Eritrea: An unlikely peace deal in a fractious region
on Ethiopia
The recent peace deal between Ethiopia and Eritrea, signed 16 September 2018, is set to have lasting consequences for both countries and for the Horn of Africa ...
Read more06 April 2017
Ensuring Somalia remains in conflict: Trump’s expanded ‘war on terror’
on Somalia
By Afro-Middle East Centre The 29 March decision by the administration of US president Donald Trump declaring Somalia an ‘area of active hostility’ will likely ensure an escalatio...
Read more10 October 2016
South Sudan: Beyond the logjam of UNSC Resolution 2304
on South Sudan
By Majak D’Agoôt and Remember Miamingi No country is entirely self-contained or lacking in interdependencies. These interlocking interests form the critical part of any country’s ...
Read more28 April 2015
Nigeria’s elections and future challenges
By Afro-Middle East Centre The election of General Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s president will see a renewed focus by the government on domestic challenges posed by endemic...
Read moreKenyan hostage crisis: The desperation of al-Shabab
By Afro-Middle East Centre The hostage drama at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi over the past week has raised a number of questions …
French military intervention will add to Mali’s problems
By Afro-Middle east Centre The north of Africa was plunged into yet another international conflict with France’s …
The effects of the ‘War on Terror’ on states’ foreign…
By Afro-Middle East Centre Recent statements that ‘there is no alternative….it’s going to take military force…
Will Al-Shabab recover from a major defeat?
By Osman Abdi Mohamed In recent months Al-Shabab has been suffering successive losses at the hands of Somali government forces fi…
13 September 2021
'Covering' Afghanistan: Orientalist binaries
on Afghanistan
by Larbi Sadiki Much of the reporting and commentary on Afghanistan over the past few weeks has been awash in Orientalism. Many of us are guilty of this practice in the process of...
Read more13 September 2021
After Afghanistan: Can Europe regain its ‘independence’ from the USA?
on Afghanistan
By Ramzy Baroud Suddenly, the idea put forth by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, late last year no longer seems so far-fetched or untenable after all. Following the hurried ...
Read more23 April 2019
India in Kashmir: Risking peace as an antidote to war
on South Asia
By Ranjan Solomon On 14 February 2019, a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber ...
Read more28 August 2015
Does Pakistan’s refusal to join Saudi Arabia in Yemen indicate…
on Pakistan
By Afro-Middle East Centre Allegedly, the current Saudi-led onslaught on Yemen has already caused destruction that resembles the destruction wrought in Syria over the la...
Read more31 March 2012
The feasibility of a continued United States presence in Afghanistan
on South Asia
By Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn Recent events in Afghanistan have fuelled speculation over the ability of international forces to continue their presence in the coun...
Read more28 February 2012
Dangerous uncertainty in Pakistan
on South Asia
By Junaid S. Ahmed With relations between Pakistan's civilian government and military incredibly tense, speculation is rife in the Pakistani and international media of a looming m...
Read morePakistan-USA relations in the post-Usama era
By Junaid S. Ahmad The assassination of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by US Special Forces was supposed to have been a landmark tri…
Kashmir and Obama's Indian appeasement
By Mohammad Abdullah Gul Obama's recent jive with school children in Delhi symbolises the nature of the new relationship that is …
Pakistan’s floods: Pressing problems and potential risks
By Najam Abbas Pakistan's recent floods have left eight million people dependent on aid for their survival, and washed away huge …
Wikileaks, Afghanistan, and Pakistan
By Mohammed Abdullah Gul On 25 July 2010, the New York Timescarried an explosive story by Mark Mazzetti, Jane Perlez, Eric …
26 April 2017
IS reorganising to face new challenges
Reports in January 2017 that the leader of the Islamic State group (IS), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had been killed, reports that he had been captured by Russian troops in Syria, and th...
Read more07 March 2017
IS in Africa: Containment and fragmentation
By Afro-Middle East Centre With the Islamic State group (IS) losing territory in Syria and Iraq, many believe that the group will use the territory it controls in Africa as a fall...
Read more14 May 2016
The Paradox of Survival and Expansion: How the Islamic State…
Omar Ashour This paper examines the reasons for the military steadfastness of the Islamic State group (IS) in the face of local and international forces that are larger in numbers...
Read more19 December 2015
ISIS in Africa: Reality far different from IS propaganda
By Afro-Middle East Centre The revelation that the alleged mastermind of the 13 November Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group (IS) was of Moroccan descent, the tur...
Read more20 July 2015
Remaining and expanding: Measuring the Islamic State group’s success in…
By Afro-Middle East Centre Since its declaration of a ‘caliphate’ on 29 June 2014, the Islamic State group (IS), the brutal successor to al-Qa'ida, has gone from strength to stren...
Read more31 January 2012
The rise of 'Ikhwanophobia': Fear of the Muslim Brotherhood
By Dr. Mohsen Saleh Introduction Fear of the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwanal-Muslimoon), the leading Islamist movement, has gained unprecedented international prominence since the b...
Read moreDialogue with the Taliban: Negotiation or inducement?
By AlJazeera Centre for Studies The London Conference, held at the end of January 2010 in recognition of, and support for, Afgh…
Al-Qa'ida Hot Spots
By AlJazeera Centre for Studies At the end of the phase known as the "Afghan Jihad", most Arabs and Muslims who participated in t…
Al-Qaeda, Jihad and the Democratization of Islamic Authority
by Faisal Devji On the fifth anniversary of 9/11 a jihadist website posted a long interview with Osama bin Laden's lieutenant, A…
Abstract : ‘Jihad’ as a form of struggle in the…
Abstract for paper presented by Na'eem Jeenah, Executive Director of the Afro-Middle East Centre, at the conference on "Rethinking…
11 October 2021
No Apologies: The US military often kills civilians – and…
By Pesha Magid Civilians are regularly killed by the USA in its numerous wars across the world. The families of these victims rarely receive compensation for their loss. In cases ...
Read more18 February 2018
Africa and the problem of foreign military bases
At the establishment of the African Union (AU) in May 2001, discourses about human security and counter terrorism were ubiquitous both globally and on the continent. In Africa, the...
Read more21 November 2015
The Paris attacks: Aftermath and the Islamic State group’s future
By Afro-Middle East Centre The terror unleashed on Paris streets on 13 November reverberated throughout the world. From the G20 summit in Antalya to social media debates about how...
Read more28 May 2010
Al-Qaeda in the New National Security Strategy
By Mark Lynch The Obama administration's new National Security Strategy has been released today. It goes a long way towards providing a coherent framework for American foreign pol...
Read more16 February 2010
Pakistan’s attitude towards Obama’s plan to negotiate with the Taliban
By Dr. Ijaz Shafi Gilani U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to negotiate with the Taliban in Afghanistan has generally been welcomed in Pakistan. It is being seen as a vindication...
Read more07 February 2010
Mission Absolute: American hegemony in space
By Sourav Roy Come April 2010, officials from the sleepy Polish municipality of Morag will be gearing up for perhaps their most critical assignment in the new decade. Their job wi...
Read moreAMEC's recent books
[Book] Engaging the World: The Making of Hamas's Foreign Policy
January 31, 2021
Publisher: Afro-Middle East Centre (AMEC) Published: January 2021 Paperback: 272 pages ...
Outsourcing Repression
September 26, 2019
Outsourcing Repression is a collection of analyses and essays on the roots, manifestations and consequences of...
The Battle for Justice in Palestine
January 19, 2014
Buy your copy now Winner of the 2014 Palestine Book Award Efforts to achieve a “two-state solution” have fin...
Lineages of Revolt: Issues of Contemporary Capitalism in the Middle East
January 19, 2014
Buy your copy now While the outcomes of the tumultuous uprisings that continue to transfix the Arab world rem...
Media Gallery
16 September 2020
UAE, Bahrain and Israel normalise relations in historic…
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have become the latest Arab States to sign an agreement normalizing relations with Israel in what is viewed as a strategic realignment of countries in the Middle E...
Read more
15 September 2020
Iranian 'plot' to kill US ambassador to SA…
US expert Brooks Spector speculates US intel may have picked up informal chatter, but is unlikely to be a formal Iranian plot. US magazine Politico reported allegations of an attempted plot to assass...
Read more
18 August 2020
Israel, UAE agree to establish diplomatic relations: Matshidiso…
To understand how divisions have further deepened after Israel and the UAE agreed on Thursday to establish diplomatic relations in a United States-brokered deal, we have asked an expert on the matter...
Read more
07 July 2020
Eleven South Africans were reportedly among a group…
Azhar Vadi talks to Naeem Jeenah, Director of Afro Middle East Centre.
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