MENA Insight

Since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in Turkey’s 2002 election, Ottoman nostalgia has played an increasing role in state policy. Often termed “neo-Ottomanism”, this was initially used to define the AKP’s foreign policy. Preaching the principle …

Following the 2013 murder of Lee Rigby, Tony Blair offered a characteristically vacuous response: “there is not a problem with Islam…but there is a problem within Islam”. That is, while not quite bigoted enough to equate Islam with terrorism in toto, Blair (for obvious reasons) …

The trap of cultural determinism “Ethnic identity, as much as any other collective identity, is an object of manipulation by individuals, who, being free, stay largely undefinable” (M.Giraud) The recent dramatic events in France have redirected public attention to the issues …

In the Middle East in particular, over recent years water has become an additional factor of destabilisation and tension, as thirsty countries try through every means to monopolise control of springs. As Jan Selby, Professor of International Relations at the …

On January 7th 2015, the Kouachi brothers stormed the Charlie Hebdo editorial board and attempted to kill everyone in the room. The satirical weekly newspaper was known for its controversial drawings and cartoons, approaching religions with humour and sarcasm. This led them to represent and caricature Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam. For instance, in 2011 they released a …

Nearly four years have passed since the people of Yemen, along with those of much of the rest of the MENA region, took to the streets en masse to demand human dignity and popular sovereignty. Now, having shelled the home of President Hadi and provoked …

Four years after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, it is still difficult to kick-start the Egyptian economy. Indeed, the situation remains quite worrying. In addition to a continuously increasing population, political instability, serious security and terrorist threats, energy and environmental …

President Abbas’ and the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) long-fomenting crisis of legitimacy has reached new levels, with representatives of three hundred and fifty unpaid public-sector employees denouncing the administration in a scathing letter sent to the Arab League, European Union representatives …

  King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died on Friday, January 23, 2014, aged 91 years. His successor was announced as Prince Salman, his half-brother, at the same time. On the very day of Abdullah’s death, the president of Yemen announced …

Water is a crucial element for the survival of man in the world and particularly in the Middle East and an unavoidable aspect of development. Circulation of men, goods and boats also need the water cross countries.​ The Suez Canal was one of …