It is safe to say that the new peace agreement between the UAE and Israel, officially signed at the White House on September 15, 2020, represents an important strategic shift, and a fundamental turning point for the long-running conflict between Arabs and Israel.
The falling levels of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers warn of an impending water crisis in Syria and Iraq, two countries engulfed in war and economic and political crises with no end in sight. The rivers – once the lifeblood of the two countries – have been reduced to swamps since Turkey and Iran constructed hydropower facilities that have considerably reduced the flow of the rivers. The situation has repercussions as dire as those of the wars in Syria and Iraq, in particular for demographic change and the destruction of the economy, since agriculture remains a major contributor to the GDP of both countries.
The formal signing of the UAE-Israel peace treaty at the White House on 15 September 2020 marked a "historic moment", according to the description of US President Donald Trump, whose administration sponsored reaching this treaty. Accordingly, full diplomatic relations would begin between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, and joint UAE and Israeli delegations would be involved in signing bilateral agreements in the fields of investment, tourism, communications, technology, civil aviation, health care and the environment. This is the first US-sponsored Arab-Israeli peace treaty in nearly 25 years, that is, since Jordan signed the Wadi Araba treaty in 1994. It constitutes the culmination of a long path of rapprochement between the Arab and Israeli sides.
The "New Levant (Mashreq)" project, proposed by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, is a qualitative event in the reality of the region that has been witnessing divisions and tensions between the various parties. This indicates the nature of the challenges facing the project and the difficulties that may block its path. Despite its economic title, the project entails political and strategic dimensions. However, the question being raised is: do its parties have the capability, desire and will to transform the project into a geopolitical project that is capable of proving its presence in the region's equations and balances? This paper sheds light on the aforementioned project, and clarifies its opportunities, challenges and expected paths.
On 21 September 2020, the Islamic Action Front (IAF, Jabhat al-Amal al-Islami) party in Jordan (the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood) announced its participation in the parliamentary elections scheduled to be held on 10 November 2020, according to an IAF statement that was read by the IAF Deputy Secretary-General Wael al-Sakka. This paper analyses the implications of the IAF’s participation in the upcoming parliamentary elections, the challenges it faces, both from within it and in the surrounding environment, and the possible scenarios for the IAF’s tactics during the next phase.
The Saudi ASharq al-Awsat newspaper last month published a supplement entitled the Entanglements of Terror. In it, Saudi researchers and others try to sketch out the characteristics of the Islamist terror organizations and the phenomenon of the so-called modern Islamist terrorism in the region.
Currently, there is an unprecedented arms race by countries in the Arabian Gulf, mainly motivated by Iran’s nuclear project and Arab Gulf States might turn into frontline states in any future war with Iran.
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