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Russia will consolidate strong ties in the Gulf

Location:

RUSSIA

Russia seeks to enhance its cooperation with the Gulf Arab states to offset its diplomatic and economic isolation from the West, leveraging its status as a valued security partner…

Lebanon will bargain for more Syrian refugee returns

Location:

LEBANON/SYRIA

The country’s economic crisis and the Christian community's demographic fears have increased anti-refugee sentiment, which politicians weaponised around the May 2022 elections. In…

Trade will tighten Gulf-South Korea relations

Location:

GULF STATES/SOUTH KOREA

Previously, in December 2023, South Korea signed a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), only the bloc’s second with a major…

Maritime security risks may increase in the Gulf

Location:

GULF STATES

The statement comes on the back of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announcing on May 31 that it withdrew two months ago from the Combined Maritime Forces, a US-led maritime…

Syria’s sovereignty push will depend on Arab ties

Location:

SYRIA

The letter specified that aid must be coordinated with Damascus and also pushed for donors to fulfil their commitments and support refugee return -- a key issue for Arab…

Iraq’s Sunnis and Kurds face a more peripheral future

Location:

IRAQ

Discussions on the future of the US-Iraq security relationship will be followed with intense interest by both Iran-backed Shia forces in Iraq and their increasingly sidelined…

Turkish foreign policy will seek a power balance

Location:

TURKEY

Turkey’s confrontation with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is a key driver of regional and to some extent international policy. Erdogan’s comfortable victory in the May 2023…

Israeli-Arab normalisation will freeze, not reverse

Location:

ISRAEL/MIDDLE EAST

Deepening Gulf-Israel normalisation -- and particularly heavy US-backed efforts to advance a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia -- set the context for the Hamas attack against…

Turkey’s ties with the Middle East will improve

Location:

TURKEY/MIDDLE EAST

Since 2021, Turkey has been working to improve relations with former regional rivals such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Israel. It sees the outreach…

Syria's ruler will seek to ride out economic protests

Location:

SYRIA

The demonstrations were triggered by Assad’s mid-August announcement of big fuel price increases, only partly mitigated by rises in salaries and pensions. However, they have been…