A Century After Sykes-Picot, Is There a Better Map for the Middle East?
This month marks the centenary of the Sykes-Picot treaty, a French-English agreement to establish areas of control and influence in the Arab lands of the Middle East after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The milestone has stirred up resentments and a sense that the flailing states of the region never really existed as coherent […]
Erdogan-Davutoglu Feud Puts EU-Turkey Refugee Deal in Jeopardy
The ouster of Ahmet Davutoglu as prime minister of Turkey is an internal matter. But it will almost certainly have negative repercussions for the hard-fought and controversial deal between Turkey and the European Union, by which Brussels agreed to compensate Ankara for helping to stem the flow of refugees and migrants to Europe. It’s the […]
Playing the Long Game: Getting Past Near-Term Thinking on Terrorism
By Ellen Laipson: Five years after the killing of Osama bin Laden, the U.S. public seems to understand that the fight against terrorism is a struggle that’s here to stay. The challenge for government officials is to manage the threat without exacerbating it, or allowing terrorism to monopolize the time and resources at the expense […]
Know Your Enemy — Iranian and Saudi Perspectives on ISIL
A brief by Adnan Tabatabai and Kawa Hassan, EWI’s MENA program director, describes the conversation and highlights points that could be grounds for possible partnership.
Despite Optics of Obama’s Gulf Trip, U.S.-GCC Cooperation Remains Robust
The readout from President Barack Obama’s trip last week to the Gulf reflects the ongoing strains in U.S. relations with the Gulf monarchs. Both sides share responsibility for the current state of affairs. And it will take time to shift perceptions in the region so that the ongoing cooperation that is taking place is viewed […]
To Stabilize Iraq, Loosen Internal Bonds Without Breaking Them
In the past five days, both U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter have visited Iraq. The visits demonstrate the urgency with which Washington views the political crisis in Baghdad, against the backdrop of the Iraqi military’s stalled campaign against the so-called Islamic State. Read the full article here.
Ellen Laipson quoted in Reuters on US-Gulf relations
-snip- “The bureaucracy is beginning to internalise this idea, that the Middle East is slightly less important to us than it used to be,” said Ellen Laipson of the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank, adding that the shift was “a matter of degrees”. Read more here.
First Steps on the Long Slog to Peace in the Middle East
This week, three of the United Nations’ thankless peace missions—in Libya, Yemen and Syria—will mark steps forward. To be sure, the definition of success is modest. For now, just reducing violence and beginning a political process is the best that one can hope for. But the U.N. deserves credit for persevering and nudging the parties […]