Middle East & North Africa

11 Items

People inspect the wreckage of buildings that were damaged by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022.

AP Photo/Hani Mohammed

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Significance of the Iran-Saudi Arabia Agreement Brokered by China

Belfer Center experts on the U.S.-China relationship and Middle East issues shared thoughts on the significance of the unexpected Iran-Saudi Arabia agreement brokered by China. 

Screenshot from the BeAware Bahrain app launched by the Bahrain Information & eGovernment Authority.

Bahrain IGA

Analysis & Opinions - The Cipher Brief

Lessons From Bahrain’s Response to COVID-19

| June 17, 2020

If you’re looking for some all too rare good news from the Middle East these days, consider Bahrain’s exceptional incident response to COVID-19.  Having become well practiced in defending itself against Iran’s pernicious attacks, Bahrain was prepared for dealing with the outbreak of COVID-19, for which Iran was also responsible.

Crewmen enter Bradley fighting vehicles at a US military base at an undisclosed location in Northeastern Syria.

AP Photo/Darko Bandic

Analysis & Opinions - Real Clear Politics

U.S. Withdrawal From Syria Was Inevitable

| Oct. 24, 2019

Whatever the United States does, Syria will continue its long plunge down the regional elevator shaft, picking up passengers and speed along the terminal descent.  Washington would be well advised to consider this fact as the increasingly fractious U.S. political establishment debates what role, if any, America and her allies should play in the process.

Houthi fighters hold their weapons on January 3, 2017.

(AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

Analysis & Opinions - Real Clear Politics

America Wins if Houthi Rebels Lose in Yemen

| July 03, 2018

The deadly civil war in Yemen has reached a climax after three ugly years. No one can know for sure, but it looks like the coalition led by Saudi Arabia is on the verge of a major victory that could push the Iranian-backed rebels into an enduring cease-fire.

The legitimate Yemeni government, backed by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, is poised to retake control of the vital port of Hodeidah, Yemen’s fourth-largest city and its principal port on the Red Sea. Yemen depends on imports to survive and Hodeidah is the port of entry for most outside goods. International aid groups worry a long-term siege there could disrupt the already-limited flow of medicine and food into the country. But the pain is worth the gain – especially for U.S. interests – because of Hodeidah’s strategic importance.

A black-and-white depiction of Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, attracts signatures and comments of support from residents amid a diplomatic crisis between Qatar and neighboring Arab countries in Doha, Qatar, on July 3, 2017 (AP Photo/Maggie Hyde).

AP Photo/Maggie Hyde

Analysis & Opinions - The National Interest

Qatar is at the Center of Today's Arab Tangle

| Nov. 15, 2017

A speedy but proper resolution of the standoff with Qatar is clearly in American interests. Consistent with President Trump’s May 20 Riyadh speech, and his just-announced plan of action against Iran, such a resolution must include Doha’s cessation of all forms of support for extremist Islamic movements and the end of its flirtation with Tehran.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin

Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik

Analysis & Opinions - Real Clear Politics

Counterterrorism in a Time of Great Power Rivalry

| Oct. 02, 2017

Since 11 September 2001 the United States has been able to drive the global counterterrorism agenda as it saw necessary. Those days are over. The global environment has permanently shifted. The open rivalry with Moscow and growing competition with China are going to increase the potential costs on U.S. counterterrorism activity and outright restrain it in others.

President Donald J. Trump addresses the nation on the South Asia strategy during a press conference at Conmy Hall on Fort Myer, Va., Aug. 21, 2017. (DoD photo by Army Sgt. Amber I. Smith)

DoD photo/Army Sgt. Amber I. Smith

Analysis & Opinions - Just Security

Trump's War-More Risk Than Reward for US Military Involvement in Afghanistan

| Aug. 22, 2017

It is ironic that when President Trump finally made his first major foreign policy decision, he ran with the advice of his “cooler heads” — the Generals he admires — over his own instincts to cut U.S. losses and get out of this jungle. In extending U.S. involvement in Afghanistan for the narrower purpose of battling the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, ISIS and associated groups, every U.S. soldier killed and wounded in Afghanistan from this day forward becomes in effect a casualty of the scourge of terrorism the president is determined to thwart.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson escorts Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to the Treaty Room of the State Department in Washington, Wednesday, July 26, 2017. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Analysis & Opinions - The National Interest

Qatar Is Playing a Dangerous Game of Political Chicken

Aug. 06, 2017

Last month a Saudi-led group of nations that includes Egypt, UAE and Bahrain modified the thirteen demands it had made on Qatar over a month ago and instead insisted on six principles. These principles are an attempt to convince the Qataris to combat extremism and terror, to prevent the expression of incitement to violence, to stop interfering in the internal affairs of other states, and to refrain from supporting illegal entities, among other things. And while moving from making demands to urging an acceptance of principles is being spoken of as a reconciliatory gesture on the part of the anti-Qatar bloc, the central contentious issue remains: Qatar’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood. The Saudi coalition knows what the experiences of numerous Muslim governments have long proven: the Muslim Brotherhood is an oppositionist movement that does not represent a sustainable form of governance, offers little in the way of social or economic programs, and some of its members have been linked to political violence and jihadist terror.

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center Newsletter

New Fellows Pandith and Ramesh Enrich Dialogue on Critical Issues from Extremism to Climate Change

| Fall/Winter 2014 - 2015

Farah Pandith, America’s first special representative to Muslim communities, joined the Belfer Center this fall as a Fisher Family Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project and as a senior fellow with the Middle East Initiative. Jairam Ramesh, a member of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh, India, and a leader in international climate negotiations, joined the Belfer Center this fall as a 2014 Fisher Family Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project.

News

Nuclear Negotiations between the United States and its Allies

| March 12, 2014

What can the United States do to thwart the nuclear ambitions of its allies? Dr. Kogan analyzes past cases where the United States was able to leverage its alliance commitments to stop friendly states from going nuclear. He then asks what lessons these past nuclear negotiations hold for today.  In the coming decade, key U.S. allies in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia) and East Asia (South Korea, Japan) may consider reducing their reliance on U.S. security guarantees by acquiring independent nuclear deterrents.  In conversation with Project Director Kevin Ryan, Dr. Kogan discusses Washington's options in confronting these contemporary allies with nascent nuclear appetites.