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After Trump’s Peace Plan: Three Problems Facing Israel in Gaza
The announcement of Donald Trump’s proposed 20-point peace plan in October 2025 at first seemed to offer the tangible prospect of an end to the ongoing destruction in Gaza, with Hamas signing the agreement on October 9. Complying with the terms of the first phase of the agreement, Hamas returned all of the 20 remaining…
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Security as strategy? Israeli Arab Gulf states alignment
A few months after the Abraham accords were signed between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE, the Pentagon announced the transfer of command oversight of Israel from the US European Command (EUCOM) to its key military command outpost in the Gulf, CENTCOM. While the transition may be seen to pave the way for an overt regional…
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Uzbekistan’s economic challenges under President Mirziyoyev
For 25 years after independence in 1991, Uzbekistan was ruled by the former First Secretary of the Uzbek Soviet Republic, Islam Karimov. Karimov’s rule was characterized by ruthless political leadership and gradual economic reform. While some commentators lauded the economic achievements under Karimov, a more common view was that the economy had underperformed in improving…
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Third restart? Kyrgyzstan’s latest ‘revolution’
Protesting parties were a diverse crowd, from the liberal Reforma, to the market-liberal BirBol, the liberal-socialist Ata-Meken, the conservative Mekenchil, the radical Chon Kazat, the religious Yiman Nuru, and others in between. The ideological leanings of Kyrgyz political parties tend to be mostly declarative and matters of convenience than of conviction, but still, their general…
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Iran in a Shifting US Foreign Policy
Following Biden’s election as President of the United States, many officials who served under the Obama administration returned to senior positions. With them, they brought familiar approaches to the same pressing issues which continue to plague the Middle East. Iran sees this as a golden opportunity for rapprochement with the U.S, but on its own…
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