Middle East Archives

Analyses

Middle East

United by geography and a long history that, since the end of the Ottoman Empire and especially during the long rule of the Assads, has taken on the characteristics of colonialism and occupation in the name of a “Greater Syria,” Lebanese and Syrians today share the same hope: that tomorrow will be different from today, putting an end to conflicts and reducing them to “wars of the past.” Reality demands this. In 2018, Lebanon’s GDP exceeded 55 billion dollars; today, it barely reaches 20 billion. One hundred thousand Lebanese pounds, which were worth 65 dollars at that time, are now worth just one. In Syria, in 2011, when the brutal repression of anti-government protests began, GDP reached 45 billion dollars; today it is only 9 billion.

International Affairs, Society
Iran: Transformation from Within or Civil War from Without?
Pegah Zohouri 4 July 2025

Two weeks after the ceasefire that halted the twelve-day war between Israel and Iran, regional tensions remain high, and domestic reverberations within Iran continue to unfold. While the conflict briefly united a politically fragmented society, it also exposed deep structural fissures. Most Iranians rejected foreign intervention, reaffirming a longstanding scepticism rooted in historical memory and national experience. Although critical of the current system, most of them seemed to agree that meaningful and sustainable transformation could only emerge from within.
International Affairs
Ramin Jahanbegloo: “The Iranian People Are Tired of Dying Because of the Ayatollahs”
Giancarlo Bosetti 21 June 2025

Ramin Jahanbegloo, one of Irans preeminent intellectual figures, attends the conference ‘Peace, Democracy and Human Rights in Asia’ held under the auspices of former Czech president Vaclav Havel on September 11, 2009, in Prague. Other guests of this conference are Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, former President of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Frederik Willem de Klerk, Rabiya Kadeer, head of the World Uighur Congress, Robert Menard of France, former Secretary-General of Reporters Without Bord and others philosophers and disidents.AFP PHOTO MICHAL CIZEK (Photo by MICHAL CIZEK / AFP)
International Affairs
Loay Alshareef: “A Palestinian State – If Its Leadership Recognizes Israel”
Alessandra Tommasi 12 June 2025

“I’m proud to be called a normalizer by the Muslim Brotherhood’s affiliates.” That’s how Dubai-based blogger Loay Alshareef responds to attacks from across the Arab world, where the majority still oppose full recognition of the State of Israel. A practicing Muslim of Saudi origin, Alshareef doesn’t shy away from controversy: he openly defines himself as a “Zionist” and sees the Abraham Accords not as a betrayal of the Palestinian cause, but as a path to peace. On June 11, 2025, the activist and influencer took part in a roundtable discussion in Bologna, Italy, focused on combating antisemitism – an occasion on which Reset DOC spoke with him to share his views on the ongoing war in Gaza.
International Affairs
Trump’s Full Gulf Agenda: From the Houthis to Gaza.
And the Trump Golf Club
Hussein Ibish 12 May 2025

From May 13-16, President Donald J. Trump will repeat the opening gesture of his first administration by making the initial major diplomatic travel of his second term to Saudi Arabia (excluding his unanticipated visit to Rome for the funeral of the late Pope Francis) but this time also including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. This trip comes at a highly significant moment in U.S.-Gulf Arab relations, and all parties will have specific agendas and deliverables at stake. Overall, Trump’s trip reinforces the centrality of these partnerships for all sides and signals that he continues to view Gulf Arab countries as important partners, not just for the United States but for his personal and political goals.
Human Rights
Mahmoud Khalil’s Detention Is an Assault on Free Speech in America
Hussein Ibish 14 March 2025

The administration of US President Donald Trump has left everyone who cares about free speech in the country little choice but to defend and champion Mahmoud Khalil, as he faces the most insidious attack on freedom of conscience in America in at least 60 years.
International Affairs
With the PKK’s Demise, Erdogan Courts the Kurdish Vote
Mariano Giustino 12 March 2025

The fact that one of the longest conflicts in contemporary history, which has resulted in over 40,000 deaths, could soon come to an end is undoubtedly an event worth celebrating. Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan has ordered the armed wing of the party he founded in 1978 to end the armed struggle and dissolve the organization. Is this the end of an era? It’s still too early to say.
International Affairs
What’s Behind the Arab Alternative to Trump’s Gaza Proposal
Hussein Ibish 24 February 2025

Saudi Arabia hosted a meeting on February 21 with all six Gulf Cooperation Council countries plus the crucial additions of Egypt and Jordan to begin crafting a formal Arab response to President Donald J. Trump’s fantastical scheme to redevelop Gaza after removing its 2.2 million Palestinian residents. Trump’s supporters and officials claim that this sudden Arab urgency to respond with an alternative to his Gaza plan is a diplomatic achievement and the real purpose of his radical proposal. Yet whatever the Arab countries come up with at this GCC +2 meeting, or at the March 4 full convening of the Arab League, will not be practicable given Israel’s policies.
International Affairs
Syria, Aziz Biro: “A Federal Project and Kurds in the New Government”
Ilaria Romano 24 February 2025
International Affairs
Boussois: “The Saudis Against Trump, But Normalization with Israel is Inevitable”
Federica Zoja 15 February 2025

“Every day there’s something new. Donald Trump’s political agenda is totally unpredictable: today it’s the Gaza Strip, tomorrow it will be Ukraine!” Sebastien Boussois, an analyst and researcher at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and at Uqam in Montreal, is one of the most authoritative voices in the French-speaking world on the subject of relations between the West and the Gulf States. In the aftermath of Riyadh’s vehement opposition to the American proposal to empty Gaza and rebuild it, his first comment is unequivocal: “It’s all a show, a complete charade! I think that Saudi Arabia, through the voice of its Foreign Minister, is obliged to reject Trump’s proposal for annexation. But also that there is no lasting or solid agreement in the region as strong as the one between the United States and Saudi Arabia: let us remember, it dates back to 1945, after the end of the Second World War.”