Analyses
International Affairs
Yuli Tamir: “Arab States and the Palestinian Authority Must Lead Beyond Hamas”
Alessandra Tommasi 6 November 2025
The ceasefire in Gaza, tied to Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, remains extremely fragile amid repeated violations. Among the latest escalations, an Israeli air raid overnight between October 28 and 29, launched in retaliation for the death of an IDF soldier and Hamas’s refusal to return the bodies of hostages, left more than a hundred people dead. While Hamas accuses Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of obstructing the entry of humanitarian convoys, uncertainty looms over the so-called “phase two” of the plan. On paper, the Palestinian group has agreed to relinquish direct control of the enclave, but not full demilitarization nor the international supervision envisaged by Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace.” The plan also makes no mention of the West Bank, fueling fears that Israel intends to solidify the separation between the two Palestinian territories. In this context, Reset DOC spoke with Yuli Tamir, former Israeli education minister, to discuss the prospects for peace and Israel’s political future.
  • Iran: The End of the Axis and Strategic Adaptation
    Pegah Zohouri 6 November 2025
    Over the past two years, Iran has suffered the most significant blows to its deterrence capacity since the founding of the Islamic Republic, losing much of the regional influence it once wielded through loyal proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and even Yemen. Once able to mobilize allied forces across the Middle East in pursuit of shared interests against Israel, Tehran now faces a drastically diminished strategic position. Following Hamas’s October 2023 attacks, Israel systematically targeted Iranian proxies—crippling Hamas in Gaza, weakening Hezbollah in Lebanon, and, with the collapse of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, depriving Iran of its crucial Syrian ally. Subsequent Israeli strikes deep into Iranian territory further exposed Tehran’s intelligence failures, limited military reach, and diplomatic isolation. Yet the current retrenchment of Iran and its allies does not signify collapse; rather, it represents a phase of strategic recalibration within an evolving regional order characterized by multi-alignment and shifting power centers.
  • Cengiz Aktar: “Turkey Confronts Tel Aviv’s New Regional Hegemony”
    Alessandra Tommasi 6 November 2025
    Over the past decade, Turkey has tried to carve out a role as a regional power, swinging between neo-Ottoman ambition and economic pragmatism. Ankara has multiplied its interventions: backing Qatar, confronting the Kurds in Iraq and Syria, and deepening its involvement in Libya. Yet since October 7, 2023, the balance of power in the Middle East has shifted again. The Gaza war, the reshuffling of alliances, and the weakening of the so-called “axis of resistance” have all curbed Ankara’s claims to leadership, according to Cengiz Aktar, Turkish dissident and professor of Political Science at the University of Athens, in an interview with Reset DOC.
  • Olivier Roy: “Israel Made a Palestinian State Impossible”
    Alessandra Tommasi 6 November 2025
    Two years after October 7, the Middle East is undergoing a profound transformation. Israeli assertiveness, Iran’s weakening influence, and the reshaping of al-Sharaa’s Syria are redefining the regional balance, while fragile truces and new hierarchies of power reveal a landscape still in flux. In this context, French political scientist and leading expert on political Islam, Olivier Roy, reflects for Reset DOC on the region’s prospects, the deadlock of the Palestinian question, and the evolving relationship between Israel and its neighbors.
  • What Now for the Middle East?
    Pasquale Ferrara 6 November 2025
    What are the defining features of the hypothetical “new Middle East” emerging after the tragic events of October 7, 2023? Beyond the unspeakable tragedy unfolding in Gaza—a catastrophe not only of immense humanitarian proportions but also of deep political inconsistency—several recent developments stand out. These markers help illuminate the ongoing attempt to reshape the region, not necessarily toward lasting stability, but more plausibly toward a provisional armistice. Such a phase, though conditional, would nonetheless be welcome if it could create the groundwork for a genuine space for negotiation on the fundamental issues of the conflict.
  • The Gulf Between Defending the Vision Frameworks and a New Security Architecture
    Luca Marin 6 November 2025
    Two years after the events of October 7, 2023, the Middle East is undergoing a profound phase of redefinition. The conflict between Israel and Hamas, rising tensions with Iran, and intensifying global competition have prompted the Gulf countries to reassess their strategic priorities. In this context, the perspective of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) revolves around two central axes: the protection of their domestic transformation programs—the so-called Visions—and the safeguarding of security within an increasingly multipolar environment.
  • Syria and Lebanon: A Test of Sovereignty
    Riccardo Cristiano 6 November 2025
    The scale of the transformation that has swept across Syria and Lebanon after the upheavals of 2024 can be grasped in what is not a mere a detail: Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani paid an official visit to Beirut to define the new judicial agreement between the two countries. For the Assads, Lebanon was at best a protectorate. The fall of Bashar al-Assad and the elimination of the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, along with the entire chain of command of the Party of God, have marked a turning point. But Syria still does not know where it is headed, and Lebanon is not sure it can stand on its own; both remain in the grips of economic collapse. The real novelty is that the international community continues to support them, even if the Saudis, the main donors, are clearly hinting that they expect greater awareness from both Syrian and Lebanese leaders.
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    The West is the Rest. The Liberal Order Turns Provincial
    Carlo Galli 31 October 2025
    Liberal democracy is a Western affair, not a global one. It was born and evolved in the West during the late modern era, grounded in cultural, economic, and social preconditions that cannot be reproduced elsewhere. Its export has often been an element of neocolonial ambition. The world knows well how to distinguish good governance from oppression, order from violent chaos, yet it neither thinks nor organizes itself democratically. Nor does it admire the democratic West or aspire to emulate it—except in the production of goods and services. Today, liberal democracy concerns scarcely one-eighth of the world’s population. Europe, the West (which are not the same thing, or at least have not always been), and democracy have long since been provincialized. The West is the rest.
  • Trump’s Power Politics in Latin America Beyond Venezuela
    Andre Diniz Pagliarini 16 October 2025
    Donald Trump insists he wants no “new wars.” In Latin America, however, that line is wearing thin. His administration has revived the language and logic of forceful intervention even as he maintains that the era of U.S. adventurism abroad is over. The result is a foreign policy that races to prop up allies like Argentina’s Javier Milei and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro while threatening adversaries like Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and Colombia’s Gustavo Petro.
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