Politics & Society

Massive protests against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s re-election for a fifth term in Algeria were precipitated by political and economic paralysis. Even with Bouteflika’s April 2 resignation, the oil and gas-export dependent economy is expected to worsen this year, pushing the country closer to instability.

Despite the UN’s insistence that governments develop a plan for the return of thousands of children born to their ISIS-member nationals who are now living in dire conditions in refugee camps in war-torn Syria, only a few Western countries have accepted the return of these minors.

Lebanon hopes to profit from the reconstruction in Syria and the country that it’s most seeking to work with in the process is China. Yet what remains to be seen is how willing the Chinese are to accept high-level risks when it comes to making large-scale investments in Syria that could benefit Lebanon.

My colleague Ambassador Ed Gabriel (ret.), President and CEO of the American Task Force on Lebanon (ATFL), recently gave a presentation about Christians in the Middle East, and it pushed me to consider the genesis of my own involvement in Middle East affairs.

Having survived the Khashoggi scandal with seeming impunity, MbS’ recent mass executions and an actual crucifixion in Saudi Arabia during the Easter holidays indicates his resolve to consolidate political authority at home and ride the U.S.-led anti-Iran wave in the region.

Egypt has allegedly withdrawn from the U.S.-led Middle East Strategic Alliance. While Cairo’s recent move remains unofficial, it could have ramifications for the future development of the security bloc.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election and promises to enforce Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank push hopes for a Palestinian state even further into the remote future.

U.S. officials suspect their Saudi counterparts of illegally preventing Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah, along with several other Saudi nationals, from prosecution in the U.S. justice system by spiriting him out of the country. If true, this is yet another reason for the U.S. to disavow its special relationship with Saudi Arabia.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation shocked the international community at its March meeting when it publicly praised China for its treatment of its Turkic Muslim minority.

Iran views Saudi Arabia’s budding nuclear and missile programs as an emerging strategic threat to be faced by constructing corresponding capabilities of its own—once they reach a critical stage of development.