MIDDLE EAST STUDIES

Aya Burweila & John M Nomikos
(Senior RIEAS Advisor & RIEAS Director)

Copyright: International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08850607.2018.1522226) - March 2019

The exponential expansion of Islamist groups in both numbers and geographic scope to Libya and Syria between 2011 and 2017, and the subsequent refugee crisis it sparked, has led to a rapidly deteriorating human security theatre in the Middle East, North Africa, and the European Union. Read more

Copyright: https://vision2030.gov.sa/en/foreword - Reposted at RIEAS web site (www.rieas.gr) on 9 March 2019.

It is my pleasure to present Saudi Arabia’s Vision for the future. It is an ambitious yet achievable blueprint, which expresses our long-term goals and expectations and reflects our country’s strengths and capabilities. All success stories start with a vision, and successful visions are based on strong pillars. Read more

By John M Nomikos, A.TH. Symeonides, George Chr. Pelaghias, Martha Murzanska and Ehud Eiran

Copyright: https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Add-a-democratic-layer-to-the-Israeli-Hellenic-partnership-582264 (Jerusalem post- 2 March 2019) – Posted at RIEAS web site (www.rieas.gr) on 5 March 2019.

The countries also engage in close cooperation in intelligence and security matters. Israeli forces train now regularly in Greece and Cyprus as part of an institutionalized military relationship.. Read more

Dr (Col.Res) Shaul Shay, is a senior research fellow at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzeliya (IDC) and former Deputy Head of Israel National Security Council.

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 4 January 2019

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Re-search Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).

In the course of almost 40 years Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and has a long and bloody history of terror attacks. Since 2017 the Iranian regime’s terrorist activities appear to be on the rise on European soil. Thanks to good intelligence the Iranian latest terrorist plots has not resulted in heavy casualties, but these plots are just the tip of the iceberg. Read more

Lélia Rousselet
(Researcher in international relations. Her work included research on security and
defense issues, French and American foreign policy, and Middle-Eastern and
Mediterranean affairs. She is Vice-President of the Open Diplomacy Institute (Paris, France).

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr)
Publication date: 08 December 2018

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).

Following US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) last May, Trump’s administration has progressively re-imposed economic sanctions on Teheran. On November 5, 2018, a new wave of US sanctions has been implemented, targeting exports of oil and bank operations, and complete the first set of sanctions in place since August 6. But the consequence of November sanctions is of another magnitude: a disconnection of Iran from the international financial system, and the impossibility for Teheran to sell its oil – which represents 17% of its GDP. The US agreed to let 8 countries buy Iranian oil for a limited period of time: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Taiwan, Turkey and Greece. These countries can have a delay in exchange of a commitment to reduce their imports of crude oil from Iran...Read more

Quentin de Pimodan
(Co-author of The Khaleeji Voice, six-part book series about each of the GCC nations and their respective urban art cultures)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 22 September 2018

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).

While some conservative Saudi clerics face severe punishments for present or past activities, others seem to slip through the net. If lack of consistency between the narrative emerging from Riyadh and the actual on-ground repercussions have already occurred in the past , the issue of the fight against radical Islamism is a key one for the regime, for both asserting credibility and legitimacy. On several occasions Crown Prince Mohammed repeated that combatting extremism was one of his top domestic and international priority in places such as Syria, Iraq and Yemen together with, according to him, opposing Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei “to conquer the world”. In that regard, the Saudi regime’s recent crackdown on conservative clerics and the double standards it applies in doing so, weaken the gravity of the charges held against some of the clerics and the very scholars that are currently being targeted. Which could result in serious backlashes... Read more