MIDDLE EAST STUDIES

Quantin 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: 10 December 2016

In “Peak Water: How We Built Civilisation on Water and Drained the World Dryi”, Alexander Bell narrates what he calls the first war in human history that takes place around 2450 BC in Mesopotamia in today’s Iraq. This war was fought between two city-kingdoms, the Lagash and the Umma, both kingdoms of Sumerian civilization. The Lagash were found northwest of the Euphrates’ shores with its spiritual center of Girsu while upstream, of the same river, Umma is located, looking at its southern rival with much envy for its access to water. Read more

Habib C. Malik (PhD)
(Associate Professor of History at the Lebanese American University (Byblos campus).

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 24 April 2016

As the Middle East continues to unravel along ethno-sectarian and tribal lines creative federal solutions for the resulting mess have come increasingly under consideration. The primordial communal aggregates of the heterogeneous region have resurfaced with a vengeance necessitating new formulations for future peaceful coexistence among them after the dust has settled. As a consequence, this might signify that the heyday of the unitary state structure as it has prevailed over decades in places like Syria and Iraq under the Baath is now behind us. Logically, federal arrangements applied to composite societies offer optimal chances for accommodating diversity within a unified state entity, while simultaneously safeguarding the distinctiveness and autonomy of the various communal components constituting the existing pluralism. Some of the most successful countries around the world happen to be federally structured: Switzerland, Canada, the United States, Germany, others...Read more

Dr Spyridon Plakoudas
(Defence Analyst, RIEAS Research Associate)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 24 March 2016

Syria: A Divided Country

After five years of sectarian violence, the country has been reduced to rubble and partitioned de facto in several warring statelets: a) the titular state of Syria under Assad that still controls the populous urban centres of eastern Syria along the Damascus-Latakia central road, b) a mosaic of dominions and enclaves under the shaky rule of the anti-Assad opposition in northern and southern Syria, c) the sprawling jihadist state in the eastern Syrian desert under the black banner of the Islamic State and d) an almost continuous Kurdish state along the long Turkish-Syrian frontier. A few days ago, the Kurds of Syria proclaimed the establishment of a federal government in northern Syria – in stark defiance to Turkey's stern opposition to a second independent Kurdish entity...Read more

By Antonia Dimou
(Associate at the Center for Strategic Studies-University of Jordan, RIEAS Senior Advisor, and Athens Webster University Instructor)

Copyright: Originally appeared at ELIAMEP Middle East Mediterranean 2/4 | April-June 2015- Republication on RIEAS web site (www.rieas.gr) on 14 November 2015.

Jordan is a free market oriented economy that offers a wide range of incentives to international investors. The kingdom's Investment Promotion Law provides freedoms from customs and duties, unrestricted transfer of capital and profits, and tax income exemptions. Jordan is thus considered as an ideal base of investment braced by its strategic location in the heart of the Middle East that ensures unimpeded access to the markets of Asia and Africa. The growth oriented business environment of the kingdom largely explains the interest of Greek companies either to advance exports or transfer activities and open representation offices for investment security, stability and cash flow reasons...Read more

Antonia Dimou,
(Senior Advisor at the Research Institute for European and American Studies, Greece, and Lecturer at Webster University, Athens Campus)

Copyright: http://www.cceia.unic.ac.cy Publication date on RIEAS web site (www.rieas.gr) on 1 November 2015

The conduct of two separate airstrikes in Syria, led by the United States and Russia respectively, comes as part of a strategy to defeat and degrade the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in pursuance of revisiting the international response to the Syrian conflict. The prolonged neglect of the conflict in Syria has admittedly created power vacuums, paving the way for extremist groups to gain and control territory. The prospect of de facto territorial divisions is a reported reality with territory under control of ISIL; territory held by the Assad regime; and territory controlled by enclaves of diverse fighter groups. Read more

Alexandros Kassidiaris
(Security Analyst, Postgraduate from the Department of War Studies, King's College London, UK)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 24 October 2015

The phenomenon of piracy attacks in the Horn of Africa against commercial vessels by mostly Somali-based pirates is not a new one. From 2008 to 2012 this kind of assaults presented an excessive incline creating a major problem for international commercial shipping in this part of East Africa and onwards. The continuous instability in this area and the strong feeling of insecurity and anxiety of the seafarers sailing through this route and especially in the Gulf of Aden created a certain necessity for some official anti-piracy action. Under those circumstances a specific region has been characterized as the Piracy High Risk Area and detailed instructions have been issued for the ships that would approach it.... Read more