MIDDLE EAST STUDIES

Tamir Libel
(Visiting Scholar in the Department of Political Studies at University of Trier and Non-resident Fellow with the Centre for War Studies at University College Dublin)

Kamran Bokhari
(Teaches national security and foreign policy courses at the Security & Policy Institute at the University of Ottawa and is the author of "Political Islam in the Age of Democratization")

Copyright: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/09/iran-israel-communication.html#ixzz3ngCI9dcX - Publication on RIEAS web site (www.rieas.gr) on 6 October 2015.

There are two major reasons why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should pull back from his hard-line opposition to the Iranian nuclear deal. First, Iran is on a path toward international rehabilitation, whereby the United States and its European allies will increasingly be working with Tehran on regional security in the Middle East. Second, geosectarianism is reshaping the regional strategic environment to where the bulk of the threat to Israeli security will be from Sunni as opposed to Shiite actors... Read more

By Efraim Sneh
(Chairman, S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue, Netanya Academic College).

Copyright: Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East Publication Date on RIEAS (www.rieas.gr): 6th September 2015

In March 2002, one of the bloodiest months of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud presented the Arab Peace Initiative. The Arab League summit that convened in Beirut that month adopted it as an official resolution. Representatives at the March 2007 Arab League summit in Riyadh reaffirmed the initiative.

The core of the proposal is a commitment by the 22 Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel if it agrees to withdraw from the territories occupied in the 1967 war, to a just solution of the Palestinian refugee issue and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state....Read more

Mayda I. Youssef
(RIEAS Research Associate & Security Analyst based in Cairo, Egypt)

Copyright, Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) – Publication date: 2 August 2015

Egypt has been facing a rising bombing wave that is not only hitting Sinai, but also hitting Cairo at its core. Fortunately, IS's affiliated Islamic extremists "Ansar Beit El Maqds", based in Sinai, claim responsibility for nearly all of the attacks that take place, giving the state a sign of who its immediate enemies are.

However, in order to be able to set a counter-terror strategy, one should analyze the past incidents that definitely shock the Egyptian society. It also succeeded in establishing an image of an unstable and weak regime, not only to the international community, but also to Egyptian civilians...Read more

Mayda Youssef
(Political Analyst based in Cairo, Egypt)

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

Introduction

Following the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981, Mohamed Hosni Mubarak took office ruling under emergency law.
Mubarak ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years during which the population grew by 90% from 45 million to 85 million according to the UN. The vast majority of Egyptians live in the limited area near the Nile River banks, which is an area about 40,000 square kilometers, where the only arable land is found and competing with the need of human habitations...Read more

Ehud Eilam Ph.D
(Analyst of Israel's national security, based near Boston, USA)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 7 June 2015

Israel, the United States and Sunni – led Arab states are worried that Iran might produce nuclear weapon, the Bomb. An agreement between the P5 + 1 and Iran about the latter's nuclear program would prevent Israel from attacking Iran. Yet if the latter ignores this accord Israel might attack. Sunni – led Arab states, mostly those in the Gulf could assist Israel....Read more

Nicholas Borroz
( Washington D.C. based analyst of energy geopolitics and investment strategies, specializing in Southeast Asia and the Middle East)

Egemen B. Bezci
(Doctoral Researcher in the University of Nottingham focusing on secret intelligence cooperation between Turkey and the West)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 31 May 2015.

A Mossad agent drinks coffee in one corner of the cafe, making small talk with Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps members the next table over. American soldiers, meanwhile, play cards with Turkish intelligence officers. Two Iraqi security officials walk over, one comments on the Americans' dwindling poker chips, then both sit down to watch how the hand plays out. This is the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil, and this is precisely how the Iraqi Kurds want it to be...Read more