Dossier Launch:
Carbon Emissions Reduction Strategies for Qatar

Upcoming Event

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Trump’s Aid Cuts Sever Stalwart
of U.S. Soft Power in the Middle East

Afkar

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Rebuilding Forever:
Lessons of our failures

Afkar

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Recent
Publications

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March 20, 2025
Policy Note -
Can Somalia’s Third Republic Be Saved?

Somalia’s political development has undergone significant transformations, characterized by periods of civilian governance (First Republic), military dictatorship (Second Republic), and a transitional or post-transition state-building era (Third Republic). This policy note calls for preserving the Third Republic and preventing the emergence of parallel administrations and further fragmentation within the country

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March 19, 2025
Issue Brief -
EVs and Batteries in the Gulf: Industrial Policy amid Tariff Wars and the Battle for Market Access

As the Gulf states set their national strategies for digital and green transitions, electric vehicles are flooding into the traditionally fossil fuel-driven auto markets of the Gulf — especially in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.

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March 13, 2025
Issue Brief -
Iran’s Foreign Policy Under Masoud Pezeshkian: Tendencies and Challenges

Iranian foreign policy is an important topic that has been extensively studied, given the Islamic Republic’s strategic location in the Middle East and the Asian continent. This issue brief draws its importance from a tense regional and international climate, which has bred growing uncertainty about the behavior of states and the orientations of governments. The need to track Iranian foreign policy also mounts with every political transformation following elections, particularly Iranian presidential elections.

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March 20, 2025
Policy Note -
Can Somalia’s Third Republic Be Saved?

Somalia’s political development has undergone significant transformations, characterized by periods of civilian governance (First Republic), military dictatorship (Second Republic), and a transitional or post-transition state-building era (Third Republic). This policy note calls for preserving the Third Republic and preventing the emergence of parallel administrations and further fragmentation within the country

learn more
March 19, 2025
Issue Brief -
EVs and Batteries in the Gulf: Industrial Policy amid Tariff Wars and the Battle for Market Access

As the Gulf states set their national strategies for digital and green transitions, electric vehicles are flooding into the traditionally fossil fuel-driven auto markets of the Gulf — especially in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.

learn more
March 13, 2025
Issue Brief -
Iran’s Foreign Policy Under Masoud Pezeshkian: Tendencies and Challenges

Iranian foreign policy is an important topic that has been extensively studied, given the Islamic Republic’s strategic location in the Middle East and the Asian continent. This issue brief draws its importance from a tense regional and international climate, which has bred growing uncertainty about the behavior of states and the orientations of governments. The need to track Iranian foreign policy also mounts with every political transformation following elections, particularly Iranian presidential elections.

learn more

Events

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23 April 2025
upcoming event 9:00 am GMT - 10:30 am GMT
Dossier Launch: Carbon Emissions Reduction Strategies for Qatar
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9 February 2025
past event GMT - GMT
Innovative Solutions for Food Security and Sustainability
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12 March 2025
past event 8:30 pm GMT - 9:30 pm GMT
From Streets to Screens: How MENA Youth Are Transforming Activism
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23 April 2025
upcoming event 9:00 am GMT - 10:30 am GMT

Dossier Launch: Carbon Emissions Reduction Strategies for Qatar

learn more
09 February 2025
past event GMT - GMT

Innovative Solutions for Food Security and Sustainability

learn more
12 March 2025
past event 8:30 pm GMT - 9:30 pm GMT

From Streets to Screens: How MENA Youth Are Transforming Activism

learn more

Afkar

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March 27, 2025
Trump is back. Should Gulf States accelerate decoupling from the U.S.?

Eight weeks into the second Trump presidency, the world’s governments—including those in the Gulf—are still trying to make sense of the chaos in Washington. Domestic politics aside, the new administration’s economic policies have sparked fears of a “Trumpcession” amid an escalating trade war and a falling dollar and stock market. Both consumer and business confidence… Continue reading Trump is back. Should Gulf States accelerate decoupling from the U.S.?

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March 26, 2025
Abu Dhabi’s Quiet Engagement in Afghanistan May Ease Taliban Isolation

For nearly a decade, international diplomacy concerning Afghanistan was mainly mediated by Qatar. Yet since the Taliban rolled into Kabul in August 2021, leading figures from the movement have made a string of high-profile visits to another key Gulf powerbroker, the United Arab Emirates. Their warm reception by the Emirati authorities suggests that Abu Dhabi… Continue reading Abu Dhabi’s Quiet Engagement in Afghanistan May Ease Taliban Isolation

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March 23, 2025
Trump’s Aid Cuts Sever Stalwart of U.S. Soft Power in the Middle East 

Amid the whirlwind of executive orders and major policy shifts coming out of the White House, President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze the operations of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which administers most U.S. foreign assistance, threatens to have a wide impact around the world. If prolonged, many programs in countries across the… Continue reading Trump’s Aid Cuts Sever Stalwart of U.S. Soft Power in the Middle East 

learn more
March 27, 2025
Trump is back. Should Gulf States accelerate decoupling from the U.S.?

Eight weeks into the second Trump presidency, the world’s governments—including those in the Gulf—are still trying to make sense of the chaos in Washington. Domestic politics aside, the new administration’s economic policies have sparked fears of a “Trumpcession” amid an escalating trade war and a falling dollar and stock market. Both consumer and business confidence… Continue reading Trump is back. Should Gulf States accelerate decoupling from the U.S.?

learn more
March 26, 2025
Abu Dhabi’s Quiet Engagement in Afghanistan May Ease Taliban Isolation

For nearly a decade, international diplomacy concerning Afghanistan was mainly mediated by Qatar. Yet since the Taliban rolled into Kabul in August 2021, leading figures from the movement have made a string of high-profile visits to another key Gulf powerbroker, the United Arab Emirates. Their warm reception by the Emirati authorities suggests that Abu Dhabi… Continue reading Abu Dhabi’s Quiet Engagement in Afghanistan May Ease Taliban Isolation

learn more
March 23, 2025
Trump’s Aid Cuts Sever Stalwart of U.S. Soft Power in the Middle East 

Amid the whirlwind of executive orders and major policy shifts coming out of the White House, President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze the operations of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which administers most U.S. foreign assistance, threatens to have a wide impact around the world. If prolonged, many programs in countries across the… Continue reading Trump’s Aid Cuts Sever Stalwart of U.S. Soft Power in the Middle East 

learn more