Afkār is a publication of the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, providing short-form analyses, insights, and perspectives on regional issues and developments from the Council's experts and outside contributors. Afkār is published in English and Arabic, and is edited by Omar H. Rahman.
As the UAE gears up to host COP28, questions persist as to the sincerity of the oil exporting countries of the Gulf in addressing climate change. They should be judged according to their actions.
Thirty years after the PLO and Israel embarked on the Oslo peace process, Palestinians remain beholden to the broken structures it created. The only chance of moving forward is to renounce this terrible legacy of the past.
As a military coup in Niger threatens to destabilize its surrounding regions, the prospect of foreign military intervention only risks a larger catastrophe.
The Assad regime may be projecting an aura of power and authority as regional powers move to bring the Syrian state back into the fold, but many prickly issues remain unresolved between the regime and its neighbors that could still spoil the process of reintegration.
A new governing council in Yemen’s largest province could push the country closer to federalization and an end to its nine-year civil war, or it could keep the country trapped in endless competition.