Research Papers
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Author: Mohammed Al-Sudairi
The commentary investigates China’s position on the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, arguing that it is unlikely to extend substantive support to Russia over the short or medium terms. The commentary then highlights some of the lessons its stance might have for observers in the Gulf.
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Author: Adam Michael Baron
The situation in Yemen is arguably as confusing as ever, but what does seem clear is that the year has started with a series of conflagrations. Military escalation on the ground has seen the most significant and sudden battlefield shifts in quite some time. Simultaneously, cross-border attacks have seen the Houthi movement, or Ansar Allah—a predominately Zaidi Shia revivalist movement that has upset the region’s geopolitical balance— launch missile strikes that directly hit Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Characterizations of a frozen conflict have been turned on their head—all the while underlining the seemingly intractable nature of the con
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Author: Zaki Shaikh
This article begins by analyzing the factors contributing to the recent unrest in Kazakhstan and how Russian commentators have leveraged media debates to call for the deployment of peacekeeping troops to the Central Asian country. Next, it explores the possible motivations driving Kazakh and Russian leaders’ cooperation in the deployment, along with the longer-term implications for their two countries. Finally, the article discusses the lessons that can be drawn from the recent events in Kazakhstan and what they might mean for Central Asia writ large.
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Author: Joshua Craze
Rather than preventing conflict, internationally backed peace agreements in South Sudan, Sudan, and elsewhere have established a system of incentives that structure elite compacts in the capital that actually intensify the political economy of war. Such peace agreements rely on a normative vision of the state that is at odds with how states have actually come to function in many conflict zones in the world since the 1980s. This normative vision enables peace agreements to be easily instrumentalized by elites and is a major reason why such agreements fail to prevent conflict. Such failures are not contingent but are structural properties of peace agreements that at best aim for r
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Author: Mona Alami
The results of the 2021 Iraqi elections were, at first glance, somewhat surprising. The Sadrist movement secured a sweeping victory while the pro-Iran wing within the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), which ran under the banner of the Fatah Alliance, lost over 70 percent of the seats they held in the previous parliament. The elections came on the heels of mass protests by citizens hailing from Shiite areas, previously a stronghold for supporters of Iran. The demonstrators denounced corruption, social injustice, and Iranian influence. Iranian consulates were subject to arson attacks, while pro-Iranian militias brutally cracked down on protesters (with over 600 killed) and k
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Author: Makki Hamid
This paper will shed light on the Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to developing countries worldwide. The KSA has contributed significantly to the well-being of many developing countries. However, for quite some time, such valuable assistance was not publicized enough in the media nor reflected in international aid platforms.
This paper discusses KSA’s aid in detail, outlining the various categories of aid, where it is dispersed (by country and region), to which sectors, and how it has evolved over time. Moreover, it covers KSA’s assistance to developing countries in their quest to reach the Susta