The Civil State (dawla madanīya) – A New Political Term?
In the aftermath of the Egyptian uprising in 2011, observers of Egyptian politics will notice immediately the remarkable use of the term ‘dawla madanīya’ (Civil […]
See MoreThe EU’s poor record in promoting democracy on the Arabian Peninsula
The populations of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have often been depicted as “politically apathetic”. The first paragraph of this essay stresses the opposite by […]
See MoreFacing Changing Realities in the Arab World: Lessons for the West
As events of the Arab Spring are still unfolding, changing or even escalating two years after the initial start of the revolutions, the West can […]
See MoreEnergy Markets and Regional Integration in North Africa
The Arab uprisings, whether successful or not, unleashed a variety of new possibilities in many policy fields for the North African countries. One opportunity will […]
See MoreSummary and Review of Chatham House paper – ‘Syria: Prospects for Intervention’
Conflict in Syria is escalating by the day, with scenes of armed combat in Damascus and Aleppo sparking a cacophonous call for overt international intervention […]
See MorePakistan’s Competing Interests
This paper addresses the goals of Pakistan’s foreign policy with regard to the US and India and argues that Pakistan is caught between incompatible goals. […]
See MoreIran in a Global Context: Summary of a Lecture by Dr Mostafa Zahrani
Former Iranian diplomat Dr Mostafa Zahrani gave a lecture to Iranian and German students in Tehran on 11 September 2012. Dr Zahrani assessed the current […]
See MoreProspects for the Middle East – Democratization and the Arab Spring
Roughly one year after the first protests in the region, what are the outlooks of the Arab Spring trajectories on the prospects for democratization? Relying […]
See MorePower struggle in the Gulf: An assessment of the Saudi threat perception towards Iran’s nuclear program
This essay examines the threat perception of the Saudi public as well as the ruling elite towards Iran and its nuclear program. The demonstrations in […]
See MoreICC Ratification Patterns in the Middle East
This paper investigates the relationship between the ICC and the Arab states. Based on different existing theoretical explanations of international regimes, the reasons for Arab […]
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