THE BRIEFING – FEBRUARY 2021
February 2021The people of the Middle East often seem to have more than their share of the world’s tragedies. Some make it to the news, others barely, but all leave deep scars and questions of whether their lives have value, or whether they and their families have a safe and prosperous future. Last weekend, a fuel tanker explosion at an Iran–Afghanistan […]
THE BRIEFING – JANUARY 2021
January 2021The Briefing’s Middle East analyst outlines the factors that will shape the next year in the region. Another year starts with hopes, fears, anxieties and prayers. It is almost impossible to remember that last year began with the US strike against a major Iranian defence figure, Qassim Soleimani, which led many to think that 2020 could bring war with massive […]
THE BRIEFING – NOVEMBER 2020
November 2020Middle East leaders and peoples have been as interested in the outcome of the US presidential elections as have those in the West. Although it is too early to see what a Biden policy towards the Middle East will be, the goals and policies of US administrations for the region affect the lives of millions. It is expected that Biden […]
THE BRIEFING – OCTOBER 2020
October 2020A long-contested enclave on the fringe of the Middle East hit the headlines this month as a new upsurge of fighting claimed at least 300 lives in Nagorno–Karabakh. This mountainous enclave (known as Artsakh by Armenians) neighbours Iran, is near neighbour to Turkey, Russia and Georgia, and sits between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Despite its majority Armenian population, it was made an autonomous zone within Azerbaijan when both states came under Russian control in the 1920s. There have been cycles of clashes since the collapse of the Soviet Union and a 1988 decision by the enclave to become as an independent republic. Full-scale fighting between 1992 and 1994 killed tens of […]
THE BRIEFING – SEPTEMBER 2020
September 2020Parts of the region are seeing welcome signs of peace this month, even as Lebanon struggled to pick itself up from a massive disaster in its capital. August’s explosion at the port in Beirut inflicted unprecedented damage across the Lebanese capital and wrecked its main export and import hub. Over 200 people died, thousands were injured and an estimated 300,000 […]
JULY MIDDLE EAST BRIEFING: Lifelines under threat
July 2020The vulnerability of many of the essential ingredients for peace and security – freedom from conflict, basic utilities, health and food security, and freedom of belief– were exposed once again in another challenging month in the region. In Turkey, President Erdogan has ordered that Hagia Sophia, Istanbul’s fifth century basilica and a World Heritage Site, should become a mosque again. The structure […]
The Briefing – June 2020
June 2020While the COVID-19 pandemic continued to add new layers of distress in the region, there were signs of God at work. WATCH NOW: SAT-7 TÜRK reports on the easing of restrictions in Turkey Turkey was one of the first countries to be affected by the virus. Initially, its response was more successful than that of most European countries and […]
The Briefing – May 2020
May 2020Public attention at home and in the Middle East and North Africa understandably turned inward in recent months as we faced the COVID-19 pandemic. But for others the pandemic has been a cover for more menacing activities. Since January 2020 there has been a surge in attacks by so-called Islamic State (IS) groups in Syria and Iraq. Eastern areas of […]