Middle East and North Africa | ISPI
Skip to main content

Search form

  • INSTITUTE
  • CLERICI PALACE
  • CONTACT US
  • MED2019MED2019

  • login
  • EN
  • IT
Home
  • INSTITUTE
  • CLERICI PALACE
  • CONTACT US
  • MED2019MED2019
  • Home
  • RESEARCH
    • CENTRES
    • Asia
    • Cybersecurity
    • Europe and Global Governance
    • Business Scenarios
    • Middle East and North Africa
    • Radicalization and International Terrorism
    • Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia
    • Infrastructure
    • PROGRAMMES
    • Africa
    • Latin America
    • Energy Security
    • Migration
    • Transatlantic Relations
    • Religions and International Relations
  • ISPI SCHOOL
  • Publications
  • EVENTS
  • BUSINESS PROGRAM
  • EXPERTS

  • Home
  • RESEARCH
    • CENTRES
    • Asia
    • Cybersecurity
    • Europe and Global Governance
    • Business Scenarios
    • Middle East and North Africa
    • Radicalization and International Terrorism
    • Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia
    • Infrastructure
    • PROGRAMMES
    • Africa
    • Latin America
    • Energy Security
    • Migration
    • Transatlantic Relations
    • Religions and International Relations
  • ISPI SCHOOL
  • Publications
  • EVENTS
  • BUSINESS PROGRAM
  • EXPERTS

Middle East and North Africa

Kingdom of Militias: Libya’s Second War of Post-Qadhafi Succession

In early April 2019, General Khalifa Haftar instructed the Libyan National Army (LNA) to take Tripoli by force, initiating Libya’s Second War of Post-Qadhafi Succession. Drawing upon the Libya-Analysis proprietary real time militia mapping project, this paper examines the main armed groups involved in the war: ascertaining their strengths, weaknesses, command and control structures, motivations, alliances, military capacities, and financing. It illustrates how all armed groups in Libya exploit the country’s dysfunctional war economy.

Friday, 31 May, 2019 - 15:30
  • Read more about Kingdom of Militias: Libya’s Second War of Post-Qadhafi Succession

Saudi Arabia’s New Urbanism: Which Vision?

Architecture and urbanism are definitely taking the centre stage in Saudi Arabia’s effort to increase its international outreach and visibility, as exemplified by the Kingdom’s decision to participate, for the first time, to the 2018 Venice Biennale of Architecture.

Thursday, 16 May, 2019 - 11:00
  • Read more about Saudi Arabia’s New Urbanism: Which Vision?

Gulf Countries: The Struggle for a Common Identity in a Divided GCC

The concept of khaleeji identity, also referred to sometimes as Gulf identity or identity of the Eastern Arabia, is characterized by its fluidity and is by no means a univocally recognized one.

Thursday, 16 May, 2019 - 10:30
  • Read more about Gulf Countries: The Struggle for a Common Identity in a Divided GCC

Gulf National Days: Military Symbols and Patriotism

In recent years, the display of military symbols, through parades, public speeches and clothing, has become a salient feature of National Day celebrations in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This dimension of national holidays tells much about social and cultural transformations in these countries: through these displays, rulers are promoting some sort of militarized nationalism[1] among citizens to enhance social cohesion, thus intertwining military strength with shared identity and patriotism.

Thursday, 16 May, 2019 - 10:15
  • Read more about Gulf National Days: Military Symbols and Patriotism

Art is Power: Qatar’s Reaction to the Blockade

In the current moment it is not possible to consider trajectories of museums and nation-building in the Arabian Gulf  without taking into account the ongoing diplomatic crisis, or blockade[1] that began on 5th June 2017. On this date, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt abruptly closed their borders and cut diplomatic ties with Qatar amidst accusations that the small Gulf state supported terrorism, had become too close to Iran and was meddling with their own internal affairs.

Thursday, 16 May, 2019 - 10:30
  • Read more about Art is Power: Qatar’s Reaction to the Blockade

Decrypting Sectarian Myths in Bahrain and Kuwait

When it comes to nation-building strategies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the role of religion, and particularly of sectarian differences, is difficult to ignore. In the below, we explore the ways in which Bahrain and Kuwait, two states with sizable Shiʾi populations and relatively active legislatures, formulate national narratives around these sectarian differences.

Thursday, 16 May, 2019 - 10:00
  • Read more about Decrypting Sectarian Myths in Bahrain and Kuwait

How MbS Is Rethinking Saudi Nationalism

The outbreak of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) crisis on 5th June 2017 led to dramatic polarization between United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain plus Egypt and, on the other hand, Qatar, due to Doha’s alternative foreign policy supporting Muslim Brothers’ political ideology, especially during the Arab spring revolts. On the other side of the GCC, Kuwait tries to multiply its mediator efforts and Oman has strengthened its commercial relations with Qatar to avoid its isolation.

Thursday, 16 May, 2019 - 10:30
  • Read more about How MbS Is Rethinking Saudi Nationalism

Identity-Seekers: Nationhood and Nationalism in the Gulf Monarchies

The Gulf monarchies have been experiencing deep economic, social and generational changes; at the same time, open rivalries and subtle competitions are undermining the Arab Gulf (khaleeji) identity as a shared value. National history museums, art exhibitions, traditional festivals and military symbols are increasingly adopted by the governments as top-down tools of nation-building. What are the strategies to instil national awareness, and in which direction? How are concepts like citizenship, nationhood and belonging redefined in the post-oil era?

Thursday, 16 May, 2019 - 11:00
  • Read more about Identity-Seekers: Nationhood and Nationalism in the Gulf Monarchies

Middle Eastern States in the Horn of Africa: Security Interactions and Power Projection

In December 2017, at the end of a bilateral meeting, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Sudanese counterpart Umar al-Bashir announced a deal to restore Suakin, a ruined Ottoman port town on Sudan’s Red Sea coast. The agreement also gave Turkey the right to build a naval dock to maintain civilian and military vessels. More than one year later there are doubts as to how much work Turkey will do beyond restoring the Ottoman town.

Tuesday, 30 April, 2019 - 15:30
  • Read more about Middle Eastern States in the Horn of Africa: Security Interactions and Power Projection

Libya's Chaos: In Search of a Security Strategy

On 6 April the US temporarily pulled out its forces from Libya following the offensive on Tripoli launched by the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by General Khalifa Haftar, a military operation that has plunged the North African country into a new phase of the civil war.

Thursday, 11 April, 2019 - 11:00
  • Read more about Libya's Chaos: In Search of a Security Strategy
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • next
  • last

About ISPI - Work with us - Experts - Contact - For Media - Privacy

ISPI (Italian Institute for International Political Studies) - Palazzo Clerici (Via Clerici 5 - 20121 Milan) - P.IVA IT02141980157