We all have but one planet. The danger of nuclear war, climate emergency and ecological disasters mean that maintaining peace is an imperative for the very survival of humanity. Wars destabilize not only parts of our globe - they add to the universal insecurity and undermine the possibility of addressing shared threats.
La successione al vertice degli Emirati Arabi Uniti (EAU) era, nei fatti, già una realtà da quasi dieci anni. Ecco perché la scomparsa a 73 anni di Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, emiro di Abu Dhabi e presidente degli EAU, non avrà ripercussioni sulla politica interna emiratina, né sulla postura internazionale degli Emirati.
On May 15th, Lebanon's citizens will head to the polls amidst a national economic meltdown, described by the World Bank as one of the three most severe crises seen witnessed since the 1950s. Over this period, the country has faced a financial default, a pandemic, a year-long political paralysis, and one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. The stakes for these elections are high, but the casted ballots are unlikely to have a concrete impact on Lebanon’s political landscape.
I russi si ritirano da Kharkiv e gli ucraini colpiscono un’altra nave della flotta di Mosca nel Mar Nero. Sull’adesione della Finlandia alla Nato, Erdogan gela gli alleati: “Non sono favorevole”.
The MED This Week newsletter provides expert analysis and informed insights on the most significant developments in the MENA region, bringing together unique opinions on the topic and reliable foresight on future scenarios. Today, we focus on Syria, recently back in the spotlight following the sixth edition of the EU-promoted Brussels Conference and Assad’s recent visit to Tehran.
As thousands of Lebanese expats queued in long lines under simmering heat to vote for change, many commentators rushed to hail the turnout of expat voting as significant, a week prior to local votes. In reality, and while a small percentage of elected MPs might change from the 2018 Parliament, the traditional political parties will retain their seats, with one potential exception: the Free Patriotic Movement – party of the sitting President Michel Aoun and his U.S. sanctioned son-in-law.
As Russia’s war against Ukraine intensifies, US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, among others, have called for President Vladimir Putin to be excluded from the Group of Twenty (G20) annual meeting in Bali, to be held in November 2022.
The norm since the end of the civil war in Lebanon in 1990 has been for the population to pay two bills for a day’s worth of electricity: one to Électricité du Liban (EDL) — a public utility provider — and the other to the private generator of each neighborhood. Master plans were drafted yet never executed, much like the promised reforms of the electricity sector, which never materialized. Today, Lebanon faces multiple crises and is in free fall. Amidst the meltdown, the energy sector has been the most affected, with hour-long blackouts.
Saudi and Kuwait ambassadors’ return to Beirut in early April marked an initial rapprochement in Gulf-Lebanese ties after a five-month long diplomatic crisis. Last October, Saudi Arabia – followed by Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – had withdrawn its ambassador after the then Information Minister, George Kordahi, criticised Riyadh-led military interventions in Yemen.
Almost two years have passed since August 4, 2020, a date permanently etched onto the hearts and minds of the Lebanese, wherever they may be. What else is there to say and which hasn’t already been said about one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, where hundreds of tons of poorly stored ammonium nitrate exploded?
