June, 2022

• 5 June

  Higher oil prices are giving Algeria’s regime breathing room

  

  Until recently, it seemed as though Algeria’s generals were running out of options. After the 2014 oil price crash, the country experienced years of budgetary constraints and a collapsing currency, followed by the rise of a national protest movement, known as the Hirak, in 2019 that led to the removal …

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• 5 June

  Egypt and India: Time to rebuild relations

  

  Asia is undergoing a world-historical geopolitical transformation. The rise of the Indo-Pacific as a coherent geoeconomic and geopolitical system coincides with the rise of what this author has previously termed the “Indo-Abrahamic,” an emerging transregional order connecting India to West Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. Until now, the geographic vastness …

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• 5 June

  Can a new EU strategy bring EU and Gulf actors closer together?

  

  Relations between the European Union (EU) and the Gulf countries have been on life support for a long time. Ever since an early push for a free trade agreement between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foundered in 2008, few serious efforts have been made to revive the …

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• 5 June

  The war in Ukraine and the new reality in Asian oil markets

  

  One of the main long-term consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the restructuring of export flows in the global oil market. This will have direct consequences for Middle Eastern players, forcing them to choose whether to compete with Russia and each other or continue to coordinate their efforts. In …

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• 5 June

  Traffickers use refugees to smuggle drugs from Iran to Turkey

  

  There are growing claims and indications that refugees illegally crossing the Iranian-Turkish border, the route of an exodus from Afghanistan to the West, are forced to smuggle drugs by their traffickers. The paths of refugees and drug traffickers have crossed at the porous Iranian-Turkish border, the route of tens of …

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• 5 June

  Turkey continues regional initiative with meetings with Israel, Egypt

  

  Turkey’s foreign minister says he will gather with his Egyptian and Israeli counterparts, possibly with Defense Minister Hulusi Akar accompanying him to Israel. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that he would get together with his Egyptian and Israeli counterparts soon, in line with Turkey’s regional diplomacy efforts. “There are …

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• 5 June

  Turkey’s regional ‘charm offensive’ is on track, but not without caveats

  

  The decision by Tel Aviv University to establish academic bridges with three Turkish institutions reflects Jerusalem’s growing interest in Ankara’s policy of rapprochement. Tel Aviv University announced April 26 a new academic collaboration with three Turkish institutions: Koc, Ozyegin and Sabanci. “The purpose of the initiative is to promote academic …

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• 5 June

  Lavrov Confirms Common Position on Syria Return to Arab League

  

  Lavrov said Russia and Bahrain have a common position on Syria’s return to the Arab League, according to al-Watan. Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, reiterated on Tuesday the need for a political solution to the crisis in Syria in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 of 2015. He declared …

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• 5 June

  Recap: Turkey Moves in Northeast Syria

  

  Turkey has promised to root out “terrorists” from Northeast Syria, as part of its military operation in the Northeast, despite U.S. pressure. Has the Turkish operation in Northeast Syria begun? Recent declarations by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who promised to eradicate “terrorism from the Tal Rifaat and Manbij” …

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• 5 June

  RIMPAC 2022: 26 Countries To Launch World’s Largest Naval Exercises Amidst Chinese Expansionism in the Pacific

  

  As the Russo-Ukrainian war continues to rage on through its 100th day, things are getting frosty over with RIMPAC. Twenty-six countries headed by the United States will be conducting Exercise RIMPAC 2022 from June 29 to August 4 in what is the world’s biggest naval exercise to date. It has …

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