The gradual decline in the number of suicide bombings in 2018 and 2019 continued in 2020, with a 14.5 percent drop from the previous year. Most of the suicide bombings were concentrated in three countries: Afghanistan, Somalia, and Syria. There was also a steep drop in the number of victims. Salafi-jihadist organizations again accounted for a decisive majority of the world’s suicide bombings, and were directly or indirectly responsible for 95 percent of all such attacks. Whether the decline in suicide bombings in recent years...
The Barcelona Process was launched in 1995 in order to strengthen the relations between countries on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Pursuant to this process, and in an effort to correct its lapses, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) was founded in July 2008 as a broad inter-governmental framework with 43 member countries, including Israel. After a hesitant start, the new regional body gradually shaped its organizational identity and scored successes, among them dozens of projects valued at billions of dollars in the realms...
French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Beirut following the massive explosion that rocked the city reflected the trend of growing French activity in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially in the context of the Libyan civil war and the conflict involving Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus. This activity represents an attempt to curb the weakening of French influence in the region in the face of mounting competition from other actors. Following the wave of terrorism that France suffered over the past decade, the Mediterranean has...
Turkey’s military intervention in Libya has recently enabled a series of victories for the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), to the detriment of Khalifa Haftar and his backers in Cairo, Abu Dhabi, and Moscow. The reversal of fortune for the GNA, which over the weekend forced Haftar to propose a ceasefire, marks a major shift in the trajectory of the Libyan civil war and will likely cement Turkey’s role as a key arbiter in the ultimate resolution of the conflict. Should the recent developments prove...
The Chinese global “donation drive” in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis has sparked criticism of Beijing in the international arena. United States and international elements claim that China is using “mask diplomacy” intentionally, to leverage its contributions for political purposes. Indeed, it appears that both Chinese corporations and the Chinese government are exploiting the opportunity created by the pandemic with shipments of donated aid, partly as a way of posing an alternative to the United States as a global leader.
The global, regional, and internal implications of the coronavirus are still not fully clear, but Israel’s 35th government will have no 100-day grace period. It must quickly restore the economy to full activity, despite the presence of the virus and the possibility of a renewed outbreak. On the security level, all the regimes in the Middle East are busy with the pandemic and internal affairs, and will most likely seek to avoid escalation in conflicts with Israel. At the same time, the risk of unplanned escalation (in Syria,...
A comparative analysis enables us to examine different approaches to the challenges posed by the corona pandemic around the world. Most countries have adopted a similar coping strategy, based on three components: the first is a lockdown policy (to varying degrees), in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus and avoid overloading the health system; the second is the improvement of preparedness and readiness in health systems; and the third is a broad economic aid package in response to the sudden economic shutdown and the deep...
The November 27, 2019 signing of the maritime delimitation agreement between Turkey and the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, has heightened concerns among many countries in the Eastern Mediterranean. The deal will negatively affect Turkey’s relations with Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel; pose further challenges to the already questionable plans for the EastMed pipeline; and raise the stakes for outside actors involved in the Libyan civil war, likely...
The ongoing protests across Iraq and Lebanon have invited references to a second Arab Spring, nearly nine years after a young Tunisian man set himself on fire and triggered a region-wide upheaval. The unrest comes on the heels of protests in Egypt and Jordan earlier this fall, a mass mobilization in Sudan this year, and a protest movement in Algeria that has endured since February. Recently, mass demonstrations have also broken out across Iran, suggesting the current wave may not remain confined to the Arab Middle East. Each of these...
Following President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw United States forces from the Kurdish zone in northern Syria, the international media and many political and military commentators hurried to crown Russia as the big winner in Syria and present it as the entity enjoying free rein there. The many summits President Putin has recently held with Middle East leaders (including a meeting with Turkish President Erdogan, a state visit to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and a summit in Russia hosted jointly with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah...
In the Arabian Sea, competition has been building for the past few years over control of the strategic ports adjacent to major trade routes. Power struggles have developed in the context of China’s efforts to consolidate its hold on key ports in the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, and Red Sea, as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Chinese penetration of this arena has both increased the Indians’ sense of a direct threat and sharpened the United States understanding that it must increase its strategic focus on this...
Three months into a renewed civil war, Libya has emerged as a violent epicenter of the struggle between competing Sunni camps across the Middle East. The current conflict has seen growing involvement of outside powers, including the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Russia, and France – all of which see in the Libyan chaos an opportunity to advance their interests in this failed North African state. For Israel, the situation in Libya has significance, albeit indirect, in four respects: the impact of the Libyan turmoil on...
