Middle East & North Africa Archive

Last month’s elections for Iran’s parliament and Assembly of Experts were complicated by the elaborate and extensive vetting procedure that filters out candidates considered too radical for the system. The overwhelming majority of those disqualified candidates belonged to the progressive end of the spectrum, usually referred to as reformists. Yet despite the authorities’ efforts to manage the outcome, Iran’s hard-liners still lost their majority in Iran’s 290-member parliament, or Majlis, while moderates won a majority in the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body tasked with choosing the next supreme leader. Key hard-liners, including two prominent clerics from the Assembly of […]

The United Nations faces two nightmare scenarios in Syria, and U.N. officials have little or no power to choose between them. In one scenario, the current cessation of hostilities between the regime and rebels will break down irrevocably in the coming weeks or months, unleashing a new spiral of killing. That would instigate furious fights inside the Security Council and leave U.N. mediators with no cards left to play. In the second scenario, the cessation of hostilities, which has been in place for 10 days despite multiple violations, could prove to be more durable than most observers expected. That might […]

In this week’s Trend Lines Podcast, Richard Gowan, a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and WPR columnist, joins host Peter Dörrie to discuss the changing nature of peacekeeping, including the rise of regional peacekeepers, the role of the United Nations and the politics behind peacekeeping. Listen:Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes | RSS Relevant articles on WPR: Less Talk, More Action for International Peacekeepers in 2016? ‘Carnivores’ Battle ‘Herbivores’ for Future of U.N.’s Peacemaking Soul Technical Fixes Not Enough to Shore Up U.N. Peacekeeping CAR Scandal Reflects U.N. Peacekeeping’s Loss of Strategic Direction Richard Gowan is an associate fellow at […]

Last week, U.S. warplanes bombed the Libyan town of Sabratha, targeting militants of the self-declared Islamic State. The move is the most recent illustration of the dilemma presented by Libya’s political and security stalemate, characterized by political infighting and militia violence. The Islamic State’s emergence in the country in early 2015 has given the situation regional implications. The United States is weighing its next steps, amid ongoing questions about its role in the 2011 NATO intervention that some see as the source of today’s chaos. The following articles are free for nonsubscribers until March 17. Stabilizing a Chaotic Libya Libya’s […]

Over the weekend, The New York Times ran two major articles looking at Hillary Clinton’s role in the Obama administration’s deliberations over whether or not to intervene in the Libyan civil war in 2011. They offer what is, at times, a damning critique that portrays Clinton, then the U.S. secretary of state, as eager to get involved in Libya, but less interested in what might come after the U.S. intervention. A deeper look at the articles, however, suggests a greater indictment of President Barack Obama for his willingness to get involved in Libya but not to see the mission through. […]

“We’re all in this together,” said Ali al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s veteran oil minister, at an oil conference in Houston last week. The oil market “could drown in oversupply,” as the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned in January, and global prices are at their lowest level since 2003, so all petrostates are bleeding. Venezuela is on the brink of bankruptcy; Russia’s economy is expected to shrink for the second year in a row; and Nigeria and Azerbaijan are seeking emergency loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The economic hardship experienced by its members makes one wonder why […]