Hazem Ayyad

Hazem Ayyad is a Jordanian writer and political analyst specialising in Arab and West Asian affairs. He holds an MA in political science having completed a thesis on the law of the sea and fisheries

October 28, 2022 | Hazem Ayyad

What will become of the American-Saudi review in relations?

The Wall Street Journal reported Saudi officials privately saying that the kingdom could sell US Treasury bonds held by Riyadh if Congress passed legislation against OPEC. While American newspaper...

Published in: Article, Asia & Americas, International Organisations, Middle East, OPEC, Opinion, Saudi Arabia, US
October 7, 2022 | Hazem Ayyad

The geopolitical consequences of the OPEC+ agreement

Amir Hossein Zamani Nia, Iran's OPEC governor, announced when he left a meeting with representatives of the 13 member states of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and...

Published in: Article, Asia & Americas, Europe & Russia, International Organisations, Iran, Israel, Middle East, OPEC, Opinion, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Ukraine, US, Yemen
August 5, 2022 | Hazem Ayyad

The erosion of Israeli deterrence and its reflection on the West Bank

Israeli Defence Minister, Benny Gantz, summed up the tense scene in the Gaza envelope by saying: Life will not be normal in the Gaza Strip as long as the...

Published in: Article, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Palestine
February 10, 2022 | Hazem Ayyad

Will Xi and Putin succeed in creating a 'new era'?

Putin used his visit to Beijing on Friday, 4 February, to promote a new gas deal with China, estimated at $117.5 billion to escape the expected sanctions of NATO...

Published in: Article, Asia & Americas, China, Europe & Russia, International Organisations, NATO, Opinion, Russia
February 3, 2022 | Hazem Ayyad

Why do Israeli leaders fear a political vacuum in the region?

During his speech at the annual Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned against the vacuum that the US looks like...

Published in: Article, Asia & Americas, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Palestine, US
November 12, 2021 | Hazem Ayyad

SDF separatist forces between Turkey and Russia

On the evening of Tuesday 9 November, Turkish warplanes targeted separatist elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Syrian city of Qamishli. The drone attack is not...

Published in: Article, Asia & Americas, Europe & Russia, Middle East, Opinion, Russia, Syria, Turkey, US
March 22, 2021 | Hazem Ayyad

The Alaska talks between China and the US have repercussions for the Gulf and the Suez Canal

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan have met with Yang Jiechi, the most senior ranking official in the Chinese diplomatic corps, as well...

Published in: Africa, Article, Asia & Americas, China, Egypt, Iran, Middle East, Opinion, Saudi Arabia, UAE, US, Yemen
March 3, 2021 | Hazem Ayyad

The attack on the Helios Ray leaves Gulf security hanging in the balance

The Arabian Gulf has turned into an arena for confrontation and possible conflict between Iran and Israel now that it has become certain that Iranian elements attacked the MV...

Published in: Article, Iran, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Saudi Arabia, UAE
February 25, 2021 | Hazem Ayyad

Kuwaiti and Qatari mediation is effective and welcome

Kuwait hosted some meetings a few days ago between official delegations from Qatar, the UAE and Egypt. The Qatari delegation met with UAE officials on 22 February with the...

Published in: Article, Kuwait, Middle East, Opinion, Qatar
January 6, 2021 | Hazem Ayyad

What's next for Egypt after the GCC Al-Ula summit?

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in the Saudi Arabian city of Al-Ula has ended the blockade imposed on Qatar by the Kingdom, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt in...

Published in: Africa, Article, Egypt, Middle East, Opinion, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE
January 6, 2021 | Hazem Ayyad

A new US law is like a knife in the back of Sudan and its people

The US Senate joined the House of Representatives last week to overturn President Donald Trump's veto of the National Defence Authorisation Act. The Act covered the approval of the...

Published in: Africa, Article, Asia & Americas, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Sudan, US
July 3, 2020 | Hazem Ayyad

Israel's annexation plan plots a new course for the conflict

As expected, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed Israel's annexation plan, for one day apparently, on the pretext of finishing his consultations with an American delegation. His decision was not...

Published in: Article, Asia & Americas, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Palestine, US
February 21, 2020 | Hazem Ayyad

What's new about Israeli threats against Hamas?

Israel's senior officials have been hurling threats at the Gaza Strip and Palestinian resistance groups for months now. Whether security-related or linked to political events and Israeli elections, the...

Published in: Article, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Palestine
June 21, 2019 | Hazem Ayyad

Khashoggi's ghost haunts the Saudi Crown Prince

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman tried to pre-empt the release of the final report of the international inquiry into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by giving...

Published in: Article, Europe & Russia, International Organisations, Middle East, Opinion, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UN
January 25, 2019 | Hazem Ayyad

Jordan cannot afford to be a passive victim of the US-China race for global hegemony

The head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, Nadav Argaman, has issued a warning about Chinese influence in the Zionist state. He is not the first Israeli official...

Published in: Article, Asia & Americas, China, Israel, Jordan, Middle East, Opinion, Palestine, US
January 4, 2019 | Hazem Ayyad

Netanyahu revels in the enthusiastic Arab normalisation with Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last Monday that some Arab countries consider Israel "an indispensable ally" in the fight against Iran and Daesh. During a visit to Rio...

Published in: Arab League, Article, Asia & Americas, International Organisations, Israel, Israeli Elections, Middle East, Opinion, Palestine, US
December 21, 2018 | Hazem Ayyad

Hamas, Moscow and the implications of Haniyeh's visit

The Russian Foreign Ministry has rejected objections from its Israeli counterpart about the upcoming visit of the head of the Hamas political bureau to Moscow. According to Israel's Channel...

Published in: Article, Europe & Russia, International Organisations, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Palestine, Russia, UAE, UN
July 20, 2018 | Hazem Ayyad

Where are relations between Jordan, Qatar heading?

Despite the fact that the Jordanian Labour Minister Samir Murad visited Doha and before that, the Minister of Higher Education Adel Tuwaisi, their visits occurring within less than two...

Published in: Article, Jordan, Middle East, Opinion, Qatar
June 27, 2018 | Hazem Ayyad

The problematic relations between Hamas and Moscow

Hamas is not the first to move towards Moscow as Fatah, the PA leadership and the PLO did this before, when it rushed to open up to Moscow and...

Published in: Article, Europe & Russia, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Palestine, Russia
June 22, 2018 | Hazem Ayyad

Concerns and aspirations surround Netanyahu's surprise visit to Jordan

Benjamin Netanyahu paid a surprise visit to Jordan this week. The Israeli Prime Minister went to Amman in advance of the forthcoming tour of the region by US presidential...

Published in: Article, Israel, Jordan, Middle East, Opinion, Palestine
May 4, 2018 | Hazem Ayyad

Trump's latest Secretary of State failed on his Mid-East tour

Despite the momentum that Israel gave to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's recent tour to the Middle East, with its missile attacks on Aleppo and Hama and Prime...

Published in: Article, Asia & Americas, Iran, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Palestine, US

Hazem Ayyad

Items by Hazem Ayyad