Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Oraib Al-Rantawi
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There can be no peace in Sudan as long as the Gulf states back the RSF militia
The fighting in Sudan between the army and the Rapid Support Forces militia has passed the one hundred day mark, and its impact on civilians has been devastating. Thousands of people have been killed and wounded, and millions have been displaced. Many people fear that Sudan is heading for...
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Netanyahu’s current government and the West Bank
Bezalel Smotrich’s settlement plan is to annex the West Bank, increase settlements and bring an end to the Palestinian Authority. He works silently, away from the cameras and the Knesset podium. He is a professional politician who knows how to swim against the tide. Smotrich, who heads the Religious...
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Can Saudi Arabia normalise ties with Israel?
Israel wants to normalise ties with Saudi Arabia. The motivations behind this intriguing development are far from one-dimensional, as they involve economic aspirations, geopolitical dynamics and the thorny issue of Palestine. At the heart of Israel’s pursuit lies the allure of Saudi Arabia’s flourishing economy. Filled with riches and...
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Remembrance of Beirut’s deadly blast overshadowed by inaction
The annual commemoration of the Beirut blast has now become a symbol of something else: an outpouring of grief and emotion, accompanied by a staggering lack of action in identifying those responsible. Though the memory of the blast remains vivid, the pursuit of justice seems to have been forgotten....
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Geopolitical realities in the Middle East and the political mandate of the IAEA
Geopolitical events in the Middle East, as well as the recent visit of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, to Iran for nuclear programme talks, contribute to how quickly the world is changing. With rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia brokered by China,...
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Are UN resolutions effective?
On 25 July, 2023, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution titled “Promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue and tolerance in countering hate speech” which lists and condemns a number of religion-related acts of violence and hatred. In particular, the text “Strongly deplor all acts of violence against...
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The vicious cycle in Lebanon’s tax culture
On the brink of socio-economic collapse, Lebanon finds itself caught in a relentless and unforgiving cycle that threatens its very foundation. The heart of this vexing challenge lies in a vicious loop where the government struggles with providing essential services, while citizens withhold their tax payments demanding more in...
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Is the West turning against Kosovo to appease the Serbs?
In a globalised world where a largely stable international order of nation states with agreed-upon boundaries is in place, borders contested by rival nations are few and far between. Those who grow up in the Western world in particular are generally unaware of such places, or at least ignorant...
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New momentum: Turkiye and the EU are an inseparable duo
Turkiye and the EU are facing a positive turn in their otherwise bumpy diplomatic relations. A recent EU Council conclusion calls for a more geopolitical and positive outlook toward Turkiye, while the Vilnius NATO summit resulted in a warm welcome by everyone of Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s surprise...
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Did Sweden get into NATO?
“But don’t let appearances fool you. There’s always only one reality.” (Haruki Murakami) In the coming weeks and months, I imagine that Europeans and North Americans who concern themselves with international politics will experience conversations along the following lines: Person 1: “… so when Sweden joins NATO, Europe will...
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When justice is neither done nor seen to be done
On 9 March 2021 we were arrested by the Police before we could reach Elbit’s Shenstone factory where some of us intended to occupy the roof and decorate the factory with paint in the blood red colour of the victims of its drones. Elbit is an Israeli arms company....
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Will civil society be able to stop the war in Sudan?
It is very difficult for most people, no matter where they are from, to imagine that anyone would call for war to continue in a country already exhausted by decades of conflict and crises. Such a call is not natural. However, this is a war through which one group...
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Riots in France do not mean an alien takeover of Europe
It was entirely predictable that when riots erupted in France after 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk was killed by a police officer they would provide another opportunity for the far-right in France and beyond to blame immigration and foreigners. Claims surfaced online and in the socio-political sphere that the rioters were...
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In a world of competing conflicts, Sudan struggles for attention
In a world of competing conflicts, Sudan ranks low when it comes to getting the outside help its population so badly needs. Three months into factional fighting that has upended life – shutting hospitals and schools, emptying shelves and banks – foreign donors have coughed up only half the...
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Has the normalisation train reached the end of the line in Morocco?
In the past few days, two important positions were expressed that provide important information regarding the normalisation path between Morocco and Israel and the point it has reached. The first position was issued by Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, who announced the postponement of the Negev Forum until political...
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Has the Wagner mutiny ended Russia’s dream of hegemony in the global south?
Tensions which had long been brewing reached a climax on 24 June when the leader of the infamous Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced a march on Moscow against the Russian army and government, which he finally blamed for the invasion of Ukraine. The “mutiny” was essentially the culmination...
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Remembering the 1989 coup in Sudan
What: Military coup against civilian government in Sudan, beginning a 30-year-long dictatorship When: 30 June, 1989 Where: Khartoum, Sudan Sudan has long been known to be a country of coups, with its history subjected to a staggering 35 coups, attempted coups and coup plots since its independence in 1956...
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In the Taliban’s war on drugs, the West chooses condemnation instead of assistance
Governments and regimes throughout the world have been no strangers to using narcotics as a major revenue source. More recently, during this era of sanctions, that practice has been an effective tactic to circumvent such measures. Entities and figures in isolated states such as Venezuela and Iran represent key...
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Migrants in UAE turn to crypto to send remittances home
Muhammed Bilal used to have to wait his turn outside a money transfer office in the scorching heat of Dubai to send home $1,000 to his wife and parents in Pakistan each month, at a cost of about $7 per transfer. He has, since, switched to an app that...
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The UN’s plan to cease food aid in Gaza will cause thousands of job losses, increase poverty
Dozens of Palestinian children rallied on Tuesday morning in front of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) headquarters in Gaza City to protest against the halt and suspension of the World Food Program (WFP) in the besieged Gaza Strip. The protesters called on the head of the UNDP to reverse the...
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Unlike their media, Western nations recognise the necessity of Erdogan’s Turkiye
The month of May has seen a replay of the past decade of both Turkish politics and the Western nations’ dealings with it: the old rivalry between Turkiye’s secularist body politic and its ‘Islamist’-inspired ruling party, the exaggeration of both by Western media, and the significant ultranationalist base underlying...
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Student council elections in Palestine
The Islamic Bloc, the student branch of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, was victorious in May in the largest Palestinian universities of the West Bank, An-Najah and Birzeit universities. They are also the universities that most embody the indicators reflecting the partisan situation on the ground. On 16 May...
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Reconciliation with Assad is a strategic mistake and backward step for the Arab world
Syria’s return to the Arab League this month was momentous, not because it came as a complete surprise – it did not – nor because it changes much on the ground – it does not – but simply because it shows the unfortunate reality that Arab governments have not...
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Are Saudi Arabia and the UAE leading the way to a new order in the Middle East?
The foreign ministers of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and other Arab states agreed last month in Jeddah that the Arab world must play a leading role in efforts to broker an end to Syria’s ongoing conflict. This not only highlighted the attempts to rely less on foreign hegemons for...