رند عزم

The Jordanian government recently introduced the Local Administration Bill, whose defining feature is the institutional separation between elected political authority and appointed executive authority, vested in the elected municipal council, from the executive and financial authority assigned to an appointed Executive Director. The bill also introduces several significant reforms, including increasing women’s representation to 30 percent, requiring municipalities to adopt…

This study examines public digital discourse across the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman) concerning relations with the United States during the period from 27 February to 30 April 2026. The study’s timeframe encompasses three principal phases: the initial shock phase marked by the outbreak of the…

The American–Israeli–Iranian war has reshaped Gulf perceptions of the United States in ways that extend far beyond the battlefield. Drawing on more than 55,600 original digital discussions produced by nearly 29,800 unique users across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, this study examines how one of the region’s most significant security crises transformed public digital discourse on the American security…

Military strikes are designed to achieve specific security objectives, but they also generate profound social meanings. The insights captured in the Politics and Society Institute’s report on Syrian digital discourse following the May 2026 Jordanian strikes on southern Syria reveal that the meaning constructed by the Syrian public extended far beyond Amman’s declared objectives. Syrians did not focus on drug…

On April 18th, 2026, “Jabhat Al Amal Al Islami” party announced its intention to rename itself as “Al Ummah” Party. When the government approved the change a few days later, what drew attention was not what the party changed, but what it chose to keep: the green color held its place at the core of the party’s visual identity, the…