Regional Policies

Despite Benjamin Netanyahu’s rhetoric about pressing ahead with a project of Israeli regional dominance, alongside political discourse centered on reshaping the Middle East and transforming Israel’s security doctrine from defense to regional influence, it is becoming increasingly clear that important reassessments are now taking place within Israel regarding the lessons drawn from the wars it has fought since October 7,…

Introduction: Why Has Intelligence Become an Instrument of Regional Power? The Middle East is no longer governed, as it was during the twentieth century, solely through the balance of conventional armies, the size of military arsenals, or formal diplomatic alliances. The deeper transformation witnessed across the region over the past two decades lies in the shift of the center of…

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s visit to Syria comes at a complex transitional moment in the region, not only because it represents the first visit of this level since the major transformations Syria has undergone, but also because it reflects the fact that Lebanese-Syrian relations are no longer merely in a formative phase. Rather, they have already entered a stage…

The historic turning point Hezbollah is experiencing today extends far beyond the scene of its ongoing, intermittent war with Israel, which has continued for nearly three years (with the exception of the ceasefire period and temporary truce, which was never a full truce but rather closer to de-escalation, particularly from the Israeli side). Another challenge, no less significant or dangerous…

Hours of waiting at the King Hussein Bridge may prove more consequential than major political decisions. From this perspective, the significance of the recent agreement signed between the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and Royal Jordanian Airlines becomes clear. Signed in the presence of the Ministers of Awqaf and Transport, the five-year agreement aims to provide integrated services for…

Lebanon today does not appear to be standing at the threshold of a political settlement so much as it is embedded within an intensive phase of crisis management—one in which balances are being carefully regulated to prevent explosion, while the conditions for a genuine resolution remain absent. The intersecting political and field-level indicators suggest that the key regional and international…

What is actually advancing is a more disciplined style of decision-making organized around one overriding objective: protecting the regime. If that objective requires hardline policies, the system will produce hardline policies. If it requires negotiations, the system will produce negotiations. The overlap of authorities functions as a mechanism of survival rather than a sign of weakness. Ghalibaf’s importance lies in…

In parallel with the ongoing war and the current phase of negotiations between the United States and Iran—and the debates and “day after” scenarios that follow—there are negotiations of no lesser importance and powerful dynamics taking shape in the region, but on a different front: the economic one. In particular, large-scale economic projects and the logistics networks they entail have…

The announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the launch of direct negotiations with Lebanon, in parallel with U.S. efforts to convene a preparatory meeting in Washington, marked a turning point in the course of the ongoing war. It shifted the Lebanese file from the framework of open military confrontation to the threshold of an unstable negotiating track. This…

Introduction: When Social Media Becomes a Battlefield Since October 7, 2023, war has no longer been confined to the ground. A parallel front has opened in the digital space — a contest over narrative, over image, over who controls what reaches the eyes of millions. But this front did not emerge suddenly, nor was it born of the Flood. In…