Analysis
Since 2012, the Week in Review keeps you ahead of the curve with in-depth analysis of the trends in the region, based on Al-Monitor’s world class reporting.
Iran’s days of rage on Soleimani anniversary have their limits
Can Israel live with an Iranian nuclear deal? Maybe so.
![Iran protest](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2022-01/GettyImages-1237492991.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=y2Hh5lyz)
Middle East elections had consequences in 2021
Elections in Israel, Iran and Iraq shook up status quo; Syria’s presidential contest a blow to the UN process; Libya and Palestine took a pass on elections, with consequences as well.
![An Orthodox Jewish man casts his vote as Israelis head to the polls on March 23, 2021 in Bnei Brak, Israel.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-12/GettyImages-1231884662.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=1UwWGq69)
Gaza at Christmas: a bleak outlook
A Christmas tree brings some joy; Gaza’s Jewish quarter and a new wall; "We want to live" protests Hamas policies; Hamas, PIJ killings continue; Racism persists against Black Gazans.
![Gaza Christmas](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-12/GettyImages-1237147355.jpg?h=1d34674f&itok=PrSfL_vi)
Erdogan shakes up foreign policy in response to economic crisis
Turkey's Central Bank rate cut hasn’t stopped the lira’s free fall, as Turkey announces an initiative for rapprochement with Armenia.
![Turkey lira](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-12/GettyImages-1354245781.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=5FCn-OPz)
Israel pleased with US pivot to pressure in Iran nuclear talks
Pessimism and pressure are the buzz in Vienna, but the Iran nuclear talks still have a pulse.
![Iran nuclear](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-12/GettyImages-1320012428.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=Ktzwy8DV)
Israel weighs options, timing of possible military strike on Iran
Despite deadlock in Vienna, expert/technical talks may have a faint pulse.
![Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-12/GettyImages-1236981147.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=UIxfVW2M)
Islamic State down but not out in Syria and Iraq: Pentagon report
Also, Al-Monitor’s on-the-ground reporting on the security situations in Syria and Iraq, including the impact of the Turkish lira crisis on Idlib.
![US soldiers patrol an area near Syria's northeastern Semalka border crossing with Iraq's Kurdish autonomous territory, on Nov. 1, 2021.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-11/GettyImages-1236278823.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=WfSECR33)
AI played 'big role' in approach to pandemic, says UAE artificial intelligence minister
Omar Al Olama, the UAE’s AI Minister, explains how COVID-19 has been an accelerator for AI applications; why the US and China would benefit from a ‘constant dialogue’ on AI; and why ‘the new roads that we need to be building right now are roads in the digital realm.’
![Omar Al Olama in November 2019.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-11/omar.jpeg?h=a5ae579a&itok=WnBSIDdC)
Mansour Abbas’s star turn rattles Israeli politics
Also: Syrian Kurdish leader not worried — yet — about Turkish invasion (exclusive).
![Mansour Abbas, head of Israel's conservative Islamic Raam party, speaks in his capacity as Knesset deputy speaker during a plenum session on the state budget on Sept. 2, 2021.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-11/GettyImages-1235015467.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=Ie2O8mnZ)
Egypt, UAE play essential role in containing Sudan-Ethiopia crises
US fears state collapse, regional spillover in Horn of Africa.
![A youth is photographed holding the Tigrayan flag in the Sudanese village of Um Rakuba, home to over 20,000 refugees, on August 18, 2021, in Um Rakuba, Sudan](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-11/GettyImages-1234778379_0.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=U5m92k-b)
Pagination
Netanyahu, regional leaders hedge on possible Trump win in November
The Israeli prime minister is under pressure to deliver on a cease-fire during his Washington visit next week; Biden can’t heal Democrat divisions over Israel and the Gaza war.
![JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-07/GettyImages-1230516369.jpg?h=1d34674f&itok=-Zxq4qmm)
Lebanon FM warns of 'devastating’ regional war if Israel escalates campaign against Hezbollah
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Lebanon's top diplomat, Abdallah Bou Habib, adds that security in the south ultimately depends on a strong Lebanese army and an agreement on the border – not war.
![BERLIN, GERMANY - DECEMBER 15: Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib speaks to the media following talks with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on December 15, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. The two diplomats discussed mutual measures to prevent the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict from expanding to other regions, among other issues. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-07/GettyImages-1857491748.jpg?h=9855f42d&itok=rgoJZYYE)
US, Iran guarantors of shaky deterrence between Israel and Hezbollah
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is not ready to go to the mattresses over the killing of another senior commander on Wednesday, and Iran doesn't want a war while it favors the threat of confrontation as a deterrent.
![A portrait of Musa al-Sadr sits amid the rubble of a destroyed building in the heavily damaged, Hezbollah stronghold town of Aita al Chaab on June 29, 2024 in Aita al Chaab, Lebanon. Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been trading cross-border fire since the October 7 attacks, with the conflict escalating in May when the group launched a missile-carrying drone against Israel for the first time. The conflict intensified in June when Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israeli m](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-07/GettyImages-2159834748.jpg?h=4296c093&itok=iuOsSvRF)
G42-Microsoft partnership in Kenya 'just the beginning,' says UAE trade minister
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi discusses momentum in UAE trade with the US, the benefits of economic diversification and Africa’s priority in UAE trade policy.
![Indonesian President Joko Widodo (L) listens to a speech by United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi (R) during the inauguration of the newly built floating solar power plant on the water that can generate 192 mega watts of peak electricity in cooperation between the Indonesian government and Masdar from the UAE, at Cirata Reservoir, West Java, on November 9, 2023. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP) (Photo by BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-06/GettyImages-1771551969.jpg?h=1dfc45c8&itok=YsgRPZu4)