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.
Blinken warns Nile Dam talks could ‘boil over’
Biden’s nominee to be secretary of state promises "fully engaged” US policy in Horn of Africa, as the crisis between Ethiopia and Sudan escalates.
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Is Israel’s Arab Joint List breaking up ahead of March elections?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu campaigns in Nazareth for the Arab vote.
![Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the anti-coronavirus vaccination facility in the northern Israeli Arab city of Nazareth on January 13, 2021. - A group of Arab Israelis demonstrated against Netanyahu's visit to the fascililty in their city. Since July, thousands of Israelis have rallied each week to protest against the prime minister and the economic fallout from the pandemic. (Photo by Gil ELIYAHU / POOL / AFP) (Photo by GIL ELIYAHU/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2021/01/GettyImages-1230564935.jpg/GettyImages-1230564935.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=WyoOl6QC)
Hamas scrambles for relevance in post-normalization Middle East
Egypt urges Palestinian reconciliation in midst of diplomatic surge, as Hamas keeps options open with Iran and Syria.
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Four must-read books on Trump’s Middle East policies
What we learned from Michael Wolff, John Bolton and Bob Woodward about the Trump administration and the Middle East.
![US President Donald Trump (3L), US First lady Melania Trump (2L), Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (C), and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (3R) pose for a group photo with other leaders of the Muslim world during the inauguration of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology in Riyadh on May 21, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/12/GettyImages-686425474.jpg/GettyImages-686425474.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=U-_R57ns)
Sudan’s fragile transition boosted by turnaround in ties with US, Israel
Khartoum is also a key broker in the Nile River dam talks with Egypt and Ethiopia.
![A Sudanese man wearing a face mask waves his country's national flag during protests in the capital Khartoum to mark the second anniversary of the start of a revolt that toppled the previous government, on December 19, 2020. - Frustrated by the lack of change in their daily lives, thousands of demonstrators, mostly young, marched in several towns in Sudan. (Photo by ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP) (Photo by ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/12/GettyImages-1230208887.jpg/GettyImages-1230208887.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=dtsknMpU)
Iraq, KRG, Turkey find common ground in response to PKK
Kurdish group increasingly isolated; meanwhile, Syrian Kurds boxed in by Turkey, Russia and Assad.
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Rouhani, Biden hint at pathways to resume Iran deal
The Iranian president wants Biden to reverse Trump policies, not start a new round of talks; the US president-elect makes clear US regional partners will also have their say.
![GettyImages-1290749776.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/12/GettyImages-1290749776.jpg/GettyImages-1290749776.jpg?h=1641ce9c&itok=CV3KhBss)
No relief in sight for Mideast hotspots after catastrophic 2020
Conflict, disease, famine compound crises in Gaza, Yemen, Syria.
![Two Palestinian youths on crutches wearing a protective mask due to the Covid-19 pandemic, walk past graffiti depicting a disabled man carrying a national flag, during an event marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in Gaza City on December 3, 2020. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/12/GettyImages-1229922261.jpg/GettyImages-1229922261.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=k42at9PP)
Erdogan weighs new reality in US-Turkey ties under Biden
The Turkish president, after backing Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabagh, could feel emboldened to move in Syria, but anticipating the next administration may give pause.
![WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 16: U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden (R) shakes hands with Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) during a luncheon at the State Department May 16, 2013 in Washington, DC. Prime Minister Erdogan was on a visit in Washington and had talks on Syria with U.S. President Barack Obama. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/11/GettyImages-168895143.jpg/GettyImages-168895143.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=Nf3HEm9T)
Biden will face matrix of conflicting influence campaigns in Africa, Mideast
Egypt seeks to check Turkish influence in North Africa and the Horn, while its priority remains Nile Dam talks with Ethiopia.
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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)