This essay is a positive and critical analysis of how the UAE–Israel relations have evolved after the Abraham Accords were signed in September 2020 and the likely scenarios over the next 5 years. Bilateral ties have thus far evolved from early optimism into a cautious, pragmatic partnership driven by shared strategic and economic interests. While robust economic ties and security cooperation continue to advance, with further progress through minilateral arrangements such as I2U2 and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, the partnership faces significant tension from the Gaza conflict and broader Palestinian issues. UAE public skepticism and regional fallout from recent wars, especially the 12-day war in 2025 and the US–Israel–Iran war in 2026 that had serious repercussions on the Gulf country, have further complicated ties. Overall, the relationship, first designated as “warm peace,” is witnessing “cold stability,” marked by continued strategic collaboration, discreet diplomacy, and limited public engagement. While there is no immediate threat of retreat from the Accords, the intensity of future bilateral ties, from a UAE perspective, could ebb or flow depending on how solutions evolve to vexed regional problems.
This study uses a netnographic approach to explore identity and belonging within the Turkish digital diaspora in Germany, focusing on the DiasporaTürk X account. It shows that digital platforms serve as spaces for cultural expression, collective memory, solidarity, and resistance. The analysis reveals that diasporic identity is fluid and negotiated through transnational interactions, forming a hybrid sense of belonging between Türkiye and Germany. Five core themes emerged: (a) Migration and Diaspora Formation, centering on first-generation narratives and community building; (b) Cultural Adaptation, Difference, and Humor, reflecting identity negotiation and humor as a coping tool; (c) Racism, Violence, and Trauma, focusing on shared digital memory and discrimination; (d) Memory and Resistance, highlighting digital activism; and (e) Cultural Representation and Musical Resistance, showing music’s role in diasporic expression. The study emphasizes the transformative power of digital media in constructing diasporic identities and reveals the layered, dynamic nature of digital diaspora practices.
This study re-evaluates the cultural landscape of Hail Province in Saudi Arabia by positioning Nabaṭī poetry not as a peripheral vernacular but as a primary conduit of regional identity. While academic discourse has historically privileged fus’há (Classical Arabic), this research challenges that hierarchy, asserting the oral traditions of Hail as a dynamic force that both archives and animates the North-Central Arabian spirit. By interrogating a representative corpus—including the historical legacies of Ibn Rashid and other contemporary voices—the study explores how verse functions as one of the vital vessels for Hail’s distinct heritage. Through a rigorous qualitative lens involving thematic analysis and sociohistorical contextualization, the research decodes how these texts immortalize tribal valor, map the physical landscape, and enforce the social codes of the region. The findings reveal that Nabaṭī poetry is a sophisticated instrument contributing to cultural endurance. Beyond mere artistic expression, it utilizes mechanisms of alienation effect, covert prestige, and the codification of values to safeguard Hail’s unique identity against the tides of linguistic and cultural homogenization.
The transformation from the classical Islamic notion of the ummah , a unified community bound by faith and moral solidarity, to the modern nation-state has profoundly reshaped Muslim political thought and understanding of citizenship. In this context, Rached Al-Ghannouchi is one of the most prominent contemporary Islamic thinkers seeking to reconcile Islamic values with the modern structures of governance and civic identity. This article explores Ghannouchi’s contribution to the contemporary discourse on citizenship in Islam, focusing on how he reimagines the relationship between religion, state, and civic participation. The primary objective of the article is to examine Ghannouchi’s formulation of Islamic citizenship that harmonizes the ethical and spiritual ideals of the ummah with the institutional realities of the nation-state. The article analyzes Ghannouchi’s major works, particularly Al-Ḥurriyyāt al-ʿĀmmah fī al-Dawlah al-Islāmiyyah (Public Liberties in the Islamic State), alongside relevant secondary literature. It situates his thought within the broader context of Islamic reformism and postcolonial political developments in the Muslim world. Al-Ghannouchi’s discourse emphasizes principles such as shurā (consultation), maslahah (public interest), and ʻadl (justice) as foundational elements for constructing an inclusive and participatory model of citizenship. By integrating Islamic ethical norms with democratic and pluralist ideals, he proposes a framework in which Muslims and non-Muslims alike share equal civic rights and responsibilities. The article concludes that Ghannouchi’s reinterpretation of citizenship provides an important intellectual bridge between tradition and modernity, offering a constructive vision of Islamic governance that is both faithful to its ethical roots and responsive to contemporary political realities.
This paper discusses the bureaucratization of Islam in Saudi Arabia after 2016 and explores how the kingdom has recast clerical power into an administrative structure that regulates religious, legal, and ethical living. It examines the debate on the centralization and codification of religious organizations, the high art of using fatwas as a policy tool, and the creation of ethical beings that support the state’s objectives, based on recent scholarship, legal reforms, and institutional analyses. The paper illustrates that Saudi Arabian reforms are not just another iteration of traditional secularization binaries and Islamism; instead, it reveals the integration of Islamic precepts within the administrative framework to ensure social adherence, civic responsibility, and modernization. Through a critical approach to institutional, legal, and moral aspects of governance, the study demonstrates how the state exercises control over religious authority to maintain normative legitimacy. This paper argues that moral management, uniform law, and centralized control represent a new form of Islamic governance, offering a perspective on the relationship between religion, bureaucracy, and social change in modern Muslim-majority states.
This article examines the strategic and psychological warfare underpinning Operation Rising Lion, Israel’s covert and kinetic strike against Iran in June 2025. Drawing from recently declassified documents, media analysis, and expert assessments, the article analyzes how deception, infiltration, and cognitive manipulation dismantled Iran’s internal defenses and misled its leadership. This operation marks a turning point in modern warfare, wherein psychological paralysis preceded physical destruction. The article evaluates how US–Israeli collaboration and strategic misdirection leveraged Iran’s own doctrinal assumptions against it.
Nowadays, food security constitutes one of the greatest challenges for the Abraham Accords Countries (AACs) (Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Kazakhstan), which face multiple dimensions of a food security crisis. This article analyzes the agricultural and food-related assets of these countries and highlights the major policies and strategies they are pursuing to address food security issues. It also examines the main challenges these countries experience in ensuring food security and explores the forms and aspects of food security cooperation between Israel and the other four signatory countries following the Abraham Accords. The article concludes by suggesting that a common food security policy, like the European Agricultural Policy, should be established to strengthen food security partnerships among the AACs and, consequently, promote regional integration in the Middle East and North Africa.
This article offers an analysis of the ideology shared by the three leaders of the “Axis of Resistance” as a background to the October 7 attack. Theoretically, when conceptions or worldviews shape our perceptions of reality, divergent perceptions increase the likelihood of war between adversaries pursuing different goals and interests. The article analyzes the public statements by leaders of Israel’s enemies and discusses the existence of an explicit and rigid belief for them to overestimate their own capacity and underestimate Israel’s. This concept stemmed from an ideology committed to the destruction of Israel as a sovereign entity, alongside a strategic assessment grounded in the strengthening and expansion of its military forces and preparations for large-scale operations within its trilateral partnership, as well as considering Israel’s internal divisions over the judicial reform. This contributed to them keeping cohesion around the goal of terminating Israel but failing to evaluate the Israeli perception toward the October 7 attack and its resilience against the enemy.
The article analyzes the relationship between Moroccan initiatives to restore Jewish heritage sites and Jewish tourism from Israel (specifically Moroccan Jews), arguing that the Moroccan Jewish heritage development project is geared toward promoting tourism of Moroccan Jews, since heritage sites are emerging tourist attractions with significant implications for tourism promotion. Drawing on elite interviews and the theory of heritage tourism, the article's findings suggest that, in addition to national identity, culture, tradition, and political aspects, the Moroccan campaign to restore Jewish heritage sites also played a major role in promoting tourism of Moroccan Jews from Israel to Morocco. The results also show that Moroccan initiatives to preserve Jewish heritage sites, promote cultural exchanges, and foster religious coexistence create a more welcoming environment for Israeli tourists, thus contributing to an increase in tourism flows. In the context of the complex Israeli-Arab relationships, heritage tourism has great potential to remove barriers and increase positive engagement.
This article examines the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Albania and the Islamic Republic of Iran, culminating in the severance of ties in September 2022. It argues that relocating the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), a long-standing adversary of Tehran, to Albanian territory was a critical turning point in bilateral relations. While the Western Balkans have experienced renewed geopolitical competition, Iran pursued a relatively sophisticated approach in the region, emphasizing cultural diplomacy and soft-power instruments. Drawing on qualitative analysis of official political statements, diplomatic correspondence, and Albanian media coverage, the article explores Albania’s acceptance of the MEK and the subsequent escalation of tensions with Iran. The findings show that Albania’s close alignment with US policy preferences, particularly regarding the hosting of the MEK, contributed to a significant recalibration of Tehran’s stance toward Tirana. This process accelerated the diplomatic breakdown and culminated in cyberattacks attributed to Iran against Albanian state institutions. The case highlights the vulnerability of small states operating within overlapping zones of influence and illustrates how external security alignments can rapidly alter bilateral relations.
This research examines the challenges faced by Islamist women Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Moroccan House of Representatives as they balance advancing women’s interests with supporting their party’s agenda. This study analyzes the legislative activities of female MPs from Morocco’s Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), including their submission of questions and drafting of bills. The research underscores the observed rise in female political participation, attributed in part to institutional reforms, notably gender quotas, within PJD. However, an examination of initiatives and propositions advanced by female Islamist MPs reveals a conspicuous absence of advocacy for women’s political interests. Consequently, the study concludes that despite constituting a numerical majority, Islamist women MPs exhibit limited engagement in advancing women’s interests, often prioritizing their respective parties’ agendas over broader gender-related concerns.
The Israel-Hamas war, which began following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has unsettled many of the geopolitical notions about the Middle East. One critical consequence of the war has been the disruption of the global maritime trade route after the Houthis in Yemen entered the war in solidarity with Hamas. Houthis targeting the ships and the vessels passing through the Bab al-Mandab turned the Red Sea into a theatre of war. It created a crisis for global maritime trade, particularly the Suez Canal route, which, along with tourism and remittances, constitutes the principal source of revenue for Egypt. As tensions in the Red Sea escalated, many shipping companies have opted to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, depriving the Egyptian government of billions of dollars in revenue. This article examines the evolution of the Red Sea crisis, its impact on global shipping routes, and the high costs it imposes on shipping companies. It then analyzes the impact of disruptions to traditional sea routes on the Suez Canal's revenue and how these disruptions have compounded the woes of Egypt's already staggering economy.
President Joe Biden came to power campaigning to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, from which the USA had unilaterally withdrawn in 2018 under President Donald Trump. Biden had a long history of advocating for better ties with Iran. Even as a Senator and Vice-President to Barack Obama, he played a key role in securing Congressional support for the deal. After becoming president, he made several overtures to Iran to get it to the negotiating table. Several rounds of indirect negotiations did take place during his tenure, but Tehran and Washington could not reach an agreement. This article examines why Biden failed to revive the JCPOA. It argues that Biden’s failure can be attributed to domestic constraints in both Tehran and Washington, structural distrust arising from Trump’s withdrawal, differences over sequencing, and choices by the leaders of Iran and the USA that reduce the possibility of compromise.
