Back to the Future: Erdogan’s Ottoman Ambitions in Syria
Light rain peppered the cracked cement nearby. A sudden breeze unfurled a limp Turkish flag, gently swaying it with the wind. Jarablus, like many other towns in northwestern Syria, has More
Cease-fire in Yemen: Resolution at Last?
On December 13th, Iranian-backed Houthi Rebels and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government agred to a cease-fire, freeing the strategic port city of Hodiedah in Yemen. Following years of violence resulting in the More
Year in Review: The Greatest Political Hits of 2018
With 2019 on the horizon, MJPS reflects on a tumultuous year of politics that shaped the world for the year to come. At Home A turbulent year in provincial elections More
Yemen, Khashoggi, and Why Things Won’t Change
The recent killing of the Saudi Arabian dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul has attracted international coverage and fierce condemnation. The assassination of one man has More
A Murder in Istanbul: Jamal Khashoggi and the Death of the Liberal Order
Jamal Khashoggi, arguably Saudi Arabia’s most influential dissident-journalist, walked into the Saudi Embassy in Istanbul, and never came back out. In all likelihood, he was murdered in cold-blood by Saudi’s More
Wilkommen: Erdogan and the Search for Economic Alliances
Turkish President Recep Erdoğan landed in Berlin on last Thursday to kick off a 3 day state visit to Germany. This is the first of its kind since Erdoğan became More
Demise of the Divine: Iran’s Crumbling Theocracy
Perhaps one of the most defining moments in politics in the Middle East last year was the 2017 Presidential election in Iran, which was followed by a series of protests More
The Defeat of IS: A Tentative Obituary
In November 2017, the Islamic State (IS) was declared defeated by Iraq and Syria. The defeat of IS came three years after they gained global prominence in 2014 initially for More
Putin 2018: Russian Revanchism and the Authoritarian Alternative
The 2018 Russian Presidential Elections seems to confirm what political theorists since Montesquieu have claimed concerning the country: Russia is a despotism, and that situation is unlikely to change anytime More
I Just Can’t Wait to Be King: The Rise of MBS in the Middle East
Last June, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud named his son, 31 year-old Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud (also known as MBS) as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. More