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
The US in Afrin: Short-term Alliance vs. Long-term Stability
The Turkish attack on Afrin, a Syrian city with a Kurdish majority, demonstrates the complex internal conflict within Syria and the Middle East. These conflicts are likely to develop in More
Power Struggles and Proxy Conflicts: the Case of Lebanon
In their contest for regional dominance, Saudi Arabia and Iran turn to Lebanon as a new battleground