Middle East Archives

Middle East

Across the Middle East, old conflicts coexist with new diplomatic openings, while demographic pressures and economic diversification efforts reshape national priorities. GCIRD studies these evolving dynamics to understand how the region navigates internal strains and external influence.

Hormuz, Bab al-Mandab and the contest to reroute power between the Indian Ocean and Europe

July 9, 2026

How the Islamic Republic of Iran is preserving sovereign choice during wars

July 8, 2026

The Battery Supply Chain as a New Geopolitical Battleground

July 8, 2026

The Aras Order: Azerbaijan, Israel and the Campaign to Bypass Iran in the South Caucasus

July 8, 2026

Israel’s Drone Industrial Rebuild and the Contest for the Low-Cost Battlefield

Israel built its drone power around long-endurance aircraft, advanced sensors and precision weapons. The wars since 2023 exposed a different requirement: thousands of cheap, replaceable drones for reconnaissance, attack and interception. The resulting industrial race is testing Israel’s ability to combine technological sophistication with mass production, secure supply chains and sustainable battlefield economics.

Israel’s Drone Industrial Rebuild and the Contest for the Low-Cost Battlefield

The Battery Supply Chain as a New Geopolitical Battleground

The Aras Order: Azerbaijan, Israel and the Campaign to Bypass Iran in the South Caucasus

Iran’s Military Reconstitution and the Political Economy of Strategic Endurance

Mossad and the Reconstitution of Israeli Grand Strategy

Why Abu Dhabi Walked Away from OPEC and What It Means for the GCC

Mossad and the Reconstitution of Israeli Grand Strategy

Mossad’s transition under Roman Gofman reflects a wider transformation in Israeli grand strategy, in which intelligence, covert action, political warfare and technological dominance...

June 30, 2026

Iran’s Theory of Survival and Ascent

Threshold Sovereignty offers an Iranian theory of power after the old order, arguing that Iran’s survival and ascent depend on converting pressure, geography,...

May 5, 2026

Why Abu Dhabi Walked Away from OPEC and What It Means for the GCC

Abu Dhabi’s exit from OPEC discipline signals the end of collective cartel management in the Persian Gulf. Divergent fiscal clocks between Saudi Arabia...

May 2, 2026

Security Without Command, Energy Without OPEC: China’s Strategy in the Persian Gulf

China is not trying to become the Persian Gulf’s next security patron. Instead, it offers a new model, which is security without command,...

May 1, 2026

How Pope Leo XIV Redefines Vatican Political Interference

The Vatican no longer asks permission to speak; under Pope Leo XIV, it uses structural moral leverage to influence war, immigration, and sovereignty...

April 25, 2026

Strait of Hormuz Crisis: Iran, Energy Security, and the Future of US-China Rivalry

The Strait of Hormuz crisis has become a test of global energy security, US credibility, China’s strategic positioning, and alliance cohesion in an...

April 25, 2026

The Algorithmic Battlefield: How Artificial Intelligence Is Reshaping Modern Warfare Without Accountability

Artificial intelligence now drives targeting decisions in Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran, compressing kill chains from days to minutes. Yet no one is held...

April 22, 2026

The war imposed on Iran and its impact on ASEAN

Higher energy costs, shipping disruption, inflation, fiscal strain, and intensifying great-power pressure are reshaping ASEAN as the war imposed on Iran turns a...

April 22, 2026

The Price of Safe Transit

A ceasefire has frozen the US‑Israel‑Iran conflict but not restored free passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran now proposes a per‑vessel toll...

April 21, 2026

Forty-Eight Hours to Breakdown: The Narrow Path Between Ceasefire and Escalation in the U.S.–Iran Crisis

With the ceasefire hours from expiration, the real question is no longer whether tensions will rise, but whether Washington and Tehran can still...

April 20, 2026

Middle East

Hormuz, Bab al-Mandab and the contest to reroute power between the Indian Ocean and Europe

How the Islamic Republic of Iran is preserving sovereign choice during wars

The Battery Supply Chain as a New Geopolitical Battleground

The Aras Order: Azerbaijan, Israel and the Campaign to Bypass Iran in the South Caucasus

Israel’s Drone Industrial Rebuild and the Contest for the Low-Cost Battlefield

Israel’s Drone Industrial Rebuild and the Contest for the Low-Cost Battlefield

The Battery Supply Chain as a New Geopolitical Battleground

The Aras Order: Azerbaijan, Israel and the Campaign to Bypass Iran in the South Caucasus

Iran’s Military Reconstitution and the Political Economy of Strategic Endurance

Mossad and the Reconstitution of Israeli Grand Strategy

Why Abu Dhabi Walked Away from OPEC and What It Means for the GCC

Mossad and the Reconstitution of Israeli Grand Strategy

Iran’s Theory of Survival and Ascent

Why Abu Dhabi Walked Away from OPEC and What It Means for the GCC

Security Without Command, Energy Without OPEC: China’s Strategy in the Persian Gulf

How Pope Leo XIV Redefines Vatican Political Interference

Strait of Hormuz Crisis: Iran, Energy Security, and the Future of US-China Rivalry

The Algorithmic Battlefield: How Artificial Intelligence Is Reshaping Modern Warfare Without Accountability

The war imposed on Iran and its impact on ASEAN

The Price of Safe Transit

Forty-Eight Hours to Breakdown: The Narrow Path Between Ceasefire and Escalation in the U.S.–Iran Crisis

GCIRD is an independent think tank publishing open-access research on global affairs and development. We connect regions and disciplines to support informed debate and sound policy.