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5 Issues to watch in the Middle East

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Hi Delegates!

We are coming close to conference and I can't wait to meet all of you come early March. I hope you all had a restful winter break! I spent my winter break back home in New Zealand and Australia.

Joe Macron, a policy analyst and political consultant at the U.S. Arab Centre published the following article at the end of last year. I've summarised it briefly below:

  1. The Question of Syrian Refugees: Macron highlights the growing tensions between the countries harbouring refugees and Syria. These tensions rising from economic conflict, border control etc.
  2. The Question of Palestine: Governments have traditionally taken a non-committal 'safe' route with Palestine. The US' recent actions have raised it into the spotlight yet again and triggered age-old conflicts. Macron predicts rising tensions between Iran and Turkey.
  3. The Question of Corruption: Specifically, this is in reference to the ongoing Saudi shakeups and investigations into government corruption, it is uncertain, however, to how far and how drastic these investigations could go and the potential direction it could take Saudi foreign policy.
  4. The Question of Democracy: Several Middle Eastern countries have scheduled visits to the ballot box this year. Elections in the Middle East have either been accused of plain theatrics or dismissed and manipulated by the ruling elites. 
  5. The Question of Terrorism: The threat of terrorist groups such as IS has been reduced to a smaller geographic area, but that truly negate their power to threaten nations. Additionally, its rapid fall leaves a dangerous vacuum for other rival terrorist groups.
Questions to Consider:
  • How will the coming Iraqi, Libyan etc. elections affect regional stability?
  • Many have compared the Saudi Anti-corruption campaign to that of Chinese President Xi Jinping's, seeing this as an internal move to solidify their own positions and eradicate opposition, stabilising the nation politically. Are stable nations inherently 'good' or can they be 'benign autocrats'?
  • Palestine has traditionally been a historical flashpoint for nations within the region and outside of it. Look at your country and see what it's stance on Palestine is, specifically pay attention to how it has evolved over the last century. Why has it done so? What social, political, economic, religious forces drove it to do so?

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