The closure of the Strait of Hormuz marks a rupture in the post-1970s energy order, with consequences that may redefine how the global economy functions The US and Israeli-led war on Iran has initiated a chain reaction that has culminated in the most significant oil supply disruption in modern history. Iran’s retaliatory strikes against …
Read More »Is Iran Heading to State Failure?
The Regime May Still Hold the Center, but Holding the Center Is Not the Same as Maintaining State Capacity The February 28, 2026, U.S. and Israeli air strikes have not yet ended the Islamic Republic, but they have weakened the Iranian state’s ability to govern. State failure does not begin …
Read More »The Economic Fallout Of The Gaza Conflict For Iran
The Gaza-Israel conflict has significant implications for Iran’s already strained economy, characterized by currency devaluation, reduced government revenues, and high inflation. Iran’s involvement in the regional conflict hinders its economic growth efforts, further reduces the value of the Iranian rial, and decreases government income. Additionally, it has worsened economic problems such as …
Read More »The U.S.-Iran Prisoner Swap: Unraveling Impacts on Gulf Security and Oil Dynamics
The recent agreement between the United States and Iran could portend well for regional security—or it could reinforce existing divisions and promote further escalatory behavior from each side, with significant economic consequences in either case. The recently announced prisoner swap between the United States and Iran has spurred debates about how it …
Read More »Obstacles and opportunities for closer Iranian-Chinese economic cooperation
Iranian-Chinese economic relations have grown steadily closer over the past four decades, with Beijing emerging as one of Tehran’s leading trade partners in recent years. Their economic relationship entered a new phase in the 1980s, when China started providing Iran with arms and technology during the Iran-Iraq War. But since …
Read More »A new era in Turkey-UAE ties? Economic relations warm as ideological tensions linger
Analysis: Amid a trend of de-escalation, Turkey and the UAE are repairing broken ties. But while economic relations are driving the rapprochement, political differences remain. Turkey’s relations with Arab countries have been strained in recent years, but the US withdrawal from Afghanistan has created a new balance of power in the region. …
Read More »Will Riyadh’s Newest Economic Project Save the Saudi Economy?
2020 has been a difficult year for the Gulf. All members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, heavily reliant on oil, have been severely impacted by the economic turmoil of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For no country is this more important than Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, which depends …
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