Zoha Naser
Saudi Arabia faces an existential threat from a potentially proliferating Iran and an unpredictable ally in the Trump administration. Zoha Naser and Sarah Tzinieris explore how the country is carefully weighing up its strategic partnerships as it pursues a civil nuclear programme Read more
Magdalena König
Enlargement’s symbolic revival after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine risks repeating past failures. Magdalena König warns that without credible timelines and reform momentum, the EU may trap candidates — old and new — in an ‘eternal waiting room’. Frustration, backsliding, and geopolitical drift are likely unless promises are matched by progress Read more
Bernardo Jurema
Bernardo Jurema places the recent BRICS expansion into appropriate historical context. It is, he argues, a project to de-westernise the world, opening up new possibilities, including de-colonialisation along the lines of previous historical attempts. It may not be everything that is needed, but it is a significant step forwards Read more
Dawud Ansari
De-orientalising the scholarship on the Arab Gulf states is crucial, argues Dawud Ansari. Commentaries and datasets generalise them as ‘monarchies’, erasing vital differences between these countries. New terms are a starting point for transforming research on the wider region – an urgent objective given new crises and freshened global interest Read more
Hager Ali
A military coup on 25 October put an abrupt end to Sudan’s fragile democratic transition. Hager Ali argues that although the coup pre-empted a foreseeable power-transfer, the military also created a much bigger problem for itself. The same socio-political conditions that kept al-Bashir in power for decades now threaten the military’s capacity to govern Read more
Mahmoud Javadi
Relations between Iran and Europe are in a pretty poor state. But Mahmoud Javadi argues that there are avenues for improvement through identification of 'shared interests' – and the EU can, and should, play its part Read more
The Loop
Cutting-edge analysis showcasing the work of the political science discipline at its best.
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