by maildunais | 7 Jul 2026 | Naseef Naeem
POLICY BRIEF17 July 2026In Syria, compliance with Damascus is necessary but never sufficient. A decade of war has left a state that is centralised on paper and fragmented in practice, where real authority is still as personal and regional as it is institutional. An investor who routes everything through the capital, assuming it can deliver the governorates, will fail. Those who succeed will read who actually holds power on the ground — at the centre and locally — and design projects that serve both interests from the first day.
by maildunais | 18 Mar 2021 | Michael Stephens
POLICY BRIEF18 March 2021The Eastern Mediterranean continues to be an area of growing importance for some GCC States, on the back of commercial interests, political antagonism, and broader security concerns. In the last years, Gulf involvement has weighed more heavily towards the security dimension, in no small part due to the projection of the GCC rift into the region. Yet if Gulf Arab States are to reap the dividends of their much-needed investments in the region’s commercial infrastructure, it will be in their interest to minimize military posturing and focus instead on economic partnerships.
