The Middle East and North Africa 2025

Europa Publications’ regional publications are compiled by a team of editors and researchers, with introductory and country-specific material provided by specialists in their field: Mohammad Al-Asadi. Economist specializing in international development studies, Institute of Development Research and Development Policy, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. Liam Anderson. Professor of Political Science, School of Social Sciences and International Studies, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, USA. Claire Beaugrand. Lecturer in Sociology of the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, UK; and CNRS Researcher at the Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Sciences Sociales (IRISSO), Université Paris Dauphine-PSL, France. Natália Calfat. Researcher at the Laboratory of Asian Studies (Working Group on the Middle East and Muslim World), University of São Paulo (USP). . Kristian Coates Ulrichsen. Fellow for the Middle East, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA. Omar S. Dahi. Professor of Economics, Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA; and Founding Director of `Security in Context’ research network. Justin Dargin. Middle East Energy and Climate Scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, DC, USA; and former legal advisor to OPEC. Alan J. Day. Former Editor of The Annual Register, London, UK; and former Joint Editor of the Political Handbook of the World, Binghamton University, New York, USA. Gianni Del Panta. Junior Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Pavia, Italy. Vincent Durac. Associate Professor, School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin, Ireland. Courtney Freer. Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies, , Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Brandon Friedman. Director of Research, Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, Tel Aviv University, Israel. Cengiz Gunes. Associate Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK. Julia Gurol. Postdoctoral Researcher, Chair for International Relations, University of Freiburg and Arnold-Bergstraesser-Institute, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. Habib Hinn. Lecturer in Economics, Birzeit University, Ramallah, Palestinian Territories; and Assistant Researcher, Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS), Ramallah, Palestinian Territories. Martin Hvidt. Associate Professor and Head of Studies, Center for Modern Middle East and Muslim Studies, Department of Culture and Language, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. Gareth Jenkins. Non-resident Senior Fellow with the Silk Road Studies Program, based in İstanbul, Türkiye. Marc Jones. Associate Professor in Middle East Studies, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar. Amir Magdy Kamel. Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor), School of Security Studies, and Fellow, Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, King’s College London, UK; and Visiting Scholar, Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Stanford Global Studies Division, Stanford University, CA, USA. Numan Kanafani. Research Director, Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS), Ramallah, Palestinian Territories; and Professor, Department of Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Raja Khalidi. Director-General, Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS), Ramallah, Palestinian Territories. Richard I. Lawless. Late Emeritus Reader in Middle Eastern Studies, Durham University, UK. Robert E. Looney. Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA. Simon Mabon. Professor of International Politics, and Director of SEPAD, Lancaster University, UK. Ali Noureddeen. Independent economic researcher and writer, specializing in the Middle East and North Africa region. James A. O’Reilly. Emeritus Professor of Modern Middle East History, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Francis Owtram. Honorary Research Fellow, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, UK. Neil Partrick. Writer and analyst on the Arabian Peninsula and wider Middle East. Islam Rabee. Assistant Researcher at the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS), Ramallah, Palestinian Territories. David Roberts. Reader in International Security and Middle East Studies, School of Security Studies, King’s College London, UK; Adjunct Faculty, Paris School of International Affairs, Sciences Po, Paris, France; Non-resident Fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute, Washington, DC, USA; and former Director of the Qatar office of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. Charles Schmitz. Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Planning, Towson University, Towson, MD, USA. R. B. Serjeant. Late Professor of Arabic and Director of the Middle East Centre, University of Cambridge, UK. Vaughn Shannon. Professor of Political Science, School of Social Sciences and International Studies, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, USA. Moin Siddiqi. Independent economist specializing in macroeconomic developments and the banking sector in the Middle East and Africa; also advises on trends in petroleum markets. Andreas Stergiou. Professor, Department of Economics, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece. Ronald Bruce St John. Independent scholar specializing in the political economy of developing states. Máté Szalai. Associate Professor, Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest, Hungary.. Marc Valeri. Associate Professor in Political Economy of the Middle East, University of Exeter, UK. Edward Wastnidge. Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Studies, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK. Chahir Zaki. Chaired Professor of Economics and Research Fellow at the Laboratoire d’Economie d’Orléans, University of Orléans, Orléans, France; Director of Egypt’s pole of EMANES (EU-Mediterranean and African Network for Economic Studies); and Lead Economist at the Economic Research Forum, Cairo, Egypt. Barbara Zollner. Independent scholar, specializing in Middle East politics.

PART ONE

General Survey

China’s Role in the Middle East: Navigating Geopolitical Tensions

JULIA GUROL

Climate Change in the Middle East and North Africa

ROBERT E. LOONEY

Political Islam

BARBARA ZOLLNER

Saudi Arabia and Iran: Islam, Security and Foreign Policy in the Middle East

SIMON MABON

US Middle East Policy

ROBERT E. LOONEY

The Kurdish Question in the Middle East

CENGIZ GUNES (revised by LIAM ANDERSON)

Calibrating the Cure: Subsidy Reform and the Path to Climate-centred Economic Diversification in the Gulf States

JUSTIN DARGIN

The Religions of the Middle East and North Africa

R. B. SERJEANT (revised by the editorial staff)

PART TWO Country Surveys

Sections on geography, history and economy, as well as statistical surveys, directories and bibliographies for each country

ALGERIA

History GIANNI DEL PANTA

Economy ROBERT E. LOONEY

BAHRAIN

History MARC JONES (revised by KRISTIAN COATES ULRICHSEN)

Economy MARTIN HVIDT

CYPRUS

History ANDREAS STERGIOU

Economy Revised by ANDREAS STERGIOU

‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’

History

Economy

EGYPT

History VAUGHN SHANNON

Economy CHAHIR ZAKI

IRAN

History EDWARD WASTNIDGE

Economy ROBERT E. LOONEY

IRAQ

History LIAM ANDERSON

Economy ROBERT E. LOONEY

ISRAEL

History VAUGHN SHANNON

Economy ROBERT E. LOONEY

Occupied Territories

East Jerusalem

The Golan Heights

JORDAN

History COURTNEY FREER

Economy ROBERT E. LOONEY

KUWAIT

History Revised by CLAIRE BEAUGRAND

Economy MÁTÉ SZALAI

LEBANON

History NATÁLIA CALFAT

Economy ALI NOUREDDEEN

LIBYA

History RONALD BRUCE ST JOHN (Based on an original essay by RICHARD I. LAWLESS)

Economy AMIR MAGDY KAMEL

MOROCCO

History NEIL PARTRICK (Based on an original essay by RICHARD I. LAWLESS)

Economy NEIL PARTRICK (Based on an original essay by ALAN J. DAY)

OMAN

History Revised by MARC VALERI

Economy FRANCIS OWTRAM

PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

Recent History Revised by VAUGHN SHANNON

Economy HABIB HINN, NUMAN KANAFANI and ISLAM RABEE

QATAR

History DAVID ROBERTS

Economy FRANCIS OWTRAM

SAUDI ARABIA

History BRANDON FRIEDMAN

Economy NEIL PARTRICK (Based on an original essay by MOIN SIDDIQI)

SPANISH NORTH AFRICA

Ceuta

Melilla

SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC

History JAMES O’REILLY

Economy OMAR S. DAHI and MOHAMMAD AL-ASADI

TUNISIA

History NEIL PARTRICK (Based on an original essay by RICHARD I. LAWLESS)

Economy NEIL PARTRICK (Based on an original essay by the editorial staff)

TÜRKIYE

History GARETH JENKINS

Economy GARETH JENKINS

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

History KRISTIAN COATES ULRICHSEN

Economy ROBERT E. LOONEY

YEMEN

History VINCENT DURAC

Economy CHARLES SCHMITZ

PART THREE Regional Information

REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

MAJOR COMMODITIES OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

DOCUMENTS ON PALESTINE

CALENDARS

RESEARCH INSTITUTES

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY (BOOKS)

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY(PERIODICALS)