United States

Egypt

Jordan

Lebanon

Turkey

Economics

Politics

Jordanian diplomats quietly secured U.S. funding for projects focused on desalination, direct budget support and defense following the sudden U.S. aid freeze announced in January, Reuters reported on April 30.

U.S., Jordan: Washington Unfreezes Some Aid to Jordan

Egyptian Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk announced that Egypt had successfully completed the fourth review of its $8 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan program, and as such, the IMF will disburse $1.2 billion of the loan within days, Egypt Today reported March 11.

Egypt: IMF Approves Egypt's Fourth Loan Review, Set to Disburse $1.2 Billion 

Cyprus

Energy

Cyprus and Egypt signed agreements that would see Cyprus send offshore natural gas to Egypt, where liquefaction facilities at Idku and Damietta would commercialize and reexport the gas, AP reported on Feb. 17.

Cyprus, Egypt: Countries Sign Agreements To Export Cypriot Gas via Egypt

Ethiopia

Somalia

Military & Security

Somali State Foreign Minister Ali Balcad said obstacles hindering Ethiopia’s participation in the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, or AUSSOM, had been overcome, Voice of America reported on Jan. 12.

Somalia: Government Open to Ethiopia Participating in AUSSOM

The United States State Department authorized the sale of $5 billion worth of military equipment to Egypt, including $4.69 billion in equipment for M1A1 tanks, $630 million Hellfire air-to-surface missiles and $30 million in precision-guided munitions, Times of Israel reported Dec. 21.

U.S., Egypt: State Department Approves $5 Billion Arms Sale to Egypt

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Ethiopia and Somalia had agreed on a joint declaration to resolve their bilateral dispute over Ethiopia's maritime port deal with Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland, the Washington Post reported Dec. 11.

Ethiopia, Somalia: Ethiopia And Somalia Agree Joint Declaration to Deescalate Tensions Over Sea Access 

United Arab Emirates

In a Nov. 30 post on Truth Social, incoming U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to place 100% tariffs on members of the BRICS trade bloc if they backed a new BRICS currency to "replace" the U.S. dollar in international trade.

U.S., BRICS: Trump Threatens 100% Tariffs on BRICS Countries Over Proposed Joint Currency

The Central Bank of Egypt began the partial initial public offering process of selling around 30% of the state-owned United Bank, which is the second time in four years that Egypt has privatized a state-owned lender, Reuters reported on Nov. 20.

Egypt: Government Begins Partial Initial Public Offering of State-Owned United Bank

Assessments

Israel

Palestinian Territories

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Europe

Philippe Lazzarini (C), the commissioner general for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, attends a humanitarian conference for Gaza in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 2, 2024, amid the continuing Israel-Hamas war.

Egypt's economic limitations will continue to restrain its assertiveness in foreign policy, constraining its ability to project power in the region.

Egypt's Economic Priorities Sideline Assertive Foreign Policy

Algeria

Libya

Morocco

Tunisia

Egyptians protest in front of the Rafah border crossing, rejecting the proposed displacement of Palestinians in Gaza to Egypt and Jordan, on Jan. 31, 2025. 

Israel-Hamas Conflict

Pro-Palestinian protests will persist regionwide amid allegations of Israeli ceasefire violations, but Morocco and Egypt will avoid taking action that could jeopardize their access to Israeli weapons and energy.

How Will North African Governments Respond to Ardent Pro-Palestinian Sentiment?

Displaced Palestinians return to their homes in the Shijaiyah neighborhood, Gaza City, on Jan. 28, 2025, following the Hamas-Israel ceasefire.

Egypt and Jordan will reject Trump's current proposal to resettle over a million Palestinians from Gaza to their territories due to fears of stoking domestic unrest, but they will likely permit smaller, gradual resettlements via illegal smuggling routes.

Trump Wants Egypt and Jordan To Take in Palestinians From Gaza. Will They Do It?

Yemen

A smoke plume rises above destroyed buildings in northern Gaza on Jan. 13, 2025.

The truce will improve Israel's ties with Lebanon and Egypt, but eventual violations could reignite regional tensions, as could Israel's intensified counter-insurgency operations in the West Bank.

The Regional Implications of the Gaza Ceasefire

The Geopolitics of Water

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

In the coming decade, water scarcity will likely contribute to the erosion of Egypt's economic and political independence, including its ability to act unilaterally against other countries vying for water along the Nile basin.

The Geopolitics of Water: The Threat to Egypt's Independence

An exterior view of the building of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters is seen on March 27, 2020, in Washington, D.C. 

The partial privatization of state- and military-owned assets will increase Egypt's foreign currency reserves, but it will likely only somewhat boost productivity and business competition.

IMF Pressure Breathes New Life Into Egypt's Privatization Efforts

Kenya

South Africa

Brazil

Iran

China

Indonesia

Russia

Moldova

India

Vehicles pass by a banner thanking outgoing Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and congratulating President-elect Prabowo Subianto and Vice President-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka ahead of their Oct. 20 inauguration in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Oct. 17, 2024.

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: An Impeachment Case in Kenya, an Inauguration in Indonesia

A Somali National Army soldier participates in a military drill in Mogadishu on March 19, 2024.

Egypt and Somalia's deepening security coordination risks triggering armed clashes with Ethiopia that could undermine regional counterterrorism efforts and inflame ethnic tensions.

The Horn of Africa Braces for Conflict as an Anti-Ethiopia Alliance Takes Shape

Sudan

Middle East and North Africa

Bahrain

Iraq

Kuwait

Oman

Syria

Population growth, security vacuums, bad governance and climate change will increasingly strain the desert region's already scarce water supplies, raising the risk of social unrest, interstate conflict and violence from non-state actors.

The Geopolitics of Water: In the Middle East, Water Will Increasingly Become a Weapon and Driver of Conflict

Eritrea

Internally displaced people walk past the Tigrayan flag at the Tsehaye camp in Ethiopia's Shire, Tigray region, on July 16, 2024. 

Factionalism within the Tigray region's ruling party raises the prospect of resurging clashes in the region, threatening to undermine Ethiopia's recent peace and economic gains.

Tigray's Leadership Tussle Bodes Ill for Ethiopia

A 100-pound Egyptian banknote is held next to a $100 U.S. banknote near the Great Pyramids at Giza on Jan. 17, 2023.

To cut costs and boost revenue, Cairo will continue to enact IMF-recommended measures like subsidy cuts and tax reforms, but it will do so in a piecemeal fashion to avoid triggering unrest.

Egyptians Brace for More Austerity Measures as Cairo Eyes More IMF Loan Tranches

Angola

Botswana

Comoros

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Lesotho

Madagascar

Malawi

Mauritius

Mozambique

Namibia

Seychelles

Eswatini

Tanzania

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Vietnam

France

Yael Braun-Pivet, a French lawmaker for the ruling Renaissance party, delivers a speech after being reelected as National Assembly president following the third round of voting on July 18, 2024.

The Weekly Rundown: France Resumes Political Horse-Trading, Blinken Returns to Middle East

Located in the northeast corner of Africa, Egypt lies at the heart of the Arab World. Comprised of mostly uninhabitable desert, 99 percent of the country's 93 million people live along the banks of the Nile River. This region, from the Aswan High Dam to the Mediterranean shore is Egypt's core.    The Nile, while not commercially navigable, forms the basis of Egypt's irrigation-dependent agricultural sector. The long, narrow stretch of population requires expensive infrastructure development — especially related to transportation, straining the capital-poor government's resources.     The desert topography demands a great deal of investment on a national scale necessitating a strong central state, helping to explain Egypt's history of authoritarian regimes beginning with the pharaohs.     Egypt's main geographic challenge has been to develop beyond the narrow Nile corridor and project power eastward. The Saharan desert has largely insulated the Nile core from its western flank and contained Egypt's westward expansion.    Egypt has been able to translate its strong central government and border with Israel into developing a relationship with the United States, the key foreign backer protecting the Suez Canal and the northern coastline. This area contains the majority of Egypt's offshore hydrocarbon reserves.    The Sinai Desert has traditionally been the overland route of foreign invasion, but its more manageable geography also accommodates Egyptian attempts to interact with the Levant and Arabian Peninsula and competition with Saudi Arabia for the role of regional Arab hegemon.

The Difficulties of North African Reform

Egypt's Uphill Battle

The U.S. and the Balance of Power

Rebalancing Power in the Middle East

SITUATION REPORTS

U.S., Jordan: Washington Unfreezes Some Aid to Jordan

Egypt: IMF Approves Egypt's Fourth Loan Review, Set to Disburse $1.2 Billion

Cyprus, Egypt: Countries Sign Agreements To Export Cypriot Gas via Egypt

Somalia: Government Open to Ethiopia Participating in AUSSOM

U.S., Egypt: State Department Approves $5 Billion Arms Sale to Egypt

Ethiopia, Somalia: Ethiopia And Somalia Agree Joint Declaration to Deescalate Tensions Over Sea Access

U.S., BRICS: Trump Threatens 100% Tariffs on BRICS Countries Over Proposed Joint Currency

Egypt: Government Begins Partial Initial Public Offering of State-Owned United Bank

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