Equatorial Guinea

Nigeria

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United States

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Algeria

Iran

Iraq

Kuwait

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United Arab Emirates

Economics

Energy

OPEC+ announced on May 3 that it will raise its collective oil production cap by 411,000 barrels per day in June, an increase from the original production increase of roughly 138,000 barrels per day to which the bloc previously agreed.

Global: OPEC's Production Increase Provides Some Tariff Respite

Israel

Israel-Hamas Conflict

Military & Security

Politics

U.S.-Iran Relations

Several Iranian-backed Iraqi militias, including Kataib Hezbollah, Nujabaa, Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada and Ansarullah al-Awfiyaa, are reportedly in advanced discussions to disarm, Reuters reported April 7, citing senior commanders and Iraqi officials. 

Iraq: Iranian-Backed Militias Reportedly Discussing Disarmament

The United States failed to renew a sanctions waiver allowing Iraq to buy electricity from Iraq, letting the waiver expire, Bloomberg reported on March 8.

Iraq: U.S. Ends Iraq's Waiver To Import Iranian Electricity

Oman

Kazakhstan

Russia

The eight OPEC+ countries participating in 2.2 million barrels per days of voluntary oil productions cuts -- Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Oman, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- agreed to continue with their previously announced plans to begin unwinding their voluntary product cuts between April 1, 2025, and September 2026, OPEC said in a statement on March 3.

Global: Eight OPEC+ Members Agree To Phase Out Voluntary Production Cuts Starting in April

Iraqi Planning Minister Mohammed Tamim announced the official results of Iraq's first census since 1987, with the country's population reaching 46.1 million, up from 39 million last estimated in 2009, AP reported on Feb. 24. 

Iraq: Government Announces Results of First Census in 40 Years

United Kingdom

British Prime Minister Kier Starmer and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani inked a 12.3 billion pound, roughly $15 billion, trade and investment deal as the two countries seek to reset ties, a bilateral security deal and discussed the return of irregular migrants to Iraq, Reuters reported Jan. 14. 

U.K., Iraq: U.K. and Iraq Sign 12.3B Pound Trade Deal and a Security Pact to Improve Bilateral Relations

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Gabon

OPEC+ countries agreed to delay the phase-out of 2.2 million barrels of oil per day of production cuts from Jan. 1, 2025, until April 1 and to phase those cuts out over 18 months instead of the originally planned 12 months, Argus Media reported on Dec. 5. 

OPEC+: Members To Delay Boosting Oil Production for Third Time

Lebanon

Syria

At least 300 Iranian-backed Iraqi militia fighters -- mostly from the Badr Organization and Nujabaa group -- crossed into Syria to back the Syrian government's forces and fight the rebels, in addition to a small number of fighters from Fatemiyoun, Reuters reported Dec. 2. 

Syria, Iraq, Lebanon: Iranian-Backed Militias Go to Syria to Back the Assad Regime

Assessments

Yemen

Mock drones and missiles are displayed at an exhibition on Nov. 13, 2024, in Sanaa, Yemen. 

Recent actions by Iran and its Iraqi proxies appear designed to appease the U.S. as the Trump administration weighs taking aggressive military action against them both.

To Placate the U.S., Iran Temporarily Scales Back Its Regional Proxy Strategy

Turkey

Syrian Kurds wave independence-era flags in support of the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on Dec. 19, 2024, in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli.

A rapprochement would boost the odds of Turkish constitutional reform needed to give Erdogan another term, while its failure could presage regionwide violence.

Hints Emerge of a Turkish-Kurdish Thaw

Qatar

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan welcomes his Syrian counterpart Asaad Al-Shaibani before attending an Arab officials' meeting in Riyadh on Jan. 12, 2025.

Saudi Arabia's re-engagement with Lebanon, Syria and Iraq aims to counterbalance Turkey, Qatar and Iran but faces limits due to sectarian politics and foreign interference, which may make Riyadh more assertive over time.

Saudi Arabia Moves To Counterbalance Turkey and Qatar, Replace Iran in the Levant

Sub-Saharan Africa

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The lobby of the headquarters for the U.S. Agency for International Development is seen on Feb. 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. 

Social Issues

Cuts to U.S.-funded humanitarian and development programs could worsen global health outcomes, destabilize security environments, accelerate democratic backsliding, and create opportunities for rival powers to expand their influence.

The Global Implications of Trump's Foreign Aid Cuts

Angola

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World map on a dark digital background representing global communication and global finances.

Cyber

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

RANE's Top 10 Risks for 2025 highlights high-impact, low-probability risks and trends from the annual forecast presented in more extreme terms.

RANE's Top 10 Risks for 2025

An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al Assad (left) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Dec. 2, 2024. 

With its proxy network weakened, developing nuclear weapons will become a more attractive option for Iran as it tries to rebuild deterrence against the U.S. and Israel.

Assad's Fall in Syria Deals Another Blow to Iran's Axis of Resistance

A child tapes a stick holding a Hamas flag during a demonstration in support of Palestinian resistance in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Jan. 12, 2024. 

Hamas' impending expulsion from Qatar will force the group to either relocate its Politburo or disperse its senior leaders across multiple countries, either of which would carry challenges.

With Its Welcome Worn Out in Qatar, Hamas Seeks a New Home Base

Moldova

The first day of early voting in the Nov. 5 U.S. election Oct. 21, 2024, in Stamford, Connecticut. U.S. voters will select a new president, 435 representatives, 34 senators, and any number of state and municipal officials Nov. 5.

Global Elections

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

The Weekly Rundown: America Votes, Qatar's Constitutional Referendum

Snapshots

A general view of Tehran after several explosions amid an Israeli attack were heard there Oct. 26, 2024.

Israel's long-awaited response to Iran's Oct. 1 strike proves restrained, limiting the risk of all-out war.

Israel's Measured Attack on Iran Calibrated to Avoid a Response

Media

Graphics

Members of the Kurdish peshmerga security forces queue at a polling station to vote ahead of the Oct. 20 parliamentary election in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, on Oct. 18, 2024. 

Following belated parliamentary elections in Iraqi Kurdistan, explore the most prominent Kurdish groups in the Middle East.

Iraqi Kurdistan's Parliamentary Elections Highlight Two Major Kurdish Groups in the Middle East

Columns

On Geopolitics

An Israeli tank Aug. 7, 2024, in southern Israel along the border with the Gaza Strip. Washington may change the regional dynamics substantially before the next Oct. 7; if not, we will likely be marking a second anniversary of regional conflict next year. 

Washington may change the regional dynamics substantially before the next Oct. 7; if not, we will likely be marking a second anniversary of regional conflict next year.

Will War in the Middle East Last Another Year?

Sudan

Middle East and North Africa

Bahrain

Egypt

The Geopolitics of Water

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

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

<p>Iraq rests at the heart of the Middle East, wedged between large and small powers alike. The country is divided into three topographic zones: the riverlands of Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; the western and southern deserts, which reach into Saudi Arabia and Syria; and the highlands of Iraqi Kurdistan. The southern deserts shield Iraq from attack, while the northern highlands impede any attempt at conquest from Anatolia. But the open Syrian Desert provides a route into Iraq from Syria, especially along the Euphrates River, and the country&rsquo;s eastern frontier has few natural barriers to prevent invasion from Iran. The flat riverlands are similarly vulnerable to incursion from any power able to land an army from the Persian Gulf. Historically, foreign forces have used these routes as a means to penetrate Iraq&rsquo;s borders. In premodern times, Iraq&rsquo;s wealth came from its agricultural core, which forms the heart of the Fertile Crescent and stretches to the Persian Gulf. The country&rsquo;s 37 million people are still mostly concentrated in these farmlands today. But the discovery of oil in the north, east and south have shifted Iraq&rsquo;s economic core from the agricultural riverlands to the northern highlands and the Iranian border, bringing prosperity to cities such as Mosul, Arbil and Kirkuk. For most of its history, Iraq has been dominated by its neighbors, which have left behind unique cultural, religious and ethnic legacies. The Sunni Ottoman Turks and the Shiite Safavid Persians helped produce the country&rsquo;s modern Sunni and Shiite communities, while the sparsely inhabited western desert continues to have tribal and sectarian links to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria. Some of these groups have kept their relationships with Iraq&rsquo;s neighbors, which leverage those ties for their own strategic purposes. Meanwhile, in Iraq&rsquo;s northern highlands, the indigenous Kurds have managed to maintain a cohesive identity throughout centuries of foreign domination. This isolation occasionally gives rise to Kurdish secessionism. As the northern highlands drift further from the central government&rsquo;s control, the Sunni, Shiite, Christian and other communities of the riverlands and deserts jockey with one another for dominance of the state. Iraq&rsquo;s geographic challenge is therefore to protect its vulnerable oil fields while managing a diverse population that is susceptible to external influence.</p>

SITUATION REPORTS

Global: OPEC's Production Increase Provides Some Tariff Respite

Iraq: Iranian-Backed Militias Reportedly Discussing Disarmament

Iraq: U.S. Ends Iraq's Waiver To Import Iranian Electricity

Global: Eight OPEC+ Members Agree To Phase Out Voluntary Production Cuts Starting in April

Iraq: Government Announces Results of First Census in 40 Years

U.K., Iraq: U.K. and Iraq Sign 12.3B Pound Trade Deal and a Security Pact to Improve Bilateral Relations

OPEC+: Members To Delay Boosting Oil Production for Third Time

Syria, Iraq, Lebanon: Iranian-Backed Militias Go to Syria to Back the Assad Regime

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