Broken Contracts in the Middle East

As Lebanon descends deeper into chaos, those living in the country -- including Palestinian and Syrian refugees -- will risk illegally fleeing to Europe by boat.

In this podcast, analyst at RANE Emily Hawthorne discusses how scheduled reforms may move Tunisia's political system from democracy back to autocracy.

With parliament still suspended, the president’s planned political reforms could see Tunisia’s 10-year-old democracy slip back into autocracy.

Compared with Qatar and the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will be much slower to naturalize the descendants of desert nomads living within their borders.

The high voter turnout in the historic Shura Council election indicates Qataris’ growing appetite for political involvement as the country’s economy shifts.

Led by the same parties and sects, the new Cabinet risks falling victim to the same infighting that stymied its predecessors’ attempts at major reforms.

As the country edges closer to collapse, neither illicit Iranian fuel shipments nor a U.S. plan to revitalize the Arab Gas Pipeline will provide immediate relief.

Anger over last year’s disaster risks spiraling into bloody clashes between Lebanon’s ruling elite and the forces trying to oust them.

The greater protection given to citizens living in the capital could make Emiratis elsewhere more openly critical of their federal government.