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The Middle East and North Africa

The conflicts and crises in the Middle East and North Africa are central themes in NUPI research on the region.

What roles do the emergent big powers play in these conflicts? How do great-power politics influence regional dynamics? These are central question that affect relations elsewhere around the globe, especially as regards energy issues. Developments in individual countries like Egypt, Syria and Iran are also followed closely by NUPI researchers, as are questions of the security situation in the area and how this is affected by actors and conflicts elsewhere in Africa.
Publications
Publications
Report

Can Aid Solve the Root Causes of Migration? A Framework for Future Research on the Development-Migration Nexus

An important dimension of the European Union’s response to the 2015 refugee and migration management crisis has been to address the root causes of irregular migration. A major tool the EU has to mitigate push factors of migration is development assistance. Yet, the literature shows that the casual relationship between aid and migration is complex and far from obvious. This article summarises the ongoing debates and major findings concerning the development-migration nexus in order to better inform policymakers about the potential risks and shortcomings of using aid in migration management. It suggests a framework for future research on what kind of assistance might work, for whom, and where.

  • Development policy
  • Europe
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Africa
  • Conflict
  • Fragile states
  • Migration
  • The EU
  • Development policy
  • Europe
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Africa
  • Conflict
  • Fragile states
  • Migration
  • The EU
Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Irans moderne historie

Irans moderne historie er en høyaktuell bok om hvordan Iran, slik vi kjenner det i dag, har blitt til, utgitt førti år etter at 2500 år med persisk monarki ble erstattet av en islamsk republikk.

  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • The Middle East and North Africa
Articles
New research
Articles
New research

The PREVEX project officially launched in Brussels

Why are some communities more likely to experience violent extremism than others? 

  • Terrorism and extremism
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Africa
  • Conflict
  • Insurgencies
  • The EU
  • Comparative methods
Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Introduction

The special issue discusses journalism and the challenge of democracy in transitional countries in Africa. We present in-depth treatments of the role of journalism in Zimbabwe and South Africa’s break with colonialism, Somalia’s breakdown after the fall of Siad Barré in the early 1990s and the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Political transitions open a time window during which the media system is in flux and actors try to influence it per their interests. What role does journalism play in such processes, and how do they in turn affect journalists?

  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Governance
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Governance
Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Attentatet i Bagdad kan virke mot sin hensikt

Det er forståelig at USA ønsket å ta ut Soleimani og Muhandis, to nøkkelpersoner i Irans transnasjonale nettverk av motstandsgrupper. Attentatet var imidlertid ikke nødvendigvis et strategisk riktig valg, og kan få en rekke utilsiktede konsekvenser.

  • Security policy
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Security policy
  • The Middle East and North Africa
Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Attentatet i Bagdad: Farlig og feilkalkulert

Den 3. januar kom nyheten om at generalmajor Qasem Soleimani ble drept i et amerikansk droneangrep i Bagdad. Ifølge president Trump handlet USA «for å stoppe en krig, ikke for å starte en krig», men angrepet bør heller ses i forlengelse av Trump-administrasjonens maximum pressure-strategi, som har økt konflikten mellom Iran og USA.

  • Security policy
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • North America
  • Security policy
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • North America
Publications
Publications
Report

Neo-Orientalist Framing of the 2011 and 2013 Egyptian Uprisings: A Case Study of The New York Times and The Washington Post

This thesis critically examines the US media framing of the Egyptian Uprisings in 2011 and 2013 to examine whether the coverage was relatively value-neutral or had a value-laden (Neo-Orientalist) perspective. The thesis aims to examine whether the Neo-Orientalist tendency among the Western societies to view religion as the key driving force behind political processesis manifest in the US media as well, or whether the two newspapers try to represent the abovementioned political and economic processes and grievances. To this end, the thesis looks at the articles published in The New York Times and The Washington Post during and after two major events: Mubarak‟s resignation in 2011 and Morsi‟s removal in 2013. A combination of quantitative (content analysis) and qualitative (critical discourse analysis) research demonstrates that news articles and editorials about the 2011 and 2013 uprisings include Neo-Orientalist frames. These articles consider liberal democracy as a universal normative model and contrast it with Islam, portrayed as a fundamentally different, homogeneous and antidemocratic phenomenon linked with instability and violence and singlehandedly influencing democratization process. Compared to 2011, Neo-Orientalist frames become more frequent in 2013; if in 2011, most units adhere to Fukuyama‟s view that Egypt would join the teleological march to liberal democracy, in 2013, the trend reverses and most units, like Huntington, exclude any possibility of democratization. The textual practices of naming, sourcing, presupposition, fore- and backgrounding, used to construct Neo-Orientalist frames, can be related to discursive practices, or the production of text, and larger social practices. As critical discourse analysis shows, the units show pro-Israeli bias and align with the US foreign policy priorities: both the general policy of liberal democracy promotion and the specific strategic interests in Egypt.

  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Conflict
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Conflict
Articles
News
Articles
News

Drivers of violent extremism: NUPI to coordinate EU-funded project

PREVEX will shed light on how the various drivers of violent extremism operate.

  • Terrorism and extremism
  • Europe
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Conflict
  • Fragile states
  • Insurgencies
  • The EU
  • Comparative methods
Bildet viser NUPI-forskerne som har fått innvilget H2020-prosjektet PREVEX fotografert utendørs
Publications
Publications
Report

Religious authority and the 2018 parliamentary elections in Iraq

This research brief analyzes the discursive production of, and political struggle over, religious authority in Shia Iraq. It examines Friday sermons held in the run-up to the May 2018 parliamentary elections.

  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • The Middle East and North Africa
Articles
Analysis
Articles
Analysis

What does China really want in the Middle East?

In a recent article, NUPI research fellow Henrik S. Hiim and Stig Stenslie aim to find an answer.

  • Security policy
  • International economics
  • Economic growth
  • Trade
  • International investments
  • Regional integration
  • Foreign policy
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Asia
Kinas president Xi Jinping møter kong Salman bin Abdulaziz av Saudi-Arabia. Her er de to statsoverhodene avbildet sammen i 2016 mens de utfører en tradisjonell dans som del av velkomstseremonien for Xi Jinping i Riyadh.
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