The Gulf: New Center of the Middle East? Politique étrangère, Vol. 85, No. 1, Spring 2020

 How will the need for energy transition be imposed on the region’s rentier economies, and with what political consequences? Will Iran benefit from its dominant position despite growing opposition in public opinion? Will Saudi Arabia’s heir, and his concern for the country’s image, bring about any real change for the country? Could its strict proselytism be a thing of the past? How realistic are the United Arab Emirates’ claims to autonomy and non-aligned diplomacy? What about Israel? Will the country manage to consolidate its particular relations with the Gulf States and settle the Palestinian issue once and for all?

In another key issue in current affairs, how will Europe receive President Macron’s initiative to redefine EU-Russia relations? The only certainty so far is that it has sparked a certain backlash, for example in Poland and among large sectors of German opinion. Could we envisage an EU relation with Moscow that is not defined by European sanctions and blind conformity with Washington?

This issue also includes two contributions that focus on the key players in Asian power relations. Firstly, to what extent can we gauge China’s real technological power, beyond the effects of propaganda and fear? Secondly, does India risk being divided by an overbearing and unmitigated Hindu nationalism?

CASE FILE

The Gulf: New Center of the Middle East?

Introduction: The Gulf, From Geopolitics to Just Plain Politics, by Dorothée Schmid

The Gulf Economies and Energy Transition, by Hugo Le Picard

Iran’s Regional Strategy: Between Realpolitik and Revolution, by Clément Therme

Saudi Arabia: A New Religious Diplomacy?, by Nabil Mouline

Is the United Arab Emirates Taking on the World?, by Emma Soubrier

The Gulf Countries and Israel: A Convergence of Interests?, by Elisabeth Marteu

COUNTER ANALYSIS –  Europe / Russia: Openings and Reservations

A French Way for Europe’s Russian Policy? Unrealistic and Contradictory, by Hannes Adomeit

Thinking European Toward Russia, by Roman Kuzniar

CURRENT AFFAIRS

India: Hindu Nationalism in Power, by Jean-Luc Racine

China, a Technological Champion or a Frustrated Giant?, by Patrick Allard

The Geopolitics of the Amazon, by Ombelyne Dagicour

 BAROMETERS

Space in the Twenty-First Century: Searching for a New Balance, by Guilhem Penent

What Role for the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission?, by Mérick Freedy Alagbe

REFLECTIONS

Should We Negotiate With the Jihadists in the Sahel?, by Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos

Tunisia, 2011–2020: Democracy Against the Efficiency of Public Action?, by Michaël Ayari

LECTURES

The Code. Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America, by Margaret O’Mara

Un pouvoir implacable et doux. La Tech ou l’efficacité pour seule valeur, by Philippe Delmas

Dans la tête de Mark Zuckerberg, by Julien Le Bot

by Julien Nocetti

ABSTRACTS