The digital sphere in the Arab world, which began to evolve at the dawn of the new millennium, was initially perceived as a catalyst for addressing the structural issues plaguing the Arab
economy. This transformation, however, proved hard to control as the Arab Spring had shown the disruptive potential of technology in generating political voice. Digital transformation as an
economic policy was therefore tightly supervised by the state class to prevent any undesired spillover. Consequently, the outcomes in both the economic and political spheres fell short of bringing about comprehensive improvements. The advent of climate change has now further intensified the economic crises in the Arab world, necessitating a search for more innovative
and potentially more radical solutions. In this context, digitisation is finding new applications within the framework of Smart City concepts. The construction of these new-age cities, extending into cyberspace, holds the potential to bring about a radical transformation in the landscape of the Arab world. However, this transformation again is unfolding without an explicit discourse on possible new political and economic orientations. It is also taking place against the backdrop of a global multipolar restructuring process. This situation presents a critical decision for the Arab world: to align itself as a European periphery or to carve out its own distinct identity and political pole, whether that be Islamic, Asian, or otherwise. This decision – we must suspect – will carry with it implications for the usage of technology in the region.

Ayad Al-Ani is a professor extraordinary at the School of Public Leadership at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. He is also an Associated Member of the Einstein Center Digital Future in Berlin. He has served as the rector of the ESCP Europe Business School in Berlin and was an Executive Partner with Accenture.

The field of cybersecurity diplomacy is tackling new threats stemming from digital technologies. The last five years have seen increasing efforts by Middle East states to develop cybersecurity diplomacy capacity and bring it to bear on regional and global political issues. However, cybersecurity diplomacy in the Middle East must develop further, transitioning from a marker of digital inequality to an ameliorating factor, and helping to solve rather than avoid regional escalation and conflict.

James Shires is the Co-Director of both the European Cyber Conflict Research Incubator (ECCRI CIC) and the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative (ECCRI). He has written widely on issues of cybersecurity and international politics, including The Politics of Cybersecurity in the Middle East (Hurst/Oxford University Press, 2021), and Cyberspace and Instability (Edinburgh University Press, 2023).

This article is based on the authors’ paper “Digitalization and Firm Performance in Middle East and North Africa: Case Studies of Jordan, Morocco, and Egypt” (2023). The authors are grateful to Carnegie Foundation and the Economic Research Forum for support and thank Dr. Shahrokh Fardoust and Dr. Ibrahim El-Badawi for fruitful discussions, and Dr. Izak Atiyas and Dr. Mustapha K. Nabli for insightful comments. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this presentation are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organisations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

Nong Zhu is a professor at Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS), Canada. He holds a Ph. D. in Economics from International Development Research Center (CERDI), University of Auvergne, France. His research interests include migration, the labour market, poverty and inequality, firm performance and rural development.

Xubei Luo is a Senior Economist in the Strategy and Operations unit of the World Bank’s Development Finance Vice Presidency. She holds a Ph. D. in Economics from International Development Research Center (CERDI), University of Auvergne, France. Her research interests includes macroeconomic policy, poverty and inequality, private sector development, supply chains, the labour market, digital economy, results chains, and monitoring and evaluation.

In recent years the Gulf states have witnessed accelerating Internet access and social media penetration rates. In the context of their generally authoritarian environments (including a lack of freedom of expression), the co-option and control of such emergent digital technologies has unsurprisingly been taken very seriously by their ruling regimes, with evidence that all have gone to considerable lengths to try to keep at least one step ahead of any organised cyber dissent.

Christopher M. Davidson is the author, most recently, of From Sheikhs to Sultanism: Statecraft and Authority in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Democracy, Foreign Affairs and The New York Times. He is presently an associate fellow of the European Centre for International Affairs, edits the book series Power and Politics in the Gulf (co-published by Hurst & Co. and Oxford University Press USA), and is an editorial board member for the Journal of Labor and Society. He previously taught for twelve years at Durham University (as a lecturer, senior lecturer, then reader) and, prior to that, for three years at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates (as an assistant professor, on both the Abu Dhabi and Dubai campuses). He has held visiting positions at Leiden University College in the Hague (as a fellow) and Kyoto University in Japan (as an associate professor); and in 2017 he was the Daoud Family Lecturer in Middle Eastern studies at Albion College, Michigan.

This article examines the interplay between youth, technologies and social change in the Middle East, exploring how the Arab youth navigate the digital landscape within various contexts that reconfigure familiar paradigms and complicate the youth’s relationship with technologies. It highlights digital publicness as a practice, a pursuit and a value around which youth (re-)negotiate notions of individualism and collectivism, integration and marginalisation, individual expression and community belonging.

Joe F. Khalil is Associate Professor of Global Media in residence at Northwestern University Qatar. His most recent co-authored book is The Digital Double Bind: Change and Stasis (Oxford University Press, 2024) with Mohamed Zayani. He is also co-editor with Gholam Khiabani, Tourya Guayybess and Bilge Yesil of The Handbook of Media and Culture in the Middle East (Blackwell-Wiley, forthcoming).

Mohamed Zayani is Professor of Critical Theory at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar. His works include The Digital Double Bind (Oxford University Press, 2024; with Joe F. Khalil); A Fledgling Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2022); Digital Middle East (Oxford University Press, 2018); Bullets and Bulletins (Oxford University Press, 2016; with S. Mirgani); Networked Publics and Digital Contention (Oxford University Press, 2015); The Culture of Al Jazeera (McFarland, 2007; with S. Sahraoui); and The Al Jazeera Phenomenon (Pluto Press, 2005).

The Israeli war against the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza, which is commonly portrayed as a war against Hamas, enjoys great moral solidarity in the political and media discourse in Germany. At the same time, the Palestinian experience of violence, which has been going on for decades, is once again being made invisible. This is compounded by the invisibilisation and criminalisation of symbols of Palestinian identity and practices of Palestinian remembrance culture in Germany. This article addresses the growing alienation of Palestinians in Germany in the face of this situation, as the violence continues for them even in exile.

Sarah El-Bulbeisi joined the Orient Institut Beirut in November 2019 after completing her PhD at the Institute for Near and Middle East Studies at the lMU Munich, Germany. Before joining the OIB, she coordinated the DAAD project “Violence, Forced Migration and Exile: Trauma in the Arab World and in Germany”, a Higher Education Dialogue between Palestinian and Lebanese universities as well as with the LMU Munich. Prior to that, she worked as a lecturer and research associate at the Institute for Near and Middle East Studies at the LMU Munich. she is the author of Taboo, Trauma and Identity: Subject Constructions of Palestinians in Germany and Switzerland, 1960 to 2015, published with transcript in 2020.

It was against the backdrop of over a century of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that the Hamas assault on Israel threw the entire Middle east into turmoil on 7 October, redirecting a trajectory that the United States had been pursuing with some Arab states eager to normalise relations with Israel with little, if any, serious regard to the Palestinian plight. A new geopolitical and strategic architecture will likely evolve in the aftermath of the assault without the possibility to return to the status quo ante. A new era for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is emerging and another era for some regional and Arab states, especially Qatar, which is playing a mediating function in the release of the hostages and the Palestinian prisoners. The world may very well become multipolar as Iran’s role also unfolds in this war. One thing is for sure, the “Question of Palestine”, which started in 1917, is still shaping the Middle East and is central in the emerging new Middle East order.

Hiba Husseini chaired the Legal Committee to Final Status Negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis and has served as legal advisor to peace process negotiations since 1994. She has written widely on the peace process, the rule of law, economic development and Jerusalem, recently co-authoring with Dr. Yossi Beilin the “Holy Land Confederation” (2022), an enabler for the two-state solution. Among her other most recent publications are Palestine from a Flawed Democracy to Authoritarianism (2023) and Participation of East Jerusalem in Future Palestinian Parliamentary and Presidential Elections: Challenges and Policy Options (2023). She serves on the Board of Trustees of Al Quds University and the American Board of the Middle East Partnership for Peace Fund (MEPPA).

The attack by Hamas against the Israeli settlements on Gaza’s northern border on October 7 had the limited objective of taking as many captives as possible to exchange them later, with a growing number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. However, the operation, while it did achieve its objective, seemed to go sour as anarchy prevailed with the flow of undisciplined crowds into the settlements, precipitating acts of violence. The reaction to Hamas resulted in a war of vengeance against Gaza, with clear indications that the carnage created has rendered the towns and villages of the Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank unfit for living. Witnessing the huge destruction of life and property, the world woke up to the tragedy of the Palestinians. Calls were made to end the violence and the option of a two-state solution gained momentum. Yet historical precedence seems to defy such a course of action. On previous occasions when the world attended to the various sides and parties of the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours, it was often Israeli reluctance to make the necessary territorial concessions that led to failure. The typical syndrome followed a familiar pattern, in which Israeli leaders begin having disagreements and friction among themselves, then their American allies fall into confusion and inaction resulted. This has plagued the course of the so-called peace process between Israelis and Palestinians since 1967. Biden has made it clear that he not only favours the two-state solution, but that in preparation for its realisation, Netanyahu should distance himself from the extremists and accept the Palestinian Authority as a negotiating partner. Netanyahu has already rejected Biden’s recommendations and opted for a defiant position. In all probability, Biden will shy away from a confrontation and the call for a two-state solution will be frozen. Consequently, Israel will continue to rely on its hard power without relinquishing its hold on the territories it occupied in 1967.

Walid Kazziha is Professor of Political Science, several times chairman of department and former Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Political Science at The American University in Cairo. He is a specialist in the field of Middle East Politics, with particular reference to the politics of the Arab East, Egypt and the Gulf region. He has taught a wide range of courses focusing on government and politics of the Middle East, the Arab-Israeli conflict, civil society in the Middle East, political Islam, Arab political and social thought, the Middle East in Global Politics and conflicts in the Gulf. He has authored and co-authored several books, including Egypt’s Tahrir Revolution, Revolutionary Transformation in the Arab World, Palestine in the Arab Dilemma and a monograph, The Social History of Southern Syria.

The 2023 war in Gaza has become a focal point in international relations, attracting the attention of various nations with vested interests in the region. A prominent player in this conflict is Iran, which has played a significant role in shaping the discourse surrounding the Palestinian cause. This article aims to delve into the intricate web of Iran’s perspective on the Palestine-Israel conflict, examining its historical development, the domestic political ramifications and the international reactions to Iran’s involvement. The article analyses Iran’s stance on the Gaza conflict, focusing on its rhetoric, key themes and diplomatic nuances. It also explores the relationship between Iran and its allies, examining its involvement in the events of 7 October and the Hamas attack on Israel. Iran faces a difficult decision of intervention and restraint, with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s realist approach providing context. examining the potential acceleration of Iran’s nuclear programme as a response to the conflict highlights the correlation between military strategies and geopolitical considerations. lastly, the article delves into the intricate relationship between Iranian politics and public sentiment, highlighting the diverse perspectives within Iranian circles and the varying views of the Iranian public. It also examines the surprising lack of grassroots support for the Palestinian cause within Iran, highlighting the influence of media, social dynamics and economic concerns on public opinion.

Mahjoob Zweiri is Professor in Contemporary Politics and History of the Middle East with a focus on Iran and the Gulf region and Director of Gulf studies Center at Qatar University. Before joining Qatar University in 2010, he was senior researcher in Middle East Politics and Iran at the Center for Strategic Studies, University of Jordan. From 2003 until 2006 he was a research fellow and then Director of the Centre for Iranian Studies in the Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Durham University. He has more than 90 publications in areas such as Iran and Contemporary Middle East History and Politics, Gulf Studies, Social Sciences in the University of the Future and Artificial Intelligence and Social Sciences. His latest book is Arab-Iranian Relations Since the Arab Uprisings (2023).

Thomas Bonnie James is a PhD Candidate in the Gulf Studies Program, Qatar University.

This article examines the implications of the ongoing war in Gaza for prospects of rapprochement between Israel and the Gulf states. The article provides historical background and context to the evolving position of the Gulf Cooperation Council states toward Israel in the 1990s, with the exception of Kuwait, analyses the factors that lay behind the realignment of regional interests in the 2000s and 2010s, and assesses the consequences for the future of relationships in the aftermath of the horrific attacks by Hamas on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the Israeli bombardment of Gaza that followed.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen is the Fellow for the Middle East at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. His research spans the history, political and international political economy, and international relations of the Gulf states and their changing position within the global order. He is the author of six books about the Gulf states, including Insecure Gulf: The End of Certainty and the Transition to the Post-Oil Era (Hurst, 2011), The Gulf States in International Political Economy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), Qatar and the Gulf Crisis (Oxford University Press, 2020), and Centers of Power in the Arab Gulf States (Hurst, 2023). Prior to joining the Baker Institute in 2013, he co-directed the Kuwait Programme on Development, Governance and Globalization in the Gulf States at the London School of Economics and Political science and was also an Associate Fellow with the Middle East North Africa Programme at Chatham House between 2012 and 2021.

There is no Israeli-Palestinian peace process at present and talk of a “two-state” solution, while originally based on a sound foundation, now only masks the way the Israel-Palestine conflict has metastasised. In such a setting, diplomacy can steer matters away from further deterioration less by prescribing a final settlement and more by insisting on specific principles: international law; national rights; and restoring Palestinian institutional development. such an approach will not solve the conflict, but it will leave a future generation with a more effective set of tools.

Nathan J. Brown is Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University and nonresident senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; for the 2023-24 academic year, he is a fellow at the Hamburg Institute for Advanced Study.

In this essay, I examine three historical junctures in the failure of formal mediation in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. The three historical junctures involve the United Nations partition plan in 1947, the autonomy framework of the Israeli-egyptian Camp David Accords in the late 1970s and the Madrid-Oslo negotiations in the 1990s. The essay ends with some reflections on future engagement in formal mediation at the policy and practice levels. Based on this historical and analytical overview, I clearly indicate that any effective mediation and future conflict resolution process must facilitate coherently and genuinely the implementation of the Palestinian right to self-determination beyond permanent occupation and oppressive autonomy. I also demonstrate through analysis and historical experience that any conclusive settlement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be based on sustainable peace, equality and justice.

Yaser Alashqar is lecturer in the school of law at Independent College in Dublin and a visiting professor in World Heritage studies at University College Dublin in Ireland. His teaching and research focus on law and dispute resolution, including mediation, negotiation and arbitration. His academic and research interests also involve conflict, heritage and Israeli-Palestinian issues. He holds a PhD in Peace and Conflict studies from Trinity College Dublin, and his recent published research includes Civil Society and Peacebuilding: Critical Review (2022) and Heritage in the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict: Sociopolitical Perspective (2022). He continues to work on training and research projects with european universities, government institutions and international organisations. He is also an academic member of the Centre for Palestine studies at the University of london and a frequent media commentator on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.