The six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council need to diversify their oil-dependent economies, though the urgency for reform varies, with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Oman facing deeper challenges, Samantha Gross and Adel Abdel Ghafar detail in new research.
Additionally, Gross examines how transparency and valuation challenges led the initial public offering for Saudi Aramco to become the world's largest "by an eyelash instead of a landslide."
Amanda Sloat breaks down the results of the U.K. election, in which Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a solid majority to pass his Brexit deal and negotiate future economic relations with the EU and the United States.
In a report launched at the COP25 U.N. climate summit in Madrid, David Victor, Frank Geels, and Simon Sharpe highlight where governments and businesses interested in accelerating deep decarbonization of the world economy can have the greatest impact.
Separately, Victor argues in The New York Times that climate policy has leaders but lacks enough followers. Demonstrating solutions that protect the climate while yielding tangible benefits, like reducing local air pollution, could help.
Quote of the week
"The November unrest [in Iran] is at least as serious a threat to the longevity of the Islamic Republic as the post-election upheaval in 2009 was at that time and arguably more challenging to overcome or durably repair."
The Washington Post's Afghanistan Papers. Michael O'Hanlon argues that while the U.S. mission in Afghanistan has been frustrating, U.S. political and military leaders have not systematically and intentionally misled the country about the war.
Israel fights Iran in Syria. November marked a peak in Israel’s war against Iran's presence in Syria. Eyal Tsir Cohen and Kevin Huggard examine the deterrence messages Israel is sending to Tehran, Damascus, and Moscow.
Kurdish independence. Ömer Taşpınar writes that while Kurdish hopes for independence rose and fell with the rise and fall of ISIS, the long-term process of Kurdish nation-building is well under way and has gained unprecedented global legitimacy.
Terrorism
The killings at Naval Air Station Pensacola. Daniel Byman and Tamara Wittes react to a Saudi Air Force trainee's killing of three people at a U.S. military base and describe implications for U.S.-Saudi relations.
Ten years after Khost. Bruce Riedel recalls the December 2009 suicide bombing by an al-Qaida triple agent that killed seven CIA officers and one Jordanian officer at a U.S. base in Afghanistan, and ties it to today's negotiations with the Taliban.
International affairs
Burma at a crossroads. Jonathan Stromseth interviews Thant Myint-U, author of the new book "The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century," on the Brookings Cafeteria podcast.
China and the global economic order. David Dollar talks with Wang Huiyao, founder and director of the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing, on the Dollar & Sense podcast.
Impeachment and Trump's foreign policy. Thomas Wright argues that the Senate should consider President Trump's broader conduct of foreign policy as it evaluates his fitness to continue in office and that Trump's former cabinet officials should speak out.
What impeachment can mean for foreign policy. Bruce Riedel describes working as a White House foreign policy adviser on issues like Iraq and Middle East peace during President Clinton's impeachment and how Clinton and foreign leaders reacted to developments.
Venezuela's refugees. Dany Bahar interviews Felipe Muñoz, the Colombian government official in charge of managing his government’s response to the humanitarian crisis of Venezuelan refugees, on the Brookings Cafeteria podcast.
