Nr. 1 | July 2026 - Anchoring the South: Jordan and the Stabilisation of Post-Assad Syria
by Katrina Sammour
The fall of the Assad regime in December 2024 redrew the security map along Jordan's northern border. Eighteen months on, southern Syria presents three distinct challenges: a governance vacuum and de facto self-rule in Suwayda, the collapse of a dominant armed faction and the return of tribal authority in Daraa, and an Israeli ground presence in Quneitra that functions as the local authority. Read more here...
Nr. 2 | July 2026 - Informal Trade between Jordan and Syria
by Dr. Qasem Hamouri
Informal trade between Jordan and Syria has long been a component of the border economy in northern Jordan, particularly in Ramtha. This paper examines the evolution of informal cross-border trade, its socio economic implications, and the ways in which regional political and economic developments have re shaped border-related economic activity over the past decade. Read more here...
Nr. 3 | August 2026 - Iraq's Armed Groups and the Limits of its Regional Diplomacy
by Hamzeh Hadad
Led by the newly appointed Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Iraq's government has promised that by 30 September 2026 every paramilitary force in the country will be disarmed or brought inside the state, and that no armed group will operate outside of state control. The pledge is not only about weapons, rather it is an attempt to establish the Iraqi government as the sole author of Iraq's foreign policy at a moment when armed groups have struck Jordan, Syria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and drawn coordinated American and Saudi airstrikes onto Iraqi territory in response. Read more here...
Nr. 4 | August 2026 - Energy Resilience Amid Geopolitical Tensions
by Dr. Sanad Al-Quran
The 2026 Hormuz crisis exposed a weakness in conventional approaches to energy security. A country can maintain physical supply while remaining vulnerable to disruption elsewhere in the energy system. The subsequent cycle of escalation, attempted ceasefire, renewed military action, and diplomatic openings reinforced the same lesson. Against this background, the paper asks what the Hormuz crisis reveals about the vulnerabilities of Jordan’s energy transition and how the Kingdom can strengthen its energy resilience amid persistent regional geopolitical tensions. Read more here...
