Think tanks from the UAE, the US and Israel issued a Middle East policy guide for US President Joe Biden on Monday, in the latest sign of growing co-operation after last year’s normalisation pact.
Experts from the Atlantic Council in Washington, the Emirates Policy Centre in Abu Dhabi and the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv released a nine-point plan called, “How President Biden can Tackle the Middle East’s Biggest Problems”.
The three-page document, dealing with problems including Covid-19 and restraining Iran’s nuclear programme, comes after the Abraham Accord that normalised UAE-Israel ties last year and fostered greater engagement between the two countries.
The authors of the report – the Atlantic Council’s Kirsten Fontenrose, Emirates Policy Centre founder and director Ebtesam Al Ketbi and Institute for National Security Studies director Udi Dekel – said it was the first such collaboration.
They wrote about a “new regional landscape” since the Accord was signed at the White House in September and of co-operation between Israeli and Emirati think tanks, which was not previously possible.
“Through joint reports, conferences and online seminars, the partners intend to reinforce regional stability and promote mutually beneficial ties between Israel and the Arab world,” they wrote.
The policy advice would help Mr Biden to “score some early successes and avoid familiar minefields” in a region beset by wars in Yemen, Syria and Libya, and decades-old enmity between the Palestinians and Israelis, they wrote.
On Iran, the analysts advised Mr Biden to “consult closely” with America’s regional allies before re-entering the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major world powers, from which former US president Donald Trump withdrew in 2018.
Washington should consult with its Gulf allies, Israel and others to address ballistic missiles, cyber warfare and other concerns that were left out of the original deal.
The Biden administration should strengthen co-operation between Israel and Arab states, including by emulating Israeli-UAE partnerships on vaccines against the coronavirus pandemic, the authors wrote.
On Palestinian-Israeli tension, the analysts urged Mr Biden to “create a pathway for diplomatic engagement” between the two sides and revive a peace process that was upended by Mr Trump’s pro-Israel deal making
“The alignment of many Arab, Israeli and American visions represents a new architecture in the Middle East,” the experts wrote.
“It signals a tectonic shift that creates new diplomatic options and geopolitical levers.”
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THE CLOWN OF GAZA
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Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
