Latest Articles

​The study is premised on the assumption that the US-Iranian tensions under the Trump administration represents a new chapter in the crisis in the US-Iranian relationship. This extreme hostility was related to US domestic politics and the bordering on personal rivalry of President Trump with his predecessor, President Barack Obama, in domestic and foreign policy. One of the most important policy manifestations of this administrative divergence concerns the Nuclear Agreement with Iran, signed in 2015. Opposition to the Nuclear Agreement united Gulf players such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, who considered shared hostility towards Iran as a bridge to strengthen their relations with the US on the one hand; while also forming a strong front, in the presence of Israel, to weaken the Iranian regime without necessarily replacing it.

The Arab Opinion Index data provides a look at a number of important issues, including assessments of foreign policy. Every year, the Index asks respondents across the Arab world their opinions on regional and world powers as well as specific foreign policy developments. Aggregate opinions may provide a general assessment of where the Arab world stands, but to understand fully the divisions and polarization that exists in the region today, it is important to look at country differences. In this paper, we will review Arab public opinion towards Iran, and whether there are sub-regional variations in assessment towards Iranian foreign policy. In this way, we can gauge whether polarization on the Iranian issue exists, and where it is most prevalent.

Specialists in the philosophy of social sciences preach simplicity in choosing variables during research design, the aim of which is to avoid the complexity of abundance, reducing the clarity and logical consistency of the thesis. The rule of using limited variables is based on the methodological rule called the "Principle of Parsimony" which means that the most acceptable explanation is the simplest and stipulates the use of the lowest possible number of variables in order to explain the maximum possible number of phenomena. This study introduces this principle and examines the reasons for its absence from political research by assuming that the reason for the lack of parsimony in political research, and the tendency of researchers to use multiple variables, is the widespread "methodologist" tendency, which emerges as a type of excessive confidence in the reliability of the method.

This book examines and establishes the sociological relevance of the concept of populism and illuminates the ideological use of sport, leisure, and popular culture in socio-political populist strategies and dynamics.

Algerian Security Policy: Determinants, Fields and Challenges [Arabic]

This study examines the role played by the youth of Morocco, turning this generational group into a political and social force capable of proposing alternative solutions to Morocco's political impasse, introducing dynamism and alternatives along the path to democracy. The question which frames this study is: to what extend did Moroccan youth contribute to the reshaping political culture in the country? How do Moroccan youth conceptualize the transition to democracy, and what happened to their demands? The author adopts a sociological definition of a "generation," meaning that it does not define a generational cohort as a homogenized social group but rather represents a set of people with a shared set of anxieties surrounding their position in relation to other (previous) generations.

Following the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani last August, Iranian-American relations now appear set for a major breakthrough, overturning more than three decades of enmity between the two sides. Such a breakthrough, should it come to pass, has the potential to completely transform the bilateral relations over a number of issues, including most importantly the Iranian nuclear program, Iran’s regional role and its involvement in the Middle East’s “hot button” issues, including in the Gulf. The eventual success of efforts to bring Iran and the United States closer together, however, relies also on the roles played by regional players, particularly Israel. This paper explores the reasons behind Israeli anxiety surrounding a potential breakthrough in Iranian-American relations, and Tel Aviv’s ability to influence the outcome of a possible agreement over Iran’s nuclear program and whether such an agreement shall extend to Iran’s regional influence.

The Hirak was not limited to the Algerian teritory but also extended to the diaspora, where rallies organised every Sunday since 2019 in Paris demanding the "departure of the regime" were a public act of protest. This article, which is the first result of an ongoing field study, proposes an analysis of this protest and its location based on interviews with the different actors. It falls within the field of the study of social movements in the context of immigration and assumes that the protesters of the Paris diaspora Hirak develop patterns of organisation that reflect new forms of public activity. It builds on the premise that the protesters are not interested in reproducing what happened in Algeria but rather in inventing new forms of public activity related to protest in the diaspora; this allows for socio-political recognition within the native community as well as in French society. This protest action combines digital collective engagement in virtual communities with individual engagement that turns the individual into a protester while also enabling the expression of protest through art and culture. All forms of public action, despite their great diversity, converge in their reluctance to associate themselves with a particular ideology, especially in the creation of an "anti-regime" identity on the basis of which the protest initiatives of Algerian citizens in the diaspora are organised.

"Humanitarian space" refers to an operational environment that allows humanitarian actors to deliver humanitarian aid according to humanitarian principles and in line with international humanitarian law. The paper reviews how the Gaza Strip exemplifies the decline of humanitarian space under a prolonged siege. It is divided into three sections. First, it examines the concept of the humanitarian space. Second, it highlights the main features of the siege and analyses the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis experienced by Gaza Strip over the last 12 years in various fields. The third section discusses the factors led to the shrinking of the humanitarian space in the besieged Gaza Strip. "Humanitarian space" refers to an operational environment that allows humanitarian actors to deliver humanitarian aid according to humanitarian principles and in line with international humanitarian law. The paper reviews how the Gaza Strip exemplifies the decline of humanitarian space under a prolonged siege.

La Fabricaccion de l’ennemie [Translated into Arabic]