Category Archives: Analysis

Turkiye’s Role Reversal Leaves Aid Vacuum in Syria

With more than 48,000 people killed in the Turkey-Syria Earthquake, over 123,000 injured, and 26 million requiring assistance, what happens when the reliable global aid donor, Turkiye–who has traditionally been among the first to provide emergency assistance in Pakistan’s and … Continue reading

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Filed under Interests, PIDE (Policy, International Development & Economics)

Twitter Sentiment Analysis of Iranian Foreign Minister Javed Zarif

Background: Beirut Explosion “Reiterated Iran’s strong and steadfast solidarity with people of Lebanon in call with FM Wehbeh. Iran is sending field hospital & medicine to assist with disaster relief. Iran stands with Lebanon. “ “Our thoughts and prayers are … Continue reading

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Filed under Analysis, Interests, PIDE (Policy, International Development & Economics)

Clash of the Oil Titans

Again, the oil price war looms to the detriment of countries stuck in the middle. Continue reading

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Filed under Analysis, PIDE (Policy, International Development & Economics), Politics

Syria’s Sexual Violence Rate on Par With Bosnia War

Aside from the Iraq War in 2004, the Syrian conflict represents the worst violence–not just in the region–but globally since the Balkan Crisis of the 1990’s. Continue reading

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Filed under Analysis, PIDE (Policy, International Development & Economics), Politics

Blockchain Tech Solutions in MENA

GetReceet’s founder, Omar Barkawi, imagines how blockchain solutions could advance “provenance” goals on a macro-level. Barkawi notes how tracking money and transactions would benefit from blockchain solutions, “tracking food purchase receipts informs health departments without household data identifiers”. Meanwhile, GetReceet’s funder, the Mideast-based Ibtikar Fund, notes how the money movement, financial services, and authentic property documentation remain a challenge, according to the Fund’s COO, Ambar Amleh, who highlighted the “physical stress of carrying and transferring all this cash” between Ramallah and Amman… Continue reading

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Filed under Analysis, Interests, Technology, Uncategorized

Does the Sunni-Shiite Construct Really Help Explain Electoral Politics in MENA?

  How many of you feel that using the “Sunni-Shiite” construct better frames political discussions in the MENA region?  Does the Sunni-Shiite Construct Really Help Explain Electoral Politics in MENA? The irrelevance of American rhetoric in recent weeks should, but won’t, … Continue reading

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Turkish Investment Authority Presents a Case for the US to Invest in Turkey

This week, in the United States, felt very much like what many children would have described as “Opposite Day”.  Here’s why: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the President of the United States’ “Muslim Travel Ban”, which is already reinforcing an … Continue reading

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Will Saudi Ouster Increase Confidence for the Investor?

“I think as an investor I would want to make sure that I’m investing in a country where my corporate investment, my business is protected through some type of rule of law…I don’t think that’s there.”~Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi … Continue reading

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When Special Envoys Get Dumped, Issues and MENA Region Get Drumpfed

“Rex Tillerson outlines a major State Department reform that promotes business, war on Islamic State, while downplaying African peacemaking and outreach to Muslim world,” writes Colum Lynch for the Foreign Policy magazine.  The 45th administration argues that this will achieve … Continue reading

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PITAPOLICY Joins Polsky Exchange Because #Startup Ecosystems Overlap

PITAPOLICY, LLC is excited to enlist as a member of the Polsky Exchange, the startup ecosystem facilitated by the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago in Hyde Park, Illinois.  Polsky is not just a co-working … Continue reading

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