
Leonardo Jacopo Maria Mazzucco is a researcher who focuses on the security affairs of the Gulf region. He is also an analyst at Gulf State Analytics (GSA), a Washington-based geopolitical risk consultancy. He tweets at: @mazz_Leonardo.

The Abraham Accords at Three: A Complex Symphony of Emirati-Israeli Relatio...
GeopoliticsOn September 15, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Israel are celebrated the third...

Qatar Builds a Blue-Water Force to Safeguard National Security and Energy I...
Defense & SecurityWith about 35,000 square kilometers of territorial water dotted with hundreds of oil and gas...

China’s Dual Strategy in the Red Sea: Balancing Economic Expansion an...
Defense & SecurityIn 2022, seaborne trade, responsible for over 80 percent of global merchandise shipment, weathered disruptions...

Amid Growing Naval Tensions, the UAE Charts Its Own Course
Defense & SecurityOn May 31, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced its withdrawal from the Combined Maritime...

Slow, but Persistent: Russia’s Overseas Basing Strategy in the Red Sea an...
Defense & SecurityEncapsulated between the Mediterranean and the northwestern Indian Ocean, the Red Sea has struggled to...

What Italy’s New Proactive Foreign Policy Means for the Gulf and North Af...
GeopoliticsSix months ago, in October 2022, Giorgia Meloni was sworn in as Italy’s Prime Minister....

What Does Saudi-Iranian Détente Mean for the UAE’s Regional Ambitions
GeopoliticsOn March 10, 2023, Saudi and Iranian senior officials announced that they had achieved an...

Iran and the Horn of Africa: The Stakes and Hurdles of Building a Strategic...
Defense & SecurityOver the past decade, the Horn of Africa has increasingly become a theater of competition...

The Gulf States Weigh Trade-Offs of Engaging With the Taliban
GeopoliticsThe Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and the massive evacuations of international troops dramatically altered Afghanistan’s...

Iranian Naval Strategy: The Strengths and Weaknesses of Confrontationalism
Defense & SecurityOver the last four decades, Iran has constructed its identity as a nation around opposition...

Iranian Naval Strategy: The Domestic Roots of Iran’s Asymmetric Warfare
Defense & SecurityThe foreign and defense policies of Iran are deeply intertwined with the geography of the...

The Iranian Conundrum: Analyzing Divergent Saudi and Israeli Security Dilem...
GeopoliticsWith Saudi Arabia opening the country’s air space to all air carriers, including Israeli flights,...