With the war in Gaza approaching two years, Netanyahu is performing a tightrope act, charting a delicate course between the ultra-orthodox and the religious Zionist constituencies in Israel.

For the first time in 26 months, Lebanon has a president, and for the first time in decades, the country is free from both Syrian and Iranian control. With the additional designation of a new prime minister from outside the country’s traditional political leadership, Lebanese citizens look hopefully, albeit cautiously, towards the future.

On 26 July 2023, a military coup in Niger ousted the pro-Western President Mohamed Bazoum. This marked a significant shift in the region’s geopolitical constellation and is likely to reshape alliances across West Africa – a region already destabilized by various challenges, including jihadist insurgencies, governance failures, and military interventions. European governments have been forced into a defensive posture while Russia, Turkey, and Iran exploit the instability by deploying hybrid warfare tactics and proxy engagements to expand their influence across the Sahel region.

The EU policy of providing unstable countries in North Africa with economic aid in exchange for control of migratory flows risks creating further instability

The government is likely to continue with a raft of policies designed to establish a protective wall of independence against Western powers