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The article analyzes Morocco’s evolving geopolitical and geoeconomic strategy, highlighting how the kingdom is leveraging its strategic Atlantic position to become a hub linking Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Atlantic economies through economic diplomacy, diversification, infrastructure development, and engagement with multilateral institutions, while also addressing domestic socio-economic challenges such as youth unemployment and regional inequality. It outlines Morocco’s security and regional cooperation challenges, including tensions with Algeria and jihadist threats, and emphasizes the role of major infrastructure projects like the Tanger Med port in boosting regional integration and trade. Regarding Moroccan-Israeli relations, the authors discuss the 2020 normalization of ties and subsequent deepening of security cooperation, including arms agreements and joint R&D initiatives, while noting that civilian economic relations remain limited. Despite political complexities, the article identifies considerable opportunities for expanded cooperation in trade, energy (particularly renewables), water and agricultural technology, and healthcare, suggesting that such partnerships could reinforce Morocco’s domestic resilience and cement its role as a regional economic and strategic hub - contingent on favorable political conditions and sustained commitment from all stakeholders.
In this article, Prof. Joshua Krasna examines the trajectory of Israel’s relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain five years after the signing of the Abraham Accords. He notes that while the agreements initially generated momentum in trade, investment, and public engagement, many of the major economic initiatives stalled even before 2023, partly due to Israeli regulatory barriers and growing Emirati frustration with developments in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
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Prof. Krasna explains that the October 7 attack and the ensuing war significantly intensified these strains. Although formal diplomatic ties remain intact, Gulf states have increased their humanitarian support for Palestinians, and public sentiment in the UAE and Bahrain has grown more critical of Israel. He highlights that renewed discussions of potential Israeli annexation in the West Bank have prompted explicit warnings from Emirati officials, who view such moves as contradicting the spirit of normalization.
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The article concludes that while cooperation continues on an institutional level, the political and public foundations of the Abraham Accords have weakened. Krasna presents the current phase as one of caution, in which further progress depends heavily on Israeli domestic policy choices and the broader regional climate.
The article argues that sovereignty and power in the 21st century are no longer defined by geography or territorial size, but by a state’s ability to integrate into and shape global systems of technology, capital, data, and stability, and presents the UAE as a model that overturns the traditional notion of the “small” or merely “functional” state. Through digital sovereignty initiatives such as Pax Silica, networked multipolar diplomacy, an economy built on global flows, and a governance model anchored in stability rather than chaos, the UAE emerges not as a peripheral actor but as an indispensable node in the emerging global order, demonstrating that future power is measured by connectivity, credibility, and system-building, not borders.