Valdai Club

Andrei Baklanov

Xu Bo

Maxim Bratersky

Yulia Belous

Elena Bogdanova

Danila Bochkarev

Alena Bogomolova

Yossef Bodansky

Andrey Bystritskiy

Zach Battat

Israel

Researcher and Ph.D. Candidate in Middle Eastern & African History at the Zvi Yavetz School of Historical Studies at Tel Aviv University and Junior Editor at Global Brief.

Materials

Expert Opinions

Donald Trump’s Recognition of the Golan Heights and the United States’ Middle East Foreign Policy: Same Old?

Whether President Trump understands his decision or not is anyone’s guess. Yet, his recognition of the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights only escalates an already tense situation between Tel Aviv on one side and the two sides of the Syrian Civil War, Damascus and Tehran on the other. Further, it gives no incentive for Israel to negotiate some sort of peace accord with both Syria and Iran—something that is absolutely vital if tensions are to be reduced both in Syria and in the region.

Expert Opinions

The Geopolitical Perspective of the 2019 Israeli General Elections: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?

On April 9th, 2019 the Israelis go to the ballots to vote for their next government. Despite polls suggesting a change in the Knesset, there is little to no chance of change on the two biggest issues in Israel: tensions between Palestine and Israel over the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem; and tensions over Iran and its forces in Syria.