US president Donald Trump intends to relocate the US embassy in Israel from its current location in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Such a move would mean a shift in current US policy on the political and legal status of Jerusalem. It would also signal green lights to the Netanyahu administration for its current expansionist policy Read More
ANALYSIS BY BJÖRN BRENNER Following IS/Daesh’s ouster from Raqqa, new local conflict lines emerge as different actors begin to manoeuvre aspiring to gain control over the war-torn territory. Summary of analysis: ”One of the key policy analysis questions now is who will eventually take control over northeastern Syria. Will it be the SDF, Assad-loyal militias, Read More
This is a summary in English of an article by Björn Brenner recently published in the Journal of the Swedish Institute for International Affairs (Utrikesmagasinet). The article in Swedish can be read in full here. Since 2011, around 30,000 young men and women from all over the world have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join Read More
Dear students, colleagues and friends, A warm welcome to all those of you reading this who are interested in research on Israeli and Palestinian politics. During 2015-2016, my research will be conducted on location in the Levant. Via this site – integrating Instagram, Twitter and a blog – you will be able to follow me Read More
The past weeks of violent unrest across Israel and the West Bank have taken us by surprise due to their seemingly unorganised and spontaneous nature. How can this new type of Palestinian violent activism be understood and explained? Here are six questions and answers about what is now going on (in Swedish): “Den nya generationens Read More
What could be a better start of this blog than to honour the memory of one of Sweden’s most prominent and liked diplomats of all time, Dr Gunnar Jarring. His ultra-distinguished career spanned over more than half a century and included postings as Sweden’s ambassador to the United States (1958-64) as well as to the Read More
POLICY ANALYSIS BY BJÖRN BRENNER Following Donald Trump’s first trip abroad as president, notably to Saudi Arabia and Israel, contours are beginning to appear of a new US strategy in the Middle East. This strategy appears to stand on three pillars: 1. Iran OUT: US takes a new, harsher, position vis-à-vis Iran and seeks to Read More
The rumour in the Arab capitals has it that Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is about to quit. If so, it should not come as a surprise to anyone. Abbas turned 80 this year and has increasingly been expressing despair over the state of affairs, both to colleagues in Ramallah and to political leaders across the Read More
Relations between Sweden and Israel have continued to deteriorate over the past months. Sweden unilaterally recognised the state of Palestine on 30 October 2014 and diplomatic relations between the two countries have gradually worsened since then. The latest move by the Netanyahu government to stop the Swedish foreign minister from travelling to/via Israel marks an Read More
OPED IN HAARETZ BY BJÖRN BRENNER Summary: After several years of internal deliberations, hundreds of thousands of Hamas members have agreed on substantial revisions to their organisation’s 30-year-old founding document. The new text excludes anti-Semitic language and embraces a Palestinian state on pre-1967 lines. For Hamas, this amounts to nothing less than a departure from Read More
