A year into the ‘Arab Spring’ and the political landscape of the Middle East has been fundamentally transformed. Regime changes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya; continued violence in Syria and Yemen; and uncertainties and rising tensions elsewhere in the region, all have combined to raise the level of geopolitical risks with far reaching implications for the global energy and financial markets. The spreading uncertainties have been further aggravated by rising tensions around the tightening sanctions against Iran and the threat of countermeasures by the country’s authorities, by the mounting sectarian tensions within Iraq with implications for oil and regional security, and by the escalating violence and repression in Syria with implications for regional stability. Meanwhile, the economic situation of transition countries, notably Egypt, continues to deteriorate while the long term challenges of structural reform, growth recovery and job creation mount in these countries.

These and related issues are the subject of an IIF teleconference conducted by George T. Abed, Senior Counselor and Director for Africa and the Middle East and his colleagues.