A Year in the Life of... - Between January and December of 2021 in the Middle East
Opinion analysis by Nour AlMortada, Featured Writer
January 25th, 2022
2021 has been an eventful year, as the events that took place were arguably more impactful than the events of the previous year where we witnessed the beginning of a global pandemic. While the Middle East was plagued with multiple issues on the political level, the region witnessed a major change in 2021 that not many predicted. The events of 2020 fell in line with previous years’ decisions, the “World War III” threats between Iran and USA, israel’s relation with the region, and even the devastating Port of Beirut explosion, while a shock, was not completely unexpected due to the growing failure of the government and the armed militias present in the country. One point of argument would be the normalization of ties between israel and several Arab states, however, this as well was to be expected. It fell in line with previous Gulf and Moroccan foreign policy of aligning with US interests, so it came as no real shock to those watching from afar, although it did create more tension than was anticipated by those involved in the process.
The difference is that 2021 was the year when a paradigm shift took place on multiple fronts in the region. The year went from states having no official ties to renewing them, it took previous “enemies” and turned them into allies, all for political gain, but a few events majorly shocked locals and foreigners alike. As an example, not many people anticipated that Turkey’s relations with the Gulf and its allies would suddenly rekindle. These two have been at odds since the rise of Turkey began in 2003’s election of Erdogan; while he is a controversial figure, no one can deny the power that Turkey now holds regionally. The Gulf had vied for the position of hegemon after the fall of Saddam in Iraq, and while Iran took up the mantle quite quickly after, its fall was also to be predicted and that led to clashes between them and Turkey. The year started with the end of the Gulf diplomatic crisis which had isolated Qatar for years, and while that may have been closely related to the FIFA World Cup being held in Qatar and the economic benefit of lifting the blockade, this move was quite unanticipated considering Qatar abided to none of the demands made by its Gulf neighbors. 2021 also witnessed Egypt and Turkey renewing their ties after they had been cut for almost a decade, with promises of economic investments on both sides, and Turkey taking moves to sanction Egyptian dissidents who had been residing on its territory since the military coup that saw El-Sisi come to power.
The year also witnessed an official visit from the United Arab Emirates to Turkey and Turkish visits to different Gulf states. These two visits alone shifted the decades-long relationship between the three, seeing as UAE and Turkey had faced off on multiple fronts, such as Libya with UAE supporting Haftar and Turkey supporting previous president- Sarraj. The UAE also promised millions in investments to Turkey. Another tidal shift can be seen in re-inviting the Syrian Arab Republic to the Arab League, a move to normalize the presence of Bashar al-Assad and acknowledging his win in Syria. Many countries, including Gulf states, Jordan and Lebanon, have begun rebuilding their ties with the Syrian president after it became clear that he, with Iranian and Russian support, was not going anywhere soon. This caused outrage among Syrians who were affected by the war, whether through losing a loved one, becoming injured or displaced, or worse; the outrage, however, seems to be ignored by those in power. Some people would see this as a win for Iran, but regional and global views on Iran have not shifted. Israel’s PM Naftali Bennett stated that the outcome of the negotiations to renew the Iranian Nuclear deal were not going to change Israel’s actions and views on Iran.
For years, israel has continuously violated Syrian and Lebanese sovereignty as a show of power against the two states Iran has a hold on. One event, though, that created an actual paradigm shift in international politics are the events of the israeli bombardment of Gaza in May of 2021. The events themselves lasted six days with hundreds of Palestinian casualties and a handful on the israeli side. The social media presence at the time of this event, which started with the ethnic cleansing in occupied East Jerusalem in Sheikh Jarrah and escalated into attacks by the israeli forces on Palestinians in al-Aqsa during the Holy month of Ramadan, spurred a domino effect that Israel is not expected to recover from. Residents of Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, the entirety of the West Bank and Gaza took to social media to provide undisputable proof of Israeli aggression and oppression. This led to an uproar by citizens from states across the world, but what happened in the Middle East was what scared the Israelis. Citizens of all Arab states made their intentions of assisting Palestine in its strife for freedom clear, so much so that governments began a crackdown and arresting those who spoke out, protested or attempted to go to Palestine.
The world no longer viewed israel as a victim, and its tactics of monopolizing antisemitism to shut down criticism no longer worked. This was especially clear when British actress Emma Watson made a post in solidarity of Palestine and was called antisemitic for such, but the backlash against those who criticized her was much worse. israel and Palestine became a topic of conversation, becoming so that supporting one over the other was deal breaker for relationships and friendships. Never had Palestinian global support been stronger, but the sentiments of those oppressed for supporting Palestine in the Middle East echoed loud and clear as rulers lost more ground in their respective countries. One event that repeated itself across the region in 2021 was elections, or the postponement of elections for many of them. Iraq and Iran both held elections that showed a changing tide for the states in question. In Iraq, we saw a major win for the October protestors and in Iran, we saw the lowest voting rates, a growing dissatisfaction and bubbling rage even. Algeria was among the states that held elections in 2021, and the results were less than satisfactory for Algerians, the majority of whom opted to boycott. Libyan elections were once again postponed; However, hope seems to be increasing for the people with the interim president and the upcoming elections in 2022.
One more event worth mentioning is the Jordanian attempted “coup” which brought back the 20th century republicans versus monarchists fears. While the monarchy never officially called the event in question a coup, it was revealed that HRH King Abdullah II’s half-brother attempted to rally support to his side after a rise in unemployment and poverty struck the already struggling country. Much of this is due to the current pandemic, but the former crown prince, HRH Prince Hamzah took the rising discontent against his half-brother and used it to garner support from people and tribe leaders alike. This prince’s actions distraught an already weak state and weakened the position of the royal family even further. The prince released a series of videos defending himself and stated being held hostage in his own house, and Prince Hamza has not been seen by the public since the events that took place in early April 2021. The royal family attempted to clean up its image afterwards with a series of reforms, but the Pandora papers put a hitch in those plans. The Pandora papers brought to light much of the hidden information that was kept hidden, including the wealth of the HRH the king which was kept a secret through offshore shell companies. The pandora paper brought about another controversy for the UAE with Muhammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum being exposed for using the Israeli Pegasus spyware company to spy on his ex-wife Princess Haya Bint El Hussein as well as plan on kidnapping his kids from the United Kingdoms. This brought about whether the UAE had ever used the spyware company to spy on its citizens throwing the country down another spiral of controversies.
These events among many others, such as the Tayouneh Massacre in Beirut that brought back remnants of the 15-year civil war, Turkey increasing its involvement in Yemen in favor of KSA, Egypt ending the state of emergency which had been in place since 2017, the attempted assassination of Iraq’s president, among many more. Some countries continued to deteriorate, for example Lebanon which is facing one of the top three worst economic crises in modern history, and some countries seemed to grow and gain, such as the UAE. This is a region filled with conflict and disparities, and 2021 was no different in this sense. It was however the year where a shift in the region took shift in a different direction, and no one knows what the future will look like.
Works Cited
Al Jazeera. “Egypt’s El-Sisi Lifts State of Emergency in Force since 2017.” Aljazeera.com, Al Jazeera, 26 Oct. 2021, www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/26/egypt-lifts-state-of-emergency-in-force-since-2017. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
---. “Libyan Parliament Refuses to Fix Date for Delayed Elections.” Aljazeera.com, Al Jazeera, 27 Dec. 2021, www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/27/libya-parliament-committee-elections-date. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Al Mayadeen. “What Were the Reasons behind the Tayouneh Ambush?” Al Mayadeen English, 14 Oct. 2021, english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/what-were-the-reasons-behind-the-tayouneh-ambush. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Alajlouni, Laith. “Jordan Is Pushing for Rapprochement with Syria. But Is It to Reinforce Artificial Stability in the Region?” Atlantic Council, 19 Oct. 2021, www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/jordan-is-pushing-for-rapprochement-with-syria-but-is-it-to-reinforce-artificial-stability-in-the-region/. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
BBC News. “Iran Election: Hardliner Raisi Will Become President.” BBC News, BBC News, 19 June 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-57537027. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
---. “Qatar Crisis: Saudi Arabia and Allies Restore Diplomatic Ties with Emirate.” BBC News, BBC News, 5 Jan. 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-55538792. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Cengiz, Sinem. “What a Difference a Year Has Made in Turkish-Gulf Relations.” Arab News, 10 Dec. 2021, www.arabnews.com/node/1984821. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Chulov, Martin, and Michael Safi. “Phone Intercepts Shine More Light on Jordanian Prince’s Alleged Coup Attempt.” The Guardian, The Guardian, 30 May 2021, www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/30/phone-intercepts-jordanian-prince-alleged-coup-attempt. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Deutsche Welle. “Lebanon Power Deal: Beginning of the End of Syria’s Isolation? | DW | 22.09.2021.” DW.COM, 2021, www.dw.com/en/lebanon-power-deal-beginning-of-the-end-of-syrias-isolation/a-59263980. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Ephron, Dan. “Why 4 Arab Countries Agreed to Recognize Israel in 2020.” Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy, 21 Dec. 2020, foreignpolicy.com/2020/12/21/arab-ties-israel-diplomacy-normalization-middle-east/. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
France 24. “Iraq’s Top Court Ratifies Parliamentary Election Results.” France 24, France 24, 27 Dec. 2021, www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20211227-iraq-s-top-court-rejects-bid-to-annul-parliamentary-election-results. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Galant, Richard. “Trump Speaks after Ordering Strike on Top Iran General.” CNN, 5 Jan. 2020, edition.cnn.com/2020/01/05/opinions/world-war-iii-was-trending-opinion-weekly-column-galant/index.html. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Heller, Jeffrey. “Israel Not Bound by Any Nuclear Deal with Iran, Bennett Says.” Reuters, Reuters, 10 Jan. 2022, www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-wont-be-bound-by-any-nuclear-deal-with-iran-bennett-says-2022-01-10/. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Humaid, Maram. “In Gaza, Young Victims of Israeli Bombing Recount a Brutal 2021.” Aljazeera.com, Al Jazeera, 31 Dec. 2021, www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/31/palestine-gaza-young-victims-israel-bombardment-may. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Hurriyet Daily News. “Turkish Foreign Minister in Riyadh for Official Visit.” Hürriyet Daily News, hurriyetdailynews.com, 10 May 2021, www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-foreign-minister-arrives-in-riyadh-for-official-visit-164610. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Ignatius, David. “The Attempted Assassination of Iraq’s Prime Minister Backfired Spectacularly.” Washington Post, The Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/08/attempted-assassination-iraqs-prime-minister-backfired-spectacularly/. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Ourabah, Adel. “The ‘New Algeria’ Parliament and the Illusion of Change from Within.” Arab Reform Initiative, Arab Reform Initiative, 30 Sept. 2021, www.arab-reform.net/publication/the-new-algeria-parliament-and-the-illusion-of-change-from-within/. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Tastekin, Fehim. “Could Turkish Involvement in Yemen Free Saudi Arabia?” Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East, 2 Apr. 2021, www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/04/could-turkish-involvement-yemen-free-saudi-arabia. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
The National. “Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Concludes Trip to Turkey.” The National, The National, 24 Nov. 2021, www.thenationalnews.com/uae/government/2021/11/24/sheikh-mohamed-bin-zayed-arrives-in-turkey-for-official-visit/. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
The New Arab. “Egypt, Algeria Press for Syria’s Return to Arab League’s next Summit.” The New Arab, 2021, english.alaraby.co.uk/news/egypt-algeria-press-syrias-return-arab-league. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Wilks, Andrew. “Turkey Realigning Ties with Egypt and Gulf Rivals.” Aljazeera.com, Al Jazeera, 6 Sept. 2021, www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/6/turkey-realigning-ties-with-egypt-and-gulf-rivals. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.
Winstanley, Asa. “Emma Watson Post Shows Israel’s Anti-Semitism Smears Are Beginning to Break Down.” Middle East Monitor, 8 Jan. 2022, www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220108-emma-watson-post-shows-israels-anti-semitism-smears-are-beginning-to-break-down/. Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.