The group notably ignored advice from Tehran not to capture Sanaa back in 2014. Al-Houthi’s independence thus suggests that he is primarily driven by a domestic agenda rather than a desire to help Hezbollah and Iran exert control over the region. That could change, of course, if the Saudis leave him no choice but to increase his reliance on Iran.

The Kurds, constitute one of the oldest nations of the Middle East, as well as the largest nation in the world without their own country. They are in the spotlight since 2014 as they fiercely defend their territory against attacks by the IS.

Fanack presents in-depth insight into several topics concerning the conflict, including Arab-Israeli negotiations, Arab-Israeli wars, Palestinian refugees, and Israeli settlements.

Omar Barghouti was greatly inspired by Nelson Mandela’s approach to mobilizing the nations of the world against the apartheid regime in South Africa. This approach was introduced in Palestine after the failure of the Camp David II peace negotiations in July 2000 and the outbreak of the second intifada (uprising) in September 2000 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, followed by a major Israeli military operation in the West Bank in 2002.

Aside from embezzlement and corruption, al-Otaiba was implicated in even more serious scandals. The Huffington Post, which was provided with another batch of the leaked emails, broke the story of al-Otaiba supporting a major effort to raise doubts about Qatar in the minds of Americans since 2014, a mission in which he has been largely unsuccessful despite the row between the Gulf state and several other countries, including the UAE, over its alleged support of terrorism that erupted in May 2017.

Bin Zayed grew up witnessing the rapid transformation of the UAE from huts to Hilton hotels and skyscrapers. Along the way, his father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, elder brother Khalifa and he learned two valuable lessons: the UAE cannot survive without outside protection and they need to remain strategically significant to keep mainly their Western allies interested and on board. Moreover, the country’s geographical location puts it between two regional powers that historically have shown an interest in controlling it.

Fanack provides an analysis of Yemen’s population and demographics, with an overview of different ethnicities and identities.

In a historic turn of events and after the endorsement of his decade-long rivals in the 14 March alliance, army commander Samir Geagea and Future Movement leader Saad Hariri, Aoun was elected president on 31 October at the 46th electoral session of the Lebanese parliament. Now dubbed ‘the father of all’, Aoun is attempting to serve his term as a president who is at an equal distance from all.

An overview of governance in Tunisia: Political Parties, The Judiciary, The Presidency and The Military.

Fanack provides an overview of Qatar’s governance, including The Oil Monarchy of Qatar, The Royal Family, Judiciary, Governorates, Political Representation, Democratization, Bureaucracy and The Military.