The Middle East is due for a reset

For analysts tracking the Middle East for decades, every futuristic view or geopolitical stance articulated in the past would be prefixed with the common refrain: “unless there’s an unforeseen change-event”. Unexpectedly, the event is here, and it is finally time to think of alternatives. Interestingly, like with all else in this region, before or after the current situation, making any prediction about the future is akin to writing it on the shifting desert sands. You wish for it to last at least as long as you can finish writing it. The unpredictability of the region can be summed in a sentence, to quote Sir Olaf Caroe, (who had...