Country Risk Rating

The first phase of Lebanon's municipal elections (in Mount Lebanon) had passed, as of the time of writing, without any major incidents. As we predicted, talk of delays turned out... 2010-05-04

In mid-April, media reports suggested that Syria had transferred Scud missiles, capable of hitting any target in Israel, to Hizbullah in Lebanon. The US has since cast down on the... 2010-04-29

Israel's announcement in February of plans to include two West Bank mosques on a list of Israeli heritage sites has been met with anger in Jordan, home to almost 2mn Palestinians.... 2010-03-24

While unlikely to be enacted in the foreseeable future, the call by the speaker of Lebanon's parliament, Nabih Berri, for serious discussion of proposals to dismantle Lebanon's sectarian... 2010-03-24

A letter of protest issued by 36 NGOs in March accused the government of seeking to curtail the activities of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including preventing them from... 2010-03-23

Egypt's Mohammed ElBaradei has said that he will form a 'national association for change' before the 2010 parliamentary and 2011 presidential elections. The announcement was made... 2010-03-02

In late February, a delegation of senior Israeli officials met with Chinese officials in Beijing in an attempt to persuade China to take a tougher stance on Iran. Against the backdrop... 2010-03-02

In February, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hosted his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to reaffirm the strength of their 30-year alliance, vowing to deepen ties and dismissing... 2010-03-01

In January, Yossi Peled, a reserve army general and minister without portfolio in the Israeli cabinet, stated that he believed a repeat of the 2006 war with Hizbullah was likely.... 2010-01-28

There has been speculation of late that a well known figure like Mohamed ElBaradei (former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Nobel peace prize winner)... 2010-01-27