Diplomacy

After meeting Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Brussels on Friday (22 January) European Council president Charles Michel tweeted that dialogue needs to produce tangible outcomes. Michel and Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are expected to visit Ankara soon at the invitation of president Erdogan.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, "underlined the vital importance of Georgian political parties finding common ground on the current political situation" in a meeting on Thursday (21 January) with visiting Georgian president Salome Zurabishvili.

The demise of the Trump administration and the return of Joe Biden to the White House, this time as president, will have more consequences than usual, with immediate changes expected in both the style and substance of leadership. The incoming administration will have a full in-tray of issues that need to be dealt with urgently. When it comes to the Gulf region and the wider Middle East, there will be five areas where important changes are likely.

After four years of Donald Trump, the EU and US seem more distant than ever. In this episode of Global Europe Unpacked, Will Murray speaks to Dr Dan S. Hamilton from the Wilson Center in Washington DC, about what the Joe Biden presidency means for the Transatlantic relationship.

A new nuclear deal could address Iran’s aggressive policies in the Middle East, Antony Blinken the Secretary of State designate told his senate confirmation hearings on Tuesday. Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the administration of President-elect Joe Biden would seek a “longer and stronger deal.”

Qatar is urging Gulf Arab nations to initiate dialogue with Iran stating Doha's willingness to broker dialogue. The Qatari foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, has been calling for such dialogue for a long time. Sheikh Mohammed said that the government was “hopeful that this would happen and we still believe this should happen.”