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Dr. Cinzia Bianco Profile picture
Dr. Cinzia Bianco
@Cinzia_Bianco
Gulf + relations with Europe at @ecfr. PhD @UniofExeter, MA @KingsCollegeLon. Published author. Usual caveats on RTs!
Oct 1 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
NEW: 18 months after the deal btwn #SaudiArabia & #Iran,amid a major regional escalation w/#Israel, me & @jbdacey analyse the detente’s impact on geopolitics from #Syria to #Yemen #Iraq #Lebanon & we provide ideas on how #Europe can support stability: 1/ tinyurl.com/y26ppu77
Image Our analysis, based on first-hand research, looks at drivers behind the détente & expectations. It finds out that both #Iran & #SaudiArabia have reasons to be disappointed but both appreciate the value of their channels, esp. after #Gaza : 2/tinyurl.com/y26ppu77
May 8 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
💥 📖 NEW @ECFRMena paper by me "Global Saudi: How Europeans can work with an evolving kingdom" explains how and why #SaudiArabia became a middle power with outsize influence in a multipolar world - and how #Riyadh will deploy its power in regional and global questions🧵👇 Image The number of high-level visits of heads of state to #SaudiArabia after 2022 is amazing! This is a recognition Riyadh has influence over regional dossiers (i.e. #Iran, #Gaza, #Sudan) as well as global questions (#energy, #climate, #US-#China rivalry).

tinyurl.com/32np7pm5
Image
Sep 15, 2023 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
The #India-Middle East-Europe corridor can strengthen #Europe’s geo-economic influence in the #Gulf & wider #MENA

But it is important that Europeans keep few things in mind as they work towards #IMEC’s action plan

NEW @ecfr short piece by me & @jbdacey: tinyurl.com/yeypa6rr
Image First, West believes it can cement its regional influence at the expense of #China, offering #IMEC as alternative to #BRI. But #Gulf actors see this agreement within the context of a multipolarity in which they can benefit from BOTH West & China. 2/

ecfr.eu/article/inters…
Mar 10, 2023 • 5 tweets • 6 min read
##Iranian state media BREAKING NEWS:

#Iran and #SaudiArabia agreed to re-establish ties and re-open embassies. 🇮🇷 🇸🇦

IF confirmed, this was months in the making but held back by the Saudis, asking for big #Yemen move from #Tehran. IF confirmed, #Yemen news coming soon, too. Again, IF true, this is a confirmation that the WSJ article on #Riyadh normalizing ties with #Israel was wishful thinking (in both #Biden administration & #Netanyahu)
Feb 22, 2023 • 7 tweets • 10 min read
@ECFRMena & @ECFRAsia cross-over! Me & @a_bachulska wrote a short piece on #China - #GCC relations *seen from both sides.* We thought there was an abundance of partial viewpoints but really scarcity of strategic comprehensive overview. 1/

ecfr.eu/article/an-ope… The first thing we do is put to rest the once ubiquitous argument that #China-#Gulf relations are only economic. In fact, they are grounded in compatible visions of #multipolarity. A year after #RussiaInvadedUkraine, multipolarity is the real winner! 2/

tinyurl.com/9dkx6xv3
Feb 19, 2023 • 4 tweets • 7 min read
Ce soir à 21h connectez-vous sur France5 et france.tv pour un super film sur #MbZ et les #Emirats on @lemondeenface⁩. Honoré de figurer parmi les commentateurs avec ⁦@Abdulkhaleq_UAE⁩, ⁦@benjbarthe⁩, ⁦@berlinest⁩ & autore. CC: ⁦@ECFRParis⁩ pourrait être intéressant pour @Malbrunot, @esoubrier, @CamilleLons, @tara_varma, @HFayet, @ThermeClement, @AdleneMo…
May 13, 2022 • 15 tweets • 20 min read
BREAKING: #UAE President #KhalifabinZayed just died. Crown Prince of #AbuDhabi since 1969, and Abu Dhabi Ruler & President since his father Sheikh Zayed died in 2004. The #BurjKhalifa was initially named to honor him.

A few words on him + what happens now in a thread. 1/ After #KhalifabinZayed suffered a stroke in 2014, his younger brother Mohammad bin Zayed (#MbZ) became de facto leader of the #UAE. Now the Federal Supreme Council (including the rulers of the 7 Emirates) will ratify #MbZ as official President of the #UAE. Basically guaranteed 2/
Oct 30, 2021 • 8 tweets • 7 min read
A thread on imagining impacts of the #Metaverse on “my” world. How will the job of a #geopolitics analyst be different? How will this new platform change international relations in general and the #Gulf in particular? Feel free to add your take, it’s simply thinking out loud.
1/ First, meetings & events. #Zoom events are here to stay, alongside in-person ones. But a digital event on #Metaverse could be so much better and closer to a real-life experience, enhanced by instant access to resources 2/
Oct 26, 2021 • 14 tweets • 28 min read
It’s out! 🎊
My new @ecfr paper on how #Europe can ride the #climate momentum in the #Gulf deploying its #GreenDeal to meet #NetZero & #geopolitical objectives in the region ➡️ bit.ly/2XOK8bG
Read b4 #COP26 #COP26Glasgow
Few take-aways 1/ Image Good that #SaudiArabia & #UAE have pledged #NetZero but #GCC total domestic emissions are only 2.4% of world’s. The #EU needs to focus on the emissions they export, mostly to #China, I argue how: bit.ly/2XOK8bG 2/
Sep 3, 2021 • 5 tweets • 8 min read
#EU Foreign Ministers meet today for #Gymnich. They will discuss #Afghanistan. But then they will discuss the #Gulf. This is a rare occurrence - EU Ministers have discussed #JCPOA often but very rarely regional geopolitics between the #GCC, #Iraq & #Iran. They do now because… ⬇️ …because of the #Baghdad_summit last week and #France’s involvement in it. Most in #EU that #Iraq can be the hub for regional diplomacy in the #Gulf, building on talks btwn #SaudiArabia & #Iran. Reality is that with no progress on #Yemen these talks are shallow but ⬇️
Oct 7, 2020 • 17 tweets • 11 min read
The moment we were waiting for has come. New #Kuwait Emir, #SheikhNawaf, nominates his brother Mishal Al-Ahmad as Crown Prince. He is a security person, w/past experience in the Interior Ministry and Deputy Chief of the Kuwaiti National Guard since 2004. Some thoughts. 1/ The National Assembly (NA) has to confirm Mishal al-Ahmad as #Kuwait CP with 2/3 majority. As @bmalsaif said, Emir prolonged term of the outgoing NA to Oct 20 coz it was the safer option - new Parliament likely to have more opposition members & elections vulnerable to meddling 2/
Sep 11, 2020 • 5 tweets • 6 min read
On the #Trump-mediated normalization between #Bahrain & #Israel keep in mind that this is not unexpected or historic per se, but because there might be a #SaudiArabia angle. Me & @h_lovatt wrote it for @ECFRMena last month ecfr.eu/amp-article/co… In fact, there was much to say about #Bahrain and #Israel in my June article for @ispionline, when #annexation was possibly imminent. Find the article here: ispionline.it/it/pubblicazio…
Aug 7, 2020 • 7 tweets • 8 min read
#SaudiArabia FM Prince Faisal bin Farhan has been quite busy these days! Today in #Italy, right after #Cyprus and, before, a North Africa tour. On geopolitics, Riyadh and Rome have two major things to talk about: #Libya and #EastMed. Both have to do with #Turkey. #Italy and #SaudiArabia do not traditionally have an in-depth, serious geopolitical engagement. This is for many reasons, many of which are common to other continental #Europe-an countries, excluding #France. I have analysed those in my @ECFRMena paper: ecfr.eu/publications/s…
Jul 24, 2020 • 5 tweets • 8 min read
🎙️New @arabdigest podcast: I discuss w/@BillLaw49 about how a #US retrenchment from the #MENA triggered a competition between #Russia #China #Turkey #Iran #UAE & #SaudiArabia to occupy vacuum and implications for #UK and #Europe. Highlights:
@ECFRMena
tinyurl.com/y2awxgd7 Yes I did really say "sometimes the #MENA region today seems like the Far West w/the Sheriff (#US) taking a nap". The multipolar competition deepened & entrenched conflicts in #Yemn, #Libya, #Syria and is extending towards the #HornofAfrica and #EastMed m.soundcloud.com/arabdigest/the…
Jun 27, 2020 • 5 tweets • 7 min read
Truly fascinating story linking #tech & #geopolitics, and involving #Gulf. #Google sponsors new undersea fiber optic cable connecting #Europe & #Asia, specifically #Italy & #India, via the #ArabianPeninsula. Should cut costs by 50% & really increase efficiency. Few details 👇 1/ The cable will be split in 2. Blue goes from #Italy to #Jordan (Aqaba) via #Israel and is done w/Telecom Italia. Raman goes from #India to Aqaba via #Oman & #SaudiArabia and done w/Omantel. The split is due to Saudi opposition of direct link to Israel (normalization, much?). 2/
Jan 11, 2020 • 13 tweets • 9 min read
#SultanQaboos of #Oman died. The royal family chose Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq al-Said to succeed. Who is he? What does it mean? A thread 1/ First, the royal family was quick in agreeing to a successor. This portrays externally a show of unity that is very important in a volatile region and vis-à-vis concerns that neighbors like #SaudiArabia and #UAE would have likes to interfere in the process. #Oman closed ranks. 2/