Economic reform is key to the future of a region which needs to diversify away from dependency on oil, or a reliance on international funding. There has been both resistance and progress so far.
Bahrain's oil sector is relatively small for the Gulf. So, the kingdom has been an early adopter of economic diversification and has harnessed the advantage of a well-developed education sector.
The olive tree is no longer just a source of sustenance for West Bank Palestinians, but a silent witness to their profound struggle between permanence and erasure
Since Trump began lifting sanctions in May, no time has been wasted. US investment delegations have been flocking to Damascus, and security cooperation has already started.
The US president hasn't invested enough political capital in the painstaking details of peacemaking. Instead, he has focused on short-term truces he can boast about in his quest for a Nobel prize.