The twenty-sixth edition of Siyasat Arabiya, a bi-monthly political science journal, published by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies is now available. Alongside the usual peer reviewed academic papers, this edition also included two special sections, one devoted to commemorating the 50 year anniversary of the June, 1967 War and a second devoted to studying the 2017 intra-Gulf crisis. Within the first of these sections was Azmi Bishara’s “The Turning Point of the June, 1967 War: a Genuine Critique”; and Mahmoud Muhareb’s “The Israeli Decision to Go to War in June 1967”. The same edition also contained an in-depth discussion of the crisis in Gulf-Qatar relations, “The Crisis in Intra-Gulf Relations: Roots, Future Trajectories and Regional and Global Repercussions”, authored by the ACRPS’ Policy Analysis Unit. In addition, Siyasat Arabiya 26 includes “Chinese Soft Power and the Arabs”, by Kadhim Hashim Niama; “The EU and the Arab Spring: Rhetoric vs. Politics”, by Muriel Asseburg; “The Palestinian Authority and the Rentier State” by Anas Iqtait; “Liberal Democracy Caught between Liberal Elitism and Populism: Factors and Consequences of the Rise of Populism in American Politics”, by Abubakr Abdelrazig; and “Electoral Crisis in the Context of Demographic Change: the Case of the Kirkuk Provincial Council Elections” by Khalil Fadl Osman. 

In addition, Siyasat Arabiya 26 covered findings from the Arab Opinion Index, the annual public opinion survey administered by the ACRPS, as part of a regular series of articles from the Siyasat Arabiya team. This edition’s report was devoted to “Public Opinion in Saudi Arabia towards Diplomatic Normalization with Israel: Findings from the 2016 Arab Opinion Index”. “Milestones in the Arab Democratic Transition” and “Palestine over Two Months” are further regular sections included in every edition of Siyasat Arabiya. Book reviews published in Siyasat Arabiya 26 include Hassan Lfjah’s review of Ahmet Davutoglu’s Political Philosophy; and Hikmat Al-Abdulrahman’s review of John Pierre Cabestan’s Chinese Global Policy: Integration and the Force of Willpower. Finally, Siyasat Arabiya includes coverage of the proceedings of two academic conferences hosted by the ACRPS in April and May, respectively, of 2017. These were Hamzeh Almoustafa’s coverage of “Arabs and Kurds: Shared Hopes and Common Dreams” and Ahmed Qassem Hussein’s coverage of “The June, 1967 War: 50 Years On: Trajectories and Repercussions of the Conflict”.