The events that most impacted the Middle East in 2019 were the United States’ decision to withdraw its troops from Syria, Russia’s increasing influence in the region and U.S.-Iranian tensions. Just as elsewhere in the world, demonstrations took place in the region. People around the Middle East took to the streets to protest corruption and to demand social and economic justice. The protests in Sudan, Lebanon and Iraq unseated their respective leaders. As civil strife and political uncertainty beset many countries, tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, including the attack on Aramco, were among the most discussed issues, in terms of their impact. The killing of Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, in the first days of 2020 showed that the United States’ main area of interest in the Middle East is to continue its maximum-pressure policy against Iran. Even if Turkey sought to avoid the fallout from this assassination, all of these develop...