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Egypt's path to economic stability with Rania Al-Mashat
As a landmark Gaza ceasefire reshapes Middle East stability, what does it mean for Egypt’s growth outlook?
Egypt’s Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat tells GZERO’s Tony Maciulis the deal is “a monumental moment” and durable. “There’s no development without stability and peace,” she says, citing urgent Gaza reconstruction.
Despite recent changes, Egypt achieved a 5% economic growth, fueled by strategic reforms and a robust tourism sector. Highlighting progress, Al-Mashat shared Egypt's success in attracting over $17 billion in private sector investment, focusing on key industries like ICT and manufacturing. She notes, “Our economy has been rebounding, recovering very steadily.”
This conversation is presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft.. The Global Stage series convenes global leaders for critical discussions on the geopolitical and technological trends shaping our world.
Trump brokers peace: Hostages freed and guns fall silent in Gaza
A landmark moment in the Middle East: All 20 remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas have been released, and a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas has been signed—brokered by President Trump.
Ian Bremmer calls it “a big win” for the president. “He had leverage, and he used it,” Ian says. “It’s much better to say your president succeeded than failed—and this is a success.”
The deal, backed by Egypt, Turkey, and Gulf states, halts two years of fighting. But as Ian notes, “lasting peace will depend on reconstruction, governance, and whether both sides can hold to their word.”
Trump's role in brokering Israel-Hamas deal
After two years of war in Gaza, a ceasefire and peace deal may finally be within reach, and Ian Bremmer says former President Trump deserves credit for.
“Trump has announced an agreement on a Gaza ceasefire,” Ian explains. “It’s not done yet, but it’s a big deal.” With help from advisors Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, and Marco Rubio and quiet backing from Gulf states, Trump has reportedly convinced Hamas to release 48 hostages and Israel to scale back operations.
“If it happens,” Ian says, “it’s a breakthrough that Biden, the Gulf, and Europe couldn’t deliver. And that deserves recognition.”
Members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) hold a flag in the divided city of Deir al-Zor, Syria December 7, 2024.
Hard Numbers: Syria reaches pact with Kurdish fighters, Sudanese militia leader guilty of war crimes, emerging markets surge anew, luxury travel booms
¼: The new Syrian government has signed a ceasefire with US-backed Kurdish fighters who control roughly a quarter of Syria’s territory, in a pact that could smooth the re-integration of Kurdish areas into the Syrian state. Recent clashes had upended earlier agreements to absorb Kurdish militias into the new Syrian army.
27: The international criminal court has found a leader of Sudan’s feared janjaweed militia guilty on 27 counts of atrocities committed during the Darfur genocide in the early 2000s. The charges included gang rape of women and children, torture, and summary executions. The court rejected the defendant’s arguments that it had captured the wrong man.
15: Stocks of companies in “emerging markets” – a grouping of the world’s leading middle-income countries – have seen their biggest gains in more than 15 years. The main reason? A weaker US dollar has made it easier for companies in these countries to service dollar-denominated debt. At the same time, many of these economies are keeping interest rates high, attracting more foreign capital, particularly as political uncertainty roils developed markets like the US and Europe.
390 billion: The rich keep getting richer… and then they go on holiday. Global spending on high end luxury travel will surpass $390 billion by 2028, according to McKinsey, up from $240 billion in 2023. Experts say the increasing availability of luxury goods has made them less interesting to the ultra-rich, who now flaunt their 1-percentness by seeking out stratospherically expensive and unique luxury experiences.
Trump shifts on Russia: From carrots to sticks in Ukraine war
For years, US policy toward Russia’s war in Ukraine has swung between extremes. Under Biden, “all stick, no carrot.” Under Trump, “all carrot, no stick.” Ian Bremmer says both approaches failed to change Vladimir Putin’s calculus.
What’s different now? Trump himself admits his personal diplomacy with Putin has failed—a rare concession. Instead, he’s pushing oil pressure: urging Hungary, Turkey, and India to cut Russian crude purchases, and exploring deals with Ukraine on drones and long-range missiles.
“The US is closer today to the Ukrainian and European position than Trump was months ago,” Ian notes. “That’s a shift worth watching.”
Can the UN stop death and destruction in Gaza?
In a sobering conversation at the United Nations HQ, UN Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza. While declining to weigh in on genocide allegations—“I have no competence to declare or not genocide,” he says—Guterres does not hold back on the reality on the ground.
“The problem is not the name. The problem is the reality… the highest level of death and destruction that I’ve ever seen in my public life.”
Guterres calls for an immediate, permanent ceasefire, the unconditional release of hostages. full humanitarian access, and a renewed push for a two-state solution, which he says is the only viable path to peace “What’s happening today in Gaza is morally, politically, and legally intolerable.”
He warns that Israel's current path, and its stated willingness to live with greater global isolation, risks deepening regional instability: “[Benjamin Netanyahu] has the possibility to solve that problem… by recognizing that another people are in the same land and that other people also needs to have a state and to live.”
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Here's why Israel will accept a Gaza ceasefire soon
Despite the foot dragging and all the threats of taking over Gaza City, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will find his way to a ceasefire in Gaza this September. Here's why.
First, domestic pressure is growing. Israel is witnessing some of the largest street protests it's seen in the past two years. They're repetitive, they're consistent, they're ongoing. Second, there's growing international pressure. It is not only the Saudis that are leading the charge for recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations this September. It's also the French and the British and other European and Western allies of Israel. By signing on to a temporary ceasefire, Bibi can preclude some of that pressure.
There are also opportunities here. Netanyahu is better positioned against members of his own coalition who have been threatening to leave it if he signs onto that ceasefire, namely, ministers Ben Gvir, Smotrich are in a weaker position right now in the polls that they had been previously. They need him more than he needs them in the lead up to expected parliamentary elections next year.
There's also President Trump and rumors around Washington have it that he will be willing to visit Israel after a stopover in the UK on the 17th to the 19th of September if in fact Bibi finds his way to that temporary ceasefire. And lastly, what Hamas is putting on the table here is an acceptance of the American plan, otherwise known as the Witkoff plan named after the American envoy who tabled it last spring, but couldn't get itself to accept it. So for Bibi not to accept an American plan that he signed off on back in spring is counterintuitive.
So for all those reasons, we think that there will be a temporary ceasefire in September. It's not a total end to the war. It's a 60-day reprieve. Israel can find itself back at war in Gaza, perhaps occupying the entire strip. That will be the negative and brutal scenario. One would hope that diplomacy will find a way and will reign supreme by the end of that 60-day ceasefire.
Trump-Putin-Zelensky meeting unlikely
"From the European point of view, [it was] pretty disastrous,” Bildt says of Alaska, where Trump "was agreeing with Putin" and hopes for a ceasefire “collapsed.”
The Washington talks brought some relief. With Zelensky and seven European leaders present, Bildt notes “that prevented the worst from happening.” Still, Trump dismissed European calls for a ceasefire and pushed for direct talks between Zelensky and Putin. A plan that Bildt calls unrealistic.