![Medical aid arrived from the United Arab Emirates is pictured at the airport in Kabul on Sept. 15, 2021.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-09/GettyImages-1235264287.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=pfUOf8r9)
Samuel Ramani completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford’s Department of Politics and International Relations in March 2021. He is also a geopolitical analyst and commentator, who contributes regularly to The Washington Post, Foreign Policy and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and a non-resident fellow at the Gulf International Forum. On Twitter: @samramani2
![Medical aid arrived from the United Arab Emirates is pictured at the airport in Kabul on Sept. 15, 2021.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-09/GettyImages-1235264287.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=pfUOf8r9)
![People hold placards to express their support for Ethiopia's megadam on the Blue Nile River.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-07/GettyImages-1232858979.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=ykwKYNPn)
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Samuel Ramani
![Syrian Tourism Minister Mohammed Rami Martini (C) attends a tourism conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh on May 26, 2021, despite tense relations between the two countries.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-06/GettyImages-1233115552.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=AQmAFUn0)
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Samuel Ramani
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Samuel Ramani
![A general view of the the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), near Guba in Ethiopia, on Dec. 26, 2019.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-05/GettyImages-1192325440.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=xf6JOCFs)
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Samuel Ramani
![Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi is seen on-screen as he speaks via video link during the opening ceremony of the Somaliland representative office in Taipei on Sept. 9, 2020.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-03/GettyImages-1228411861.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=M3g5LHn6)
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Samuel Ramani
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Samuel Ramani
![RTS2UAQE.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/04/RTS2UAQE.jpg/RTS2UAQE.jpg?h=1d34674f&itok=PYiO81GS)
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Samuel Ramani
![Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz meets with Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia March 27, 2019. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1909E0CC40](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/02/RTS2F4U6.jpg/RTS2F4U6.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=1Jiyxfu8)
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Samuel Ramani
![RTS2CUV6.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/12/RTS2CUV6.jpg/RTS2CUV6.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=arWTRqTN)
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Samuel Ramani
![Representatives of Yemen's government and southern separatists sign a Saudi-brokered deal to end a power struggle in the southern port of Aden , as Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L), Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) and Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi (R) celebrate in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 5, 2019. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC18F22C1C90](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/11/RTX77GY9.jpg/RTX77GY9.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=6P4j2Wui)
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Samuel Ramani
![U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper is welcomed by Saudi Arabia's Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Idrees Ali - RC14E5C39AA0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/10/RTS2S6KZ.jpg/RTS2S6KZ.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=cW6rh-Pq)
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Samuel Ramani