Coronavirus: The Middle East’s lessons not learnt and missed opportunities
Middle Eastern rulers are not learning the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic, nor do they see it as an opportunity to negotiate new social contracts.
Middle Eastern rulers are not learning the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic, nor do they see it as an opportunity to negotiate new social contracts.
Why did MbS recently detain a group of princes and other officials for allegedly treasonous activity?
Trump loosened regulations on oil drilling in pursuit of his “energy dominance” policy, but the recent Saudi “oil shock” has demonstrated its fragility.
Reversing militarism in the Middle East will be difficult as Americans arms have been flowing into the region for decades.
Before the strengthening of trade links with India, Saudi Arabia usually supported Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir. Now their interests seem to have diverged.
The past months have seen an unprecedented level of diplomatic engagement on the part of Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The lure of access to Iranian ports is pushing Central Asian nations like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to improve relations with Tehran, against Saudi wishes.
The UAE joined the Arab League statement rejecting the proposal, yet UAE officials in DC applauded it and attended the launch event at the White House.
Beyond Iran and Saudi Arabia’s overall human rights abuses, recent reports highlight their failure to ensure the safety and rights of persecuted minorities.
Tensions in the Persian Gulf have caused longstanding U.S. partners in the region to reassess the pillars of their defense and security relationships.
Thanks to a competitive influence racket and a lack of transparency, the real total is likely double that amount.
Foreign influence in American democracy has been around a lot longer than Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
To ease the anxieties in the Gulf Arab states, U.S.-Iran rhetoric needs to scale down. Gulf Arab officials should continue to urge restraint on both sides.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister went to Brussels this week and reverted back to the kingdom’s hawkish anti-Iran talking points.
Why does the Trump administration keeping giving Mohammed bin Salman a free pass?
It looks like the Blob is starting to come around to the idea that maybe the U.S. approach to the Middle East for the last 20 years or so hasn’t been all that great.
Power dynamics in the Muslim world are shifting and splintering, with Saudi Arabia on the outside looking in.
The political fallout from Trump’s kill order will extend far wider than Iraq.
If Trump and Pompeo really want to de-escalate, that means not only backing off from more provocative and deadly kinetic acts; it also means backing off from the economic warfare that started the destructive cycle.
Many in the international community at large will refuse to accept Saudi Arabia’s secretive court proceedings around the Khashoggi murder as credible.
Twitter recently removed thousands of accounts it attributed to “a significant state-backed information operation on Twitter originating in Saudi Arabia.”