Will The Guns Fall Silent Now?
The past 33 months comprise the darkest chapter in Syria’s long history. Since protests in March 2010 turned into an armed conflict against the government of President Bashar Al Assad, Read Here – Gulf News
Tag: Middle East
A Divorce Not Imminent?
Disquiet in the Gulf over the interim nuclear deal with Iran has added to the anguish about a break in US–Saudi relations. But it is hard to get too worked up about this. In recent years there’s been a lot of anguish about a break. It is true that, unlike most myths of a golden […]
Iran Deal Threat To Neocon Raison D’etre
Absent a war with Iran—which seemed increasingly likely absent a deal—the neocons will be deprived of their raison d’etre. Yes, they can rail about China, which is making dangerously provocative moves against Japan this week. But the Middle East is where the real action is for the neocons. Iran has been a crucial enemy, the […]
6 Months Nuclear Freeze = 36 Days Of Relief
Despite the breakthrough, John Kerry is right when he says that the “next phase … will be even more difficult”. The harder part of the P5+1-Iran talks was always going to be reaching a lasting comprehensive solution. The lopsided nature of the interim agreement may have further complicated this process. Read Here – The Nation, […]
Sleepless In Middle East
The problem for King Abdullah and the other members of the House of Saud, as well as most Saudis, is that they don’t trust Iran in the diplomatic sphere and they don’t trust Shiites religiously. Read Here – The Atlantic
The Big Deal
The battle of spin has begun in great earnest after the signing of the Iran nuclear deal Read Here – Al Jazeera
Pragmatic Flexibility
India and China find that pragmatic flexibility trumps ideology in trade policies. Case in point: Israel. Read Here – The Diplomat
Obama’s Nixon Moment
The president’s negotiation could remake global politics—but he faces recriminations from domestic opponents and foreign allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia. Read Here – The Atlantic
Look Who’s Looking West…
With the United States bogged down by economic troubles at home, wriggling to organize its departure from Afghanistan and grappling with a variety of crises in the Middle East, it comes as no surprise that China is using the opportunity to invest considerable time and money into reviving the so-called Silk Road. Read Here – RealClearWorld
Through The Realist Prism
What is most interesting to consider, however, is whether we are witnessing the first stages of a reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Riyadh and Moscow, of course, have some apparently irreconcilable geostrategic imperatives. Russia’s close ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran and its unstinting support of Bashar al-Assad in Syria puts Moscow at […]
looking beyond borders 