Faced with growing internal tension – from Islamist radicals as well as liberal reformers – the ruling family is determined to defend its interests by whatever means necessary. This is reflected by a new assertiveness on the world stage – seen most vividly in the surprise decision to reject a seat on the UN Security […]
Based on its actual behavior, rather than words, Washington seems to have redefined its core national interests in the Middle East a few years ago during the first term of the Barack Obama presidency, says Rami Khouri Read Here – The Daily Star, Beirut
China’s international role is changing. But the country is struggling to reconcile its traditional foreign policy of non-interference with its growing economic presence around the world. Read Here – Asia Centre
After decades when the core components of US and Saudi strategic policies were more or less in sync, the United States is suddenly not playing by the Saudi playbook. It won’t give the Syrian resistance a blank check; it is daring to consider softening its stance towards Iran; it has dared to criticise, however mildly, […]
Among all continents, Asia has the ability to disrupt the world the most. Read Here – The Atlantic
As Iran has been preoccupied with the U.S. and its allies over the past decade, China has quietly established a growing presence along all of Iran’s borders. In none of these places are Iran and China’s interests perfectly aligned. In some cases, particularly the Middle East, they are starkly at odds. Read Here – The […]
In the end, however, the monarchies may all suffer from such meddling, for these regimes are only as strong as the weakest links in their chain. An especially brittle monarchy succumbing to pressure over Western involvement, Iran, or Israel could easily be the first domino to fall, undoing the illusion of invincibility that the Gulf […]
Many in the Arab world see the “growing ties” between the United States and Iran detrimental to the interests of the GCC states. In the changing political scenario, many analysts also fear an expansion in Iran’s ideological borders in a Sunni-dominated region. Read Here – Arab News
Forty years ago this month, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries proclaimed an embargo on oil exports to the U.S. as retaliation for its support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. It would last only five months, but it haunts U.S. energy policy to this day. Read Here – Bloomberg
When Saudi Arabia’s veteran foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, made no annual address to the United Nations General Assembly last week for the first time ever, his unspoken message could hardly have been louder. Read Here – Reuters
looking beyond borders 