The Middle East is caught in a seemingly endless spiral of instability. The likely American military intervention in Syria, together with the deteriorating situation in Egypt since President Mohammad Morsi’s ouster, which was organized by the Egyptian army, has placed the region on a razor’s edge. Read Here – The Daily Star, Beirut
The Arab Spring has been, in turns, exhilarating and excruciating. It has also been expensive—even for relatively peaceful Middle Eastern countries. Three Gulf countries sent a $12 billion aid package to Egypt in July, the latest in a regional spending spree that has also benefited the troubled countries of Yemen and Tunisia. Read Here – […]
The US does not fight for land, resources, hatred, revenge, tribute, religious conversion — the usual stuff. Along with the occasional barrel of oil, America fights for virtue. Read Here – Gulf News
Middle East supporters of the Sunni-dominated rebel forces led by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey are exasperated with the hesitation of Western countries but are holding out in expectation that attacks will eventually occur. Read Here – The Jerusalem Post
The alternative to the proposed US strike is not inaction, but rather a more comprehensive approach which takes into account the underlying reality in which the horrors at al-Ghouta took place: the proxy war in Syria. Come what may, only talks aimed at achieving a ceasefire, including wrangling with Russia and Iran, will stop the […]
Is Obama irredeemably weak? The answer, I’m afraid, is yes, he is. He has been weakened by recent history: the disasters of Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan. But sometimes, as in this instance, history teaches us nothing but fear. Read Here – WorldAffiarsJournal
Saudi Arabia usually adopts policies that match its regime’s conservative nature. It is a regime that is resistant to internal change and to revolution — any revolution in any Arab country. Read Here – Al Monitor
Yet again the Western world gazes baffled and powerless at the ever more tragic mess unfolding across the Middle East. The wishful-thinking euphoria that greeted the “Arab Spring” two years ago seems a million miles away as Egypt plunges into bloody chaos… Read Here – The Telegraph, London
Iran has positioned itself as an important regional actor in Central Asia and is committed to playing a role in neighboring Afghanistan. As U.S. troops draw down their numbers in Afghanistan, Washington should consider how improved U.S.-Iranian relations could further long-term U.S. policy goals in Afghanistan and in the region. Read Here – Carnegie Endowment […]
Thursday of this week was a bad day in modern Arab history. The four leading Arab cities of recent eras – Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and Cairo – were simultaneously engulfed in bombings or urban warfare, mostly carried out with brutal savagery and cruelty against civilians in urban settings. Even more problematic is that the carnage was predominantly the work […]
looking beyond borders 