Global military spending fell for the first time since 1998 despite spending increases in Russia and China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) annual report,which was released on Monday. “Global military expenditure fell in 2012, to $1753 billion, equivalent to 2.5 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP). Although the fall was only 0.5 percent […]
In a few weeks’ time, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Saudi Arabia with an avowed objective of fostering the cordial relationship between the two countries. That is exactly where the relationship has always been — cordial and businesslike without cultivating strategic opportunities. The relationship between the two countries has been dominated by trade except for […]
The Arab world has to listen to the voice of its youth. This is the generation that will determine the future of the region as much in how it will be attained. The Arab youth is a factor that cannot be ignored or sidelined as their strength is in their numbers, aspirations and voice. A […]
Chairman Mao Zedong said that power comes out of the barrel of a gun, and he knew a thing or two about power, both hard and soft. If you have enough guns, you have respect. Money is the same: if you have enough cash, you can buy guns, and respect. Israel and Saudi Arabia are examples […]
Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of the overthrow of Saddam Hussain. But the debate about the direction of the US-Iraqi relationship is influenced by a pessimistic view that the US has lost Iraq. Not true. Despite all the problems of the past decade, the overwhelming majority of Iraqis agree that we are better off today […]
Soon after protests erupted outside the U.S. embassy in the Egyptian capital last September, inspired by the posting on the Internet of an American-made anti-Islamic video, the embassy posted a statement saying, “We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others.” The […]
The re-election of Khalid Mesha’al, the “relative pragmatist” leader of the Gaza-based Palestinian faction Hamas, is very likely to raise hope that the two most prominent Palestinian political groups may shortly join forces, now that the chances of peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis could be at their doorstep. Read Here – Gulf […]
We have had enough of this ridiculous, two-year-old question: Did the Arab Spring have any impact on the six Arab Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the UAE? The one-word answer is an emphatic yes. Obviously these states not only survived the tough challenges of the two-year-old Arab Spring, but also […]
There are many reasons that the fate of Cyprus is being followed so closely in Britain. One is sympathy for those who are about to pay the price for the sins of a banking sector that was at one point seven times the size of the island’s economy. Another is shock at how the island, […]
Hooshang Amirahmadi is not your typical candidate for the Iranian presidency. A tenured professor of public policy at Rutgers University in New Jersey and a decidedly snazzy dresser, Amirahmadi is literally worlds away from the man he hopes to succeed: the virulently anti-American Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But the fact that he hasn’t lived in Iran for nearly […]
looking beyond borders 