King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud’s decision to remove Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and promote his favorite son, Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman, has been long anticipated. It raises profound questions about the future stability of America’s oldest ally in the Middle East.
Vladimir Putin has been such a dominant figure in international relations since coming to power in 1999 that it’s hard to imagine a world without him. Moreover, Russia is so large — spanning 11 time zones — and so diverse in ethnic and socioeconomic terms, that’s it’s equally difficult to foresee Russian reaction to the absence of someone who has really functioned much like the czars of old. But nothing is eternal, not even in Mother Russia, so sooner or later, things will change.
The Qatar crisis proves two things: the continued infantilisation of the Arab states, and the total collapse of the Sunni Muslim unity supposedly created by Donald Trump’s preposterous attendance at the Saudi summit two weeks ago.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on their official. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
Behind the bluster, bombast, tweetstorms, and general atmosphere of comic opera, is the Trump administration reverting to the successful Middle East grand strategy that both Democratic and Republican presidents followed during the Cold War?
A delegation of the Leaders of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Countries are seen Sunday, May 21, 2017, at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as they prepare to present an agreement of understanding to the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
The anti-Qatar action is a clumsy demonstration of the kingdom’s desire to challenge Iran for regional hegemony. What makes the Saudi boycott even more puzzling is the fact that, in addition to Qatar, two GCC member states—Kuwait and Oman—maintain working relations with Iran and have not severed relations with Qatar.
Sarajevo 1914, Doha 2017? We could be at a historic moment akin to the assassination of the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which resulted in what became known as the Great War. This time, though, the possible clash is between a Saudi-United Arab Emirates force and Iran. Washington is going to have to act quickly to stop the march to war, rather than wait for the carnage to begin.
President Trump may be the face of America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, but, as deeper reporting is making clear, it’s the Kochs and their fellow fossil-fuel industry donors who really own the policy. Whether responsibility for such a consequential move will redound to their favour remains to be seen.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain say they are severing diplomatic relations with Qatar. The Saudi kingdom said it was cutting ties to its neighbour and has pulled all Qatari troops from the ongoing war in Yemen.
The United States sees Iraq as a vital location in need of a clear US policy, especially with the presence there of US military bases and about 8,500 US soldiers, as well as the US impact on the country’s overall situation. The most recent quest in this direction was the Arab Islamic American Summit held May 21 in Riyadh, attended by US President Donald Trump and Iraqi President Fuad Masum.
The surge in pirate activity in Somalia’s waters has been perplexing, not least since it contradicts popular expert opinion, which posits that sea-piracy is in a state of terminal decline in the Gulf of Aden. With NATO, the European Union, India, China and Japan still maintaining an active security presence in the region, regularly deploying warships to escort merchant traffic, maritime observers feel pirates have neither motivation nor incentive to carry out fresh attacks.
