To some Western analysts, Salman’s moves also appeared to stress a pendulum swing to the so-called Sudairi block of the Al Saud, the seven brothers born to Abdulaziz by his favorite wife, from a group of princes long led by the late Abdullah. Read Here – Reuters
US President Barack Obama on Thursday said that Mahatma Gandhi would have been shocked by the “acts of intolerance” experienced by religious faiths of all types in India in the past few years. Read Here
Just as King Abdullah pledged massive new public expenditures to push back against the Arab Spring, Salman offered an estimated $30 billion in handouts to a wide range of Saudi social groups, including military officers, public employees, students, retirees, the poor, and disabled. Read Here – National Interest
A list that needs to be watched closely – globally Read Here – Foreign Policy
The birth of the violent supra-individual is unavoidable. Religion helps in his nurture. In the organised state, he takes his flock and occupies a sequestered space where he can mould his followers’ conduct without being challenged. Because he uses violence, he gets into trouble with the organised state sooner or later, is attacked in his […]
Read Here – Pew Research
Islamists are fond of saying that “Islam is the Answer.” This was a motto promulgated by the Muslim Brotherhood, and also by Shi’a militant movements in Iraq. Many of the rest of us have asked: what was the Question? Islam is our religion, and it is a deep and powerful influence over our lives. And […]
Long a minor regional actor in the shadow of Saudi Arabia, Qatar wants to increase its influence. But Doha’s expansionist foreign policy has been plagued by miscalculations, domestic challenges, and international pressure—all issues connected to Doha’s relationship with Riyadh. Read Here – Carnegie Middle East
It is not bad if the myths about the omnipotence of Mr. Modi scare bureaucrats into reporting to work at 9 a.m. or deter a potentially corrupt minister or a bureaucrat… If the myths about Mr. Modi get investments in the economy, deter the corrupt, prompt the lazy and enthuse the government, they aren’t particularly […]
The legacy of tension has persisted for nearly seven decades, but one thing people on both sides of the India-Pakistan border have shared is the memory of partition’s trauma. Now, though, people who were children in 1947 are in their seventies and eighties, meaning that these common memories are fading. Read Here – The Atlantic
looking beyond borders 