Baluchistan—divided between the Iranian province of Sistan va Baluchestan, the parts of Afghanistan around Kandahar, Nimruz and Helmand and Pakistan’s Balochistan province—is on track to emerge as one of the most pivotal geo-economic hubs of the twenty-first century. Read Here – The National Interest
It should be clear to even the most die-hard conspiracy theorists that the argument for official Saudi involvement in 9/11 is bogus. Read Here – Foreign Policy
A deep collective angst has taken Germany over ever since Angela Merkel decided to open the borders to over a million refugees last summer. The fervent optimism of the “refugees welcome” movement has long since faded, and now people are scared. Read Here – The Telegraph
While Islamabad and Kabul have many reasons to fight each other, there is one reason for collaboration: The Islamic State, which is making inroads on both sides of the border, but particularly in Afghan districts bordering Pakistan like Nangarhar. Read Here – The Indian Express
Misconceptions and outright misrepresentations of the role of oil in the Iraqi debacle remain, spawning conspiracy theories about conflicts from Libya, Syria and Gaza to Afghanistan. The corrupt and sclerotic energy sector continues to hold back the economy and blight the lives of ordinary Iraqis. Searching the Chilcot report to justify decade-old slogans of “no […]
The long-awaited Chilcot report found Britain joined the U.S.-led war against Saddam Hussein before “peaceful options for disarmament” had been exhausted. Read Here – The Atlantic
The great Sunni Arab implosion that began with the 2011 “Arab Spring” was unforeseen in its suddenness, violence, and extent. But some, both inside and outside the Arab world, had long suspected that, sooner or later, a day of reckoning would indeed arrive. Read Here – Mosaic
Nearly twelve months after Iran’s diplomatic victory with the JCPOA, Tehran is still embroiled in four different major regional conflicts, and a fifth may soon break out. Read Here – The National Interest
The prince, who’s the son of King Salman, is leading Saudi Arabia’s biggest-ever economic shakeup, moving to cut subsidies and diversify the economy away from oil by generating an extra $100 billion in non-oil revenue by 2020. Read Here – Bloomberg
Since the conclusion of the Iranian nuclear deal last July, the perennial antagonism between Riyadh and Tehran has reached a dangerous pitch, fuelling the violence that rages in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen and the undercurrent of instability that saturates the region. Read Here – Brookings
looking beyond borders 