Saudi’s Long History of Abductions
Riyadh has repeatedly been accused of kidnapping and sending dissidents back to the Gulf kingdom, accusations it denies. Jamal Khashoggi walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday to…
The Enigma That Is Qatar
It is not easy to pigeon-hole Qatar, a stand-alone Middle Eastern state in more ways than one − geographically, politically, economically, influentially. Itself a small peninsula projecting into the Persian…
Whither Saudi Crown Prince’s ‘Moderate’ Islam?
Recent Algerian media reports detailing Saudi propagation of a quietist, apolitical yet supremacist and anti-pluralistic form of Sunni Muslim ultra-conservatism raises questions about the scope of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed…
Women’s Driving: Saudi Prince Mohammed’s Litmus Test
Saudi Arabia’s long-awaited lifting of a ban on women’s driving, widely viewed as a symbol of Saudi misogyny, will likely serve as a litmus test for Crown Prince Mohammed bin…
War-Torn Syria – Can Saudi Arabia Broker Peace?
Devastated after years of conflict, Syria remains a huge battlefield, the scene of at least six separate military clashes.
The Gulf Crisis: Fighting It Out Down and Dirty
In the three-month old Gulf crisis, nothing is too expensive or too down and dirty when it comes to buying influence, garnering soft power, and trying to win hearts and…
Air Berlin Files for Insolvency after UAE’s Etihad Withdraws Support
Air Berlin, Germany’s second-largest airline, filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday after key shareholder Etihad Airways withdrew funding following years of losses, leaving valuable runway slots up for grabs. The…
Trump’s Mid-East Venture
Ambiguities and vacillations surround many aspects of the Trump administration’s policies or lack of them, both domestic and foreign, but one element seems clear. President Donald Trump appears determined to…
Germany and the Qatar Crisis
Within a week of Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and other governments of Arab/African countries severing/downgrading relations with Qatar, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel warned that…
UK Split over the Muslim Brotherhood and Saudi Arabia
Britain’s parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee is at daggers drawn with Britain’s Foreign Office. That is to say, the Members of Parliament who form the influential Select Committee that monitors foreign…