The Cyrus of our Time
by Neville Teller Reza Pahlavi, the man born to be Shah of Iran and who, for the first nineteen years of his life, was its Crown Prince, paid a first-ever…
Tunisia – a ticking time bomb
By Neville Teller During Ramadan this year, just before nightfall when Muslims break their fast, dozens of Tunisian policemen swooped on the home of 81-year-old Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the…
LGBTQ emerges as a litmus test for limits of Saudi reforms
By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, and Spreaker. Saudi Arabia has turned LGBTQ rights…
Are the Taliban open to persuasion?
by Neville Teller Out of the blue, on June 1 the news broke that secret talks had taken place in mid-May between the head of…
Rebalancing US-Saudi relations
By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, and Spreaker. A draft bill in the US…
Saudi Arabia’s high-profile sports blitz is off to a mixed start.
By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, and Spreaker. Since arriving in Saudi Arabia five…
Sudan in Meltdown
On May 6 delegates from the two military groups slogging it out for control of Sudan met for pre-negotiation talks in Jeddah, each side represented by a three-person team. The discussions…
Gulf support for Turkey’s Erdogan is about more than economics.
By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, and Spreaker. When jailed Turkish politician Selahattin Demirtas…
Gulf states test the boundaries of their agency
By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, and Spreaker. More than three years after burying…
Shiites, not Jews, emerge as a touchstone of Saudi moderation
By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, and Spreaker. Saudi Arabia has removed anti-Semitic and…