Israel’s Ukraine conundrum may have implications for Gulf states
By James M. Dorsey Middle Eastern states see their ability narrow to walk a fine line in the Ukraine conflict. Israel is a case in point as tensions with Iran…
Iran capitalises on Central Asian vacuum created by the Ukraine war
By James M. Dorsey Anti-Iranian protests in Afghanistan and the stabbing of three clerics in Iran threaten to cast a shadow over Iranian efforts to capitalise on the fallout in…
Lebanon’s dilemma
by Neville Teller The good news is that a two-month truce between the warring parties in Yemen, brokered by the UN, went into effect on April 2. At last there…
Cooperating with autocrats: When is too much, too much?
By James M. Dorsey Two recent publications have fuelled debate about democratic cooperation with autocratic governments in general, and Saudi Arabia in particular, in the wake of the Ukraine war.…
The 2022 World Cup: Is Qatar Putting its Best Foot Forward?
By James M. Dorsey This is Qatar’s year to put its best foot forward. A major producer of natural gas, the tiny Gulf state is under the magnifying glass as…
The IRGC in Iranian politics
by Neville Teller IRGC stands for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a branch of the Iranian armed forces. It was founded shortly after the Iranian revolution in 1979 specifically to…
Always a major Middle Eastern power, Israel now takes centre stage
By James M. Dorsey A straightforward message emerged from this week’s meeting in the Negev desert of the foreign ministers of four Arab countries, Israel and the United States: Israel…
New Books Network Review: Rivals in the Gulf
By James M. Dorsey Rivals in the Gulf: Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, Abdullah Bin Bayyah, and the Qatar-UAE Contest Over the Arab Spring and the Gulf Crisis (Routledge, 2021) goes to key questions of…
The US’s new non-NATO ally
by Neville Teller “Major non-NATO Ally” (MNNA) is a US legal designation conferred on nearly 20 countries including Australia, Israel, Japan and Brazil. On March 10, President Joe Biden formally…
Autocratic vs. Democratic Islam = UAE vs. Indonesia
By James M. Dorsey Indonesia has emerged as a primary battleground between democratic and autocratic visions of Islam in the 21st century. The battle pits Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the world’s…