Israeli security agencies have rejected selling the Iron Dome and David’s Sling Weapons System to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Israel Hayom and Maariv reported military analysts revealing on Friday. According to Maariv, military analyst Alon Ben David said that the Israeli security agencies rejected the potentiality to sell developed …
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Egypt’s religious authorities weigh in on Nile dam crisis
Egypt’s Al-Azhar has published a book asserting Egypt’s rights to the Nile River waters based on Sharia law, raising questions about the role of religious institutions in the crisis over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Egypt’s Al-Azhar Islamic Research Academy has published the first book on Egypt’s rights to the …
Read More »Explainer: the potential plan to export Qatari gas to Europe
The United States is pushing a plan to export Qatari gas to the European Union in the event Russia invades Ukraine. Qatar may soon export natural gas to Europe amid the looming conflict between Russia and Ukraine. For weeks, Russia has been amassing troops on the border with its western …
Read More »Turkish-backed rebels step up attacks on Islamic State in north Syria
The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army is cracking down on the Islamic State cells, amid an uptick in suicide attacks in north Syria. The Turkish-backed Syrian opposition has waged a security campaign against Islamic State (IS) cells in Azaz in the northern Aleppo countryside since Jan. 20, leading to the arrest …
Read More »Egypt wary of Turkey’s moves in eastern Libya
Ankara is expanding its influence in eastern Libya, deemed an area of Egyptian influence. Following months of conflict and accusations between the two parties, the relationship between Turkey and the Khalifa Hifter-led Libyan National Army (LNA) has seen a relative thaw. On Jan. 20, Turkey’s Ambassador to Tripoli Kenan Yilmaz …
Read More »Can Biden Unwind Trump’s ‘Maximum Pressure’ on Venezuela and Iran?
When President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20, he will inherit two types of problems from his predecessor. The first will involve repairing the damage President Donald Trump created through neglect: the alliances, partnerships, multilateral organizations and U.S. government institutions to which Trump paid too little attention the past …
Read More »The Nuclear Deal’s Fate Lies in Politics—in the U.S. and Iran
In the four decades since Iran’s Islamic Revolution, relations between Tehran and Washington have seen deep enmity offset by brief periods of rapprochement and tactical cooperation. As a new U.S. administration settles into office and asserts its intent to, in President Joe Biden’s words, “offer Tehran a credible path back …
Read More »The Taliban’s Comeback Is a Conundrum for Iran
No one in the Iranian government was sad to see U.S. and NATO troops leave Afghanistan. In fact, Tehran would prefer to have the Taliban next-door than often-hostile Western powers. But Shiite-majority Iran has also been a target of attacks in the past from the Sunni Islamist Taliban, and it …
Read More »Houthi Attacks Could Derail UAE-Iran Diplomacy
A series of deadly explosions in Abu Dhabi, the normally placid capital of the United Arab Emirates, has created a strategic quandary for the UAE government. Its leaders are in the midst of a major diplomatic reinvention, seeking to develop good relations with all of their regional neighbors, including, notably, …
Read More »There is no NATO open-door policy
In the current crisis involving Russia, Ukraine and Western countries, it is often asserted that because the NATO alliance has an “open-door” policy, Ukraine must retain its right to join the alliance someday. That is incorrect. While Russia should not be allowed to veto Ukraine’s hypothetical membership in NATO, there …
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