The attack on Saudi Arabia on Saturday included video of an interception over the skies of Riyadh. Iran is supporting its Houthi rebel allies and proxy in Yemen to conduct an increasing war against Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-led coalition, and also against Yemen government forces in Marib. Twenty-four hours have …
Read More »Beyond Khashoggi: How the US and Saudi Arabia fell out and might ‘reset’
Saudi Arabia only received a bit of credit for its reforms that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman announced. The US decision to release a declassified intelligence report on the murder of former Saudi Arabia insider Jamal Khashoggi could either represent part of the long-term shift in US-Saudi relations or a …
Read More »What does Biden’s performative rap on Riyadh mean for Israel?
Israeli officials are concerned that increased pressure on the Saudis, will weaken the regional alliance against Iran. The Biden administration’s report on the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, released on Friday, is as notable for what is not in it as it is for what is.“We assess that Saudi Arabia’s Crown …
Read More »Health Care and Colonialism: A Sickness Unto Death
Nothing is immune from the stain of colonialism and its associated phenomena of racism. This includes the practice of medicine. Whether one is considering the inequality of medical care between the global north and south, the unevenness of medical care inside imperial nations stemming from those nations’ colonial history, or …
Read More »American Gulag
The U.S. tops any other country in the world for its number of prisoners – over 2,300,000. China, by contrast, has roughly 200,000 prisoners. But the U.S. general population is only 330 million, while China’s is 1.4 billion. American prisoners constitute a much larger percentage of the population than those …
Read More »Latest Houthi attack shows reach of Iran’s power
Saudi Arabia’s media has highlighted that US politicians are concerned a lack of response from the White House may be emboldening the Iranian-backed Houthis. The Iranian-backed Houthi rebel attacks on Saudi Arabia are rocking the Middle East. They recently carried through on threats to launch a major attack on Saudi …
Read More »Fossil fuel subsidies and renewable energies in MENA: An oxymoron?
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region plays a central role in the global oil and natural gas markets. The region is home to more than 52 and 42 percent of global crude oil and natural gas proven reserves, respectively. In the past decade, the region generated 36 and …
Read More »Beyond the elite: Taking protest and public opinion seriously in the Kurdistan Region
In early December 2020, at least eight people were killed and hundreds of others were injured during violent protests in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) sparked by deteriorating economic conditions and the government’s failure to pay public sector salaries. Seven of the dead, including a 13-year-old boy, were killed …
Read More »Russia Is Getting More Than It Bargained For in Libya and Syria
Is Russia’s lucky streak in Syria and Libya finally running out? The Kremlin has gambled big on proxy warfare in both countries, deploying thousands of private military contractors with the so-called Wagner Group to back its favorite strongmen. But after a recent run of misfortunes for Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, …
Read More »How to Manage the Threat of an Expanding Islamic State in Africa
Every expert on transnational jihadism knew that eradicating the Islamic State’s self-declared “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq would not lead to the end of this brutal, malignant movement. Since it had become as much an ideology and a brand as an actual organization, holding physical territory and establishing a proto-state …
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