Middle Orient

Key points During the Netanyahu government’s first five months, Israel-Arab ties have slowed down and tensions with the Palestinians have increased. Despite regional opposition to Netanyahu and his coalition, Arab leaders congratulated him on his victory and indicated a willingness to engage. Arab states have issued warnings or condemned statements, …

A return to a parliamentary democracy system—the opposition’s most important electoral promise—is highly unlikely if Erdogan remains in power. This would be bad news for Turkey’s Western allies. After a dynamic and unfair campaign, the interim results of Turkey’s dual election send the two main presidential contenders to a second …

Ahmed Al Badr spied for ‘hostile country’ and was given weapons training at overseas camp, says Interior Ministry Saudi Arabia executed a citizen on Tuesday who it said planned a terrorist attack in the kingdom after joining a training camp abroad. Ahmed Al Badr illegally left the kingdom for training …

The Race to Be the Next Supreme Leader Will Be Chaotic and Perilous For most of the last nine months, outside analysts have looked to Iran’s protests for signs that the country might experience political change. These demonstrators, the vast majority of them young, certainly rocked the country’s elite with …

Former CENTCOM chief, Gen. Joseph Votel, considers the combined maritime task forces to be a “cornerstone” of Washington’s regional security partnerships. A new US-led maritime task force for the Middle East was established on Monday, making it the fifth such group at a time when the region is witnessing increased …

His Rehabilitation Will Only Encourage More Brutality in Syria and Elsewhere After many years of equivocation and handwringing, Arab states have decided to bring Syria in from the cold and back into the fold. Arab foreign ministers announced earlier this month that Syria would be readmitted to the Arab League, …

With the Iraq War underway, U.S. Marines were sent to clear out insurgents in the key strategic city of Fallujah in central Iraq in November 2004. The deaths of four U.S. contractors months earlier had sparked an outcry, becoming one of the triggers for a battle that would go on …

The Chabahar Port Transit Project, is of great importance in the “International North–South Transport Corridor” (INSTC), because it is the only Iranian port with direct access to the Indian Ocean., writes Valdai Club expert Vali Kaleji. In his article, Dr. Vali Kaleji, a Tehran-based expert on Central Asia and Caucasian …

There will be a second round for the presidential vote on May 28, but an opposition victory seems unlikely. Turkey is a country where average schooling is 6.5 years. In other words, the average person is a 7th grade drop-out. Ninety-five percent of Turkish citizens have never travelled abroad.

The Arab League’s decision to readmit Syria rewards brutality and betrays victims. It also confirms the marginalization of the United States and the irrelevance of Europe in the region. A collection of Arab countries grouped in the Arab League has brought President Bashar al-Assad back into its fold. The twenty-two-member-strong …