Middle Orient

They need not worry, as the Biden administration is still selling arms to the biggest violators in the Gulf. Israeli officials warned the United States not to hold Saudi Arabia and Egypt accountable for human rights abuses, or else risk driving them into the arms of China, Russia, and Iran. …

Two decades after 9/11, the role of Saudi Arabia in the attack remains in dispute despite unrelenting efforts by the US and Saudi governments to neutralise it as a live political issue. The Saudi Arabia embassy in Washington this week issued a statement detailing its anti-terrorist activities and ongoing hostility …

Syrian government forces have stepped up their attacks against Idlib, causing civilian casualties as Russian warplanes continue to raid different areas of northwestern Syria on an almost daily basis. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Sept. 7 that “a woman succumbed to her wounds sustained in artillery shelling carried …

A meeting of Jordanian, Egyptian, Lebanese and Syrian ministers seems to have cracked Syria’s isolation. Four Arab countries have agreed on a road map to supply Egyptian natural gas to Lebanon through Jordan and Syria during a ministerial meeting in Amman on Sept. 8. They also approved a plan to …

Turkey’s industry remains heavily reliant on imported materials, meaning the country’s current account deficit problem persists despite a record increase in exports. A big uptick in exports was a major driver of the Turkish economy’s 21.7% growth rate in the second quarter, but how much Turkey could sustain the trend …

Realizing that its current allies are not sufficient to secure Turkey’s interests in Libya, Ankara is now seeking to include Gadhafi family members into its calculus. Having loosened its close ties with the Muslim Brotherhood in a bid to normalize its relations with the major actors of the Arab world, …

No. 14 on The Jerusalem Post’s Top 50 Most Influential Jews of 2021: IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi and Mossad chief David Barnea. It’s been a busy two years for Israel’s top security officials, Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi and new Mossad chief David Barnea, fighting a war they never …

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 …

As crises continue to unfold in Lebanon, the inaction and silence of decision-makers goes beyond the limit, raising red flags over the purpose of such a behavior and whether such governance stems from ignorance, poor management, and thirst for power, or perhaps an orchestrated plan aiming to dissolve the state …

The American withdrawal from military intervention in Afghanistan continues a broader American as well as European disengagement from the Middle East. Greater US energy independence and a shift on the part of Europe to Russian oil, fatigue among Americans over their “endless wars” in the region, and a perceived need …