“We have been spiraling deep down the rabbit hole since the Syrian civil war started in 2011,” a senior bureaucrat working for the security establishment told Al-Monitor. “We tried to mend bridges with Saudi Arabia, hoping to isolate Abu Dhabi — hoping that when the embargo against Qatar ends, we …

An F-22 Raptor from the North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepts a Russian Tu-95 “Bear” bomber in international airspace near Alaska on Oct. 19. NORAD said F-22s intercepted two Tu-95s, as well as a pair of Russian fighters, but that they did not enter American or Canadian airspace. (NORAD)

Indonesia rejected this year a proposal by the United States to allow its P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance planes to land and refuel there, according to four senior Indonesian officials familiar with the matter.