Recent Posts

Russia’s war in Ukraine is making Saudi Arabia and the UAE rethink how they deal with US pressure over China

The response of the Gulf Arab states to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been somewhat revealing of the depth of fissures between the United States and its Gulf allies. The “stress test” United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, hinted at on March 3, was on full …

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The EU Will Pay Dearly for Its Neglect of North Africa

In the fall of 2012, as Syria plunged into civil war and the Eurozone crisis generated panic across global markets, a parliamentary election in Ukraine signaled trouble ahead to those who were paying attention. The results that trickled out on Oct. 28, 2012, indicated that then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of …

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Iraq helps broker Iran-Saudi negotiations

The latest Iran-Saudi talks in Iraq have been the most productive, according to reports. Iraq hosted the fifth round of Iran-Saudi talks in Baghdad last Thursday. After about a year of dialogue, this meeting showed significant progress as the two countries agreed on a general roadmap for normalizing relations. The …

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