Iran and Pakistan Can, Should and Must Unite

Iran and Pakistan Can, Should and Must Unite

Iran and Pakistan’s 20th century relations have constituted an incredibly varied dynamic, ranging from warm relations in between the 1940s and late 1970s while relations deteriorated in the 1980s with an even more rapid degradation occurring in the 1990s. While the 1990s saw relations between Islamabad and Tehran become deeply tense over contradictory positions in…

Is Modi Carrying Out a Coup in the Maldives?

Is Modi Carrying Out a Coup in the Maldives?

This ultra-geostrategic South Asian archipelago state is front and center in the Chinese-Indian New Cold War. The Maldivian military surrounded parliament today and reportedly arrested several individuals just days after the Supreme Court ruled that 9 opposition figures would be freed from custody and have their terrorism cases retried. The highest law in the land…

Downing of Russian Fighter in Syria Threatens Wider War

Downing of Russian Fighter in Syria Threatens Wider War

The shooting down of a Russian warplane over northern Syria on Saturday threatens to dramatically escalate the confrontation between Washington and Moscow over the US-backed proxy war to oust the Russian-supported regime of President Bashir al-Assad. The Russian media and senior political figures are already accusing the United States of involvement. The Russian Defence Ministry…

Riyadh Explores Anti-Iranian Embrace of Israel – But Risks 1979-Like Blowback

Riyadh Explores Anti-Iranian Embrace of Israel – But Risks 1979-Like Blowback

The semi-secret security alliance between Saudi Arabia and Israel may be expanding into the sphere of ideology and street politics, but Riyadh may be at risk of tripping a conservative Islamist backlash. The existence of some form of security and intelligence cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel is hardly news for Middle East observers. United…

Hadi’s Fall = Rise of South Yemen = End of the War?

Hadi’s Fall = Rise of South Yemen = End of the War?

Separatists just liberated South Yemen. Clashes broke out in the country’s interim capital of Aden, which was also the seat of government for the formerly independent country of South Yemen, over the weekend after President Hadi banned the “Southern Transitional Council” (STC) and its supporters from protesting him. The STC had given the Yemeni leader…