Now that a little over a week has passed since the much awaited Putin-Trump summit in Helsinki took place, I have had the time to read many of the reactions and comments it generated. I am coming to the paradoxical conclusion that this summit was both a non-event and a truly historical watershed moment. Let’s…
A spike in oil prices as a result of a temporary halt in shipments through the strategic Bab el Mandeb strait may be short-lived, but the impact on Yemen’s three-year-old forgotten war is likely to put the devastating conflict on the front burner. The halt following a Saudi assertion that Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen…
Fighting in northern Afghanistan between the Taliban and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Daesh has greatly escalated recently. ISIS militants have spread their activities beyond their original base in the eastern province of Nangarhar in an attempt to expand their foothold in the country, as the Taliban seek to stop them. This was…
Mahdi al-Mashat, President of the Houthi Supreme Political Council (the political wing of the Ansar Allah movement) has requested Russia for help in resolving the military conflict in Yemen. In a letter sent to President Vladimir Putin, Mahdi al-Mashat emphasised the “aggression against Yemen” and “the military escalation perpetrated by the Saudi-led coalition of Arabian…
As South African President Cyril Ramaphosa concluded visits this month to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, securing $10bn worth of investment from each country, questions arise as to what price tag is attached to these investments. South Africa’s arms exports to both Gulf countries have grown since the begining of the…
A typical Israeli propaganda scheme is to falsely claim that an agreement with some entity has been made and to then push that entity to stick to a “deal” it never agreed to. Israel dislikes any ‘Iranian presence’ in Syria. It tries to press on Russia to push Iran out of Syria by claiming that…
