Old alliances and partnerships in the Middle East are put to the test, while new ones are revealing. Qatar has just rejected a list of 13 conditions set by Saudi Arabia and its allies, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain for lifting sanctions. The four countries want Qatar to reduce its ties with Iran and close a Turkish…
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ultimatum to Qatar threatens a wider regional war pitting key allies of the US against each other. In July 1914 warmongers in the Habsburg government sent an insanely worded ultimatum to Serbia. Emperor Franz Josef I – 84 and in poor health – did nothing to restrain them, whilst they…
Legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh is challenging the Trump administration’s version of events surrounding the April 4 “chemical weapons attack” on the northern Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun – though Hersh had to find a publisher in Germany to get his information out. In the Sunday edition of Die Welt, Hersh reports that his national…
Even before Benjamin Netanyahu locked him in a warm embrace, Jared Kushner began his effort to broker peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians by making it clear that he completely accepts Israel’s vision of itself as an innocent victim. That’s because Kushner started his 15-hour trip to the Middle East on Wednesday by mourning with…
Are iPads, smartphones and Xboxes a form of digital drug? Recent brain imaging research is showing that they affect the brain’s frontal cortex exactly like cocaine. The frontal cortex controls executive functioning, including impulse control. Technology is so hyper-arousing that it raises dopamine levels — the feel-good neurotransmitter most involved in the addiction dynamic —…
Just when geopolitical practitioners were betting on regime change in Qatar – orchestrated by a desperate House of Saud – regime change ended up happening in Riyadh, orchestrated by Warrior Prince, Destroyer of Yemen and Blockader of Qatar, Mohammad bin Salman (MBS). Considering the impenetrability of that desert petrodollar family oligarchy impersonating a nation it’s up to…
