Donald Trump announced on 6 December that the United States was recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Most notable about his speech was not what he said, or how he said it, but the presence and demeanor of vice-president Mike Pence. Though an element almost entirely missing from the reams of analysis following Trump’s statement, Pence’s…
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have followed the United States in funding a five-nation armed force designed to stop the march of Islamist extremists in Africa. But why is the Sahel, a semi-arid region just south of the Sahara Desert, causing alarm? Saudi Arabia pledged US$100 million December 13 towards a special anti-terror force…
On Monday, US National Security Advisor HR McMaster added to tensions in the Middle East when he condemned Turkey and Qatar as prime sponsors of extremist Islamist ideology. He tore into the Turkish leadership, saying the country’s growing problems with the West are largely due to the rise of the Justice and Development Party in…
After the recent decision of Donald Trump to move the US embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, thus formally recognizing it as the capital of Israel, many expected a stormy reaction of the Arab and the Islamic world. However, nothing special happened. One can positively state the Arabs did not go beyond the ‘verbal rhetoric’, which…
On Aug. 9, 1974, Richard Nixon bowed to the inevitability of impeachment and conviction by a Democratic Senate and resigned. The prospect of such an end for Donald Trump has this city drooling. Yet, comparing Russiagate and Watergate, history is not likely to repeat itself. First, the underlying crime in Watergate, a break-in to wiretap…
Mainstream media in 2013: “Conspiracy Theorists!” Mainstream media in 2017: “ISIS Got a Powerful Missile the CIA Bought!” Years late to the party, mainstream media outlets like USA Today, Reuters, and Buzzfeed are just out with “breaking” and “exclusive” stories detailing how a vast arsenal of weapons sent to Syria by the CIA in cooperation with…
