A stalemate in efforts to determine what happened to Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is threatening to escalate into a crisis that could usher in a new era in relations between the United States and some of its closest Arab allies as well as in the region’s energy politics. In response to US President Donald J. …
Continue reading MbS: Riding Roughshod or Playing a Risky Game of Bluff Poker?
The moment long feared is fast approaching in Gaza, according to a new report by the World Bank. After a decade-long Israeli blockade and a series of large-scale military assaults, the economy of the tiny coastal enclave is in “freefall”. At a meeting of international donors in New York on Thursday, coinciding with the annual …
Continue reading As Gaza’s Economy Collapses, So Does Any Hope of Peace
The companies leading the development of Israel's offshore gas reserves have announced a deal that lifts one of the last major obstacles holding up the exportation of Israeli natural gas to Egypt. Noble Energy and its Israeli partner Delek, along with Egyptian East Gas Company, bought a 39 percent stake in East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), the …
Continue reading Pipeline Purchase Paves Way for Israeli Gas Exports to Egypt
The rising African Great Power of Ethiopia might prospectively export electricity to Saudi Arabia upon the completion of its Grand Renaissance Dam and thus become the next de-facto member of the GCC+. “Friendly Competition” The Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Agency’s (GCCIA) Ahmed Ali Al-Ebrahim told Climate News that the regional integration organization will undertake a …
Continue reading Ethiopia Might Power Saudi Arabia and Become the Next Member of the GCC+
A Financial Action Task Force (FATF) report criticizing Saudi Arabia’s anti-money laundering and terrorism finance measures puts the kingdom on the spot 17 years after the 9/11 attacks and casts a shadow over its diplomatic and economic boycott of Qatar on the grounds that the Gulf state supports militants. In a nod to the kingdom, …
Continue reading Global Watchdog Takes Saudi Arabia to Task for Lax Anti-Terrorism Finance Measures
“Just because you are paranoid does not mean they aren’t after you.” Fifty seven years after Joseph Heller wrote his anti-war classic Catch 22, this could be the motto of the man who runs Egypt. Paranoia has become more than a state of mind for the officer who once cringed before his superiors and who …
America’s Establishment – the military-industrial complex During his final address as President of the United States of America, General Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of the development of a military-industrial complex in the following way: “This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence …
Continue reading Imran Khan Has Successfully Exposed Liberalism as Pakistan’s Greatest Enemy
A possible ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, is proving to be much more than an effort to end escalating violence that threatens to spark yet another Middle Eastern war. United Arab Emirates-backed Egyptian and United Nations efforts to mediate an agreement, with the two countries’ nemesis, Qatar, …
Continue reading Regional Players Manoeuvre to Reengineer the Israeli Palestinian Landscape
The Ethiopian premier can’t win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for technical reasons, but he nevertheless deserves global recognition for his peacemaking successes. The Nobel Committee will award its eponymous Peace Prize on 5 October, and while Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy certainly deserves this more than anyone else, it’s impossible for him to receive it …
Continue reading He Can’t Win It for Technical Reasons, But PM Abiy Deserves the Nobel Peace Prize
