The “dueling ports” of Gwadar and Chabahar in Pakistani and Iranian Balochistan have come to symbolize the Great Power competition between China and India, respectively, but there are actually two more pairs of ports in the Bay of Bengal which are paid comparatively less attention to by most observers despite their high-level collective importance in …
Continue reading Gwadar and Chabahar Aren’t China and India’s Only “Dueling Ports”
With the recent advances made by the Syrian Arab Army together with the Russian Air Forces in Syria against ISIS, coupled with the continuous pushing back of the same group in Iraq by the Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs), the end of the upstart caliphate pretending to the title of ‘Islamic State’ is very close at …
Continue reading Iranian Foreign Policy in Iraq Following Defeat of ISIS
Regimes that crave U.S. support in their regional rivalries are apt to strike two different postures that may seem contradictory but really aren’t. They publicly play up the supposed threatening nature and incorrigibility of the rival, to keep Americans thinking that the United States should take sides against the rival. But they also realize that …
Continue reading Detente in the Persian Gulf is in Everyone’s Interests
America has demonstrated under its weak Presidency that N. Korea with the backing of China is a stronger nation. Trump and Kim Jong-Un had a few nasty barking sessions and that is about it. N. Korea’s nuclear program is defensive only and doubtlessly the US will now not venture into China or Asia’s backyard. The …
Far from being a good will gesture, Saudi intents to drive a wedge between Iraq's Shi'a dominated government and the Islamic Republic. Saudi Arabia has extraordinarily asked Iraq to mediate in the prolonged schism between Saudi Arabia and Iran. According to Iraq’s Interior Minister Qassim Araji, “Mohammed bin Salman (the Saudi crown prince) officially demanded me …
Continue reading Saudi Arabia Begs Iraq to Mediate in Dispute with Iran
Last month, President Trump made a joint appearance at the White House with a visiting head of government, during which Trump spoke of the visitor’s country being “on the front lines in the fight against” an organization that is part of that same country’s governing coalition. The visitor was Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and the …
American foreign policy has now entered its Vaudeville stage. The latest far out act being convincing the dumbest Americans that North Korea is a threat to the US at all. President Donald Trump’s madman assertions and swagger recently are made even more horrific by mainstream media’s apparent shift into his corner. By the time you’re …
Continue reading Trump, DEFCON 1, Wile E. Coyote and Run for the Fallout Shelter
This month sees some significant anniversaries in the struggle against old-style colonialism. The trouble is that colonialism didn’t go away after countries in the developing world formally achieved their independence from Europe’s ‘Great Powers.' It was replaced by a new form which proved to be more destructive and immeasurably more dishonest than what went before. …
Continue reading The Empire Strikes Back: With Destructive and Dishonest Neocolonialism
Saudi Arabia threateningly accused Qatar of “declaring war” on the Kingdom for supposedly calling for the Holy Mosques in Mecca and Medina to be placed under international control. Qatar denies that it ever issued such a statement, but that didn’t prevent the Saudis from reacting in a very harsh way by framing the idea as …
