Rival Great Powers Iran and Saudi Arabia are both experiencing different degrees of pushback from certain “deep state” factions in their permanent military, intelligence, and diplomatic bureaucracies, with this dynamic being responsible for several of the latest breaking news developments in the region. Four breaking news developments almost simultaneously emerged from the Persian Gulf region …
Continue reading Iran and Saudi Arabia’s “Deep State” Factions Are Striking Back
The apparent delay in the sale of Saudi Arabia's mammoth-sized oil firm Aramco is a symptom of dysfunctional government, analysts say. It is just one example of bizarreness emanating from the kingdom, which says it wants to unhook its economy from oil dependence. Earlier this month, a slew of conflicting reports broke claiming that the …
Continue reading The Uncertainty Around Aramco Deal Is a Sign of Saudi Dysfunction
The bubble is bursting. One by one, Mohammed bin Salman's grand designs are disappearing in the desert, and with them the ambitious claims he made to reform decades of corruption, diversify an oil dependent economy and emerge as Donald Trump's man in the Middle East. Strip away the words and the hype, and you are …
Continue reading A Losing Gambler: The Raw Truth About Mohammed bin Salman
A Saudi Arabian youth organization posted an image in its Twitter feed depicting a plane approaching the CN Tower (the tallest building in the world erected in Toronto, and the city’s symbol, whose height is 553.33 meters), which is reminiscent of the 9/11 terror attacks on New York. The Canadian website CBC, which reported on …
Continue reading Saudi Arabia: Wherever One Looks, Failure Abounds
The expulsion of the Canadian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, along with the freezing of trade relations between the two nations, is a dramatic development in the normally sleepy month of August. The Saudis were angered by perceived interference in their sovereignty, after Canada’s foreign ministry on Friday tweeted: “Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests …
Continue reading There Is No Winner in the Saudi-Canada Spat
A year after King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud made his son Mohammed bin Salman crown prince, the 32-year-old remains dependent on his father’s legitimacy and credentials to be the heir apparent. Prince Mohammed has polarized the House of Saud more than any figure in more than half a century. Last summer, the king removed …
Continue reading Why Saudi Arabia’s Powerful Crown Prince Still Needs His Father
On June 30, United States President Donald Trump persuaded the King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud to maximize oil production in order to reduce the cost of fuel on the market. This decision will make the Saudis violate OPEC+ agreements reached at the end of June in Vienna. At the recent meeting …
Oil realities in 2018 Donald Trump has Tweeted about a phone call to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman where the elderly monarch is said to have agreed to increase the production of oil to 2 million barrels per day so as to lower fuel prices in the United States, the world’s second largest energy consumer. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1013023608040513537 …
Continue reading The New Russia-Saudi Partnership Has Riyadh’s US Ally Over a Barrel
As TV channel Al Arabiya has reported, Jordan withdrew its ambassador Abdullah Suleyman Abu Rumman from Iran. Amman presented a very interesting interpretation to justify its actions. This decision was adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom in relation Tehran’s policy of interference into affairs of the countries of the Middle East. It …
Continue reading Middle East and Sad Prospects of its Development
