Middle East | Astute News

Is Trump Exiting Afghanistan — to Attack Iran?

November 24, 2020

With the Pentagon's announcement that U.S. forces in Afghanistan will be cut in half — to 2,500 — by inauguration day, after 19 years, it appears the end to America's longest war may be in sight. The …

War à la Mode: Will a Vindictive Trump Start a War With Iran or Will He Bring the Troops Home?

November 23, 2020

Opinion

I have a crazy idea that I can’t get out of my head, that we Americans are heading for something like an Armageddon in the next several months no matter how the currently electoral imbroglio is resolv…

Revolutionary Changes Awaiting the Middle East?

November 20, 2020

Opinion

Although some of Donald Trump’s advisers still believe in his possible victory and support his attempts to fight, their number is gradually decreasing. Trump himself also is gradually realising the fa…

For Trump’s Middle East Allies, Joe Biden Is a New Nightmare

November 19, 2020

Opinion

You can detect the shadow of Donald Trump fading from the Middle East in the nervous twitches of his closest allies. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accelerating settlements before the in…

UAE and Israeli Settlers Find Common Ground in Jerusalem

November 18, 2020

Opinion

Weakened by Joe Biden’s electoral defeat of US President Donald J. Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu risks being caught between a rock and a hard place as Jordan, the Palestine Authorit…

Fisk had Independence of Mind – Which Is Why He Angered Governments

November 17, 2020

Opinion

Robert Fisk and I often used to discuss the merits and demerits of responding in print to personal attacks on us filled with provable falsehoods. The temptation to refute such falsehood is hard to res…

Conflict in Ethiopia Extends the Greater Middle East’s Arc of Crisis

November 9, 2020

Opinion

Ethiopia, an African darling of the international community, is sliding towards civil war as the coronavirus pandemic hardens ethnic fault lines. The consequences of prolonged hostilities could echo a…

Jordan: “Fake Stability” Prelude to “Misery and Mayhem”

November 7, 2020

Opinion

Jordan is one of those countries you seldom hear about, however, it is located in a tough neighbourhood. When you think of the “Middle East”, a familiar set of images in a listener’s head, and most of…