March 2003 and March 2011 have a great deal in common, but that is not where the story begins, Steven Sahiounie writes. The 20th anniversary of the U.S. attack on Iraq for regime change coincides with the 12th anniversary of the U.S. attack on Syria for regime change. March 2003 and March 2011 have a…
West Asia’s geopolitical trends are moving along a trajectory that’s aligned with Russia’s grand strategic vision for International Relations. Russian diplomacy would achieve yet another victory in the event that Saudi Arabia and Syria restore relations sometime after Ramadan like Reuters reported on Thursday that they just agreed to do. That outcome would revive the…
China’s mediation to normalise Saudi-Iranian diplomatic ties has been widely welcomed internationally, especially in the West Asian region. A clutch of unhappy states that do not want to see China stealing a march on any front, even if it advances the cause of world peace, mutely watched. The US led this pack of dead souls….
Bibi is by nature cautious – even timid. His radical ministers, however, are not, Alastair Crooke writes. Michael Omer-Man writes: Almost exactly 10 years ago, a young star rising in the Likud party, spoke to an audience committed to the outright annexation of the occupied Palestinian territories, laying out his blueprint. A year later, this…
It was a momentous event, the importance of which is not perceived outside the Middle East: Saudi Arabia and Iran reconciled… in China. Three signatures at the bottom of a document reshuffle all the cards in this region. Since the 19th century, the Arab world was first dominated by the United Kingdom and France on…
According to a joint statement issued following talks in Beijing, Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies. It also confirmed the two parties’ agreement to mutual sovereignty and non-interference in each other’s affairs. According to the statement, the two countries agreed to reopen their embassies within two months, while the…
