The US’ Mideast Missile Pullout Isn’t That Big of a Deal

The US’ Mideast Missile Pullout Isn’t That Big of a Deal

Observers shouldn’t read too deeply into the US withdrawing some anti-air missile systems from the Mideast because it’s motivated entirely by economic factors and has nothing to do with standing down in the face of Iran or Russia. The Wall Street Journal revealed that the US is pulling four Patriot anti-air missile systems from Bahrain,…

The Battle for Idlib: A Potential Catch-22 for China

The Battle for Idlib: A Potential Catch-22 for China

An impending Russian-backed Syrian assault on Idlib, the war-wracked country’s last rebel stronghold, risks putting Uyghurs in the spotlight at a time that the Muslim world has remained silent amid mounting media and academic attention on China’s crackdown on the ethnic Turkic group in its strategic north-western province of Xinjiang. Spotlighting Uyghur activism in Turkey…

Lebanon’s Precarious Neutrality

Lebanon’s Precarious Neutrality

Facing possible invasion from both Britain and Germany in 1940 and determined to remain neutral, the Irish government in Dublin asked one of its senior ministers to draft a memorandum on how to stay out of the Second World War. “Neutrality is a form of limited warfare,” was his eloquent but bleak response. The Lebanese would agree. For seven years, they have…

Reviving the Concept of an ‘Arab NATO’: Washington Convenes a Gulf Arab States Summit

Reviving the Concept of an ‘Arab NATO’: Washington Convenes a Gulf Arab States Summit

According to Defense News, the US administration is pushing ahead with plans for a new security alliance, tentatively dubbed the “Middle East Strategic Alliance,” or MESA, which is to include Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain. An official announcement is expected to come during the Oct. 12-13 US-Gulf…