The American Embassy in Oman announced that the US clinched a deal to use the Mideast country’s air and naval facilities in the strategic ports of Duqm and Salalah, which the Mainstream and Alternative Medias portrayed as being connected to “containing” Iran when it actually has much more to do with “containing” Pakistan and China….
The UK plans to open up its second Mideast base in Oman. The British Defense Secretary announced these plans earlier this week during a visit to the Arab monarchy to observe the ongoing war games that his military was participating in with their hosts. Upon its completion next year, this will be the UK’s second…
The reported torture, murder, and dismemberment of Washington-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate-general in Istanbul reminded the world that an intense power play is now taking place within the monarchies of the Arabian Peninsula and between them. In November 2017, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) ordered the arrest and detention…
The New Silk Roads, formerly One Belt One Road, then Belt and Road Initiative, were launched almost five years ago by President Xi Jinping, first in Astana (the Silk Road Economic Belt) and then in Jakarta (the Maritime Silk Road). Way beyond the acronym purgatory – and the “lost in translation” factor that neither name…
Saudi conduct of its ill-fated war in Yemen coupled with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s alignment with the Trump administration and Israel, and his often coercive approach to diplomatic relations, has opened the door to challenges of the kingdom’s moral leadership of the Sunni Muslim world, a legitimizing pillar of the ruling Al Saud family’s…
The United States is reportedly floating plans for a new security alliance with six Gulf Arab states, alongside Jordan and Egypt, to counter Iran’s growing presence in the region. Provisionally named the Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA), some have dubbed it an “Arab NATO” of Sunni Muslim allies. “MESA will serve as a bulwark against…
