It is tempting, and not entirely inaccurate, to dismiss the escalating crisis between Qatar and a number of its neighbors as a petulant princely playground spat. Extending this tempting logic, one could conclude that decisive victory by each of the protagonists would be the optimal outcome. Yet the dispute also reflects deeper dynamics in Arab…
America has demonstrated under its weak Presidency that N. Korea with the backing of China is a stronger nation. Trump and Kim Jong-Un had a few nasty barking sessions and that is about it. N. Korea’s nuclear program is defensive only and doubtlessly the US will now not venture into China or Asia’s backyard. The…
Mohammed bin Salman, the heir to the Saudi throne, confessed to two former US officials he “wants out” of the brutal two-year war he started in Yemen, and added that he was “okay” with Washington engaging with his arch-foe Iran, according to leaked emails obtained by Middle East Eye. The 31-year-old revealed his intentions to…
In nearly every case of a forcible, West-led, regime change in the Middle East or Ukraine, the process began with low level public protests against a real or imagined abuse of power by security forces. Morocco’s current situation appears to follow the same scenario. The killing of Mouhcine Fikri, a fisherman who was crushed by…
The feud between the Saudi-led block and Qatar escalated over the weekend, with Doha protesting to the UN over restrictions on its citizens flying to Mecca, and Riyadh threatening “war” over what it considers calls to “internationalize the holy sites” in Mecca and Medina. Following a meeting Sunday of the so-called Anti-Terror Quartet (ATQ) of…
Barack Obama began his administration with the idea that the US would ‘pivot’ the epicentre of its hegemonic power to Asia. Forgetting the fact that the word ‘pivot’ is in this context, borrowed from the imperialist geo-political writings of Halford MacKinder, the plan which was arrogant in the first place, failed spectacularly by the end of…
