Behind the bitter political warfare in Washington and the endless media flogging of hysterical claims of Russian interference in the election with the supposed collusion of Donald Trump, very real wars in the Middle East are threatening to coalesce into a regional and even global conflagration with ominous implications for the peoples of not only…
China’s cardinal foreign policy imperative is to refrain from interfering abroad while advancing the proverbial good relations with key political actors – even when they may be at each other’s throats. Still, it’s nothing but gut-wrenching for Beijing to watch the current, unpredictable, Saudi-Qatari standoff. There’s no endgame in sight, as plausible scenarios include even…
In a climate of outright confrontation, even the Gulf monarchies have been overtaken by a series of unprecedented events. The differences between Qatar on one side, and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on the other, have escalated into a full-blown diplomatic crisis with outcomes difficult to foresee. Officially, everything started with statements made by Qatari…
In less than one week, what began as a simple disagreement in politics turned into a siege that could easily develop into a war. On June 5th of last week, Saudi Arabia and four of its regional allies decided to sever diplomatic, economic, and transportation ties with Qatar and its ruler Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al…
The Russian International Affairs Council, a powerful Moscow-based think tank, estimates that there are four scenarios for resolving the ongoing diplomatic conflict between Qatar and other Arab and Muslim states. Written by renowned Middle East observer Vitaly Naumkin, the report outlines what Russia and its regional allies should be prepared for. Last week, Saudi Arabia,…
This could be the beginning of a new alignment that will elevate the Russian position in the region while diminishing the influence of the United States. The new and seemingly prolonged row between Saudi Arabia and Qatar is having some curious and almost shocking knock-on effects. The most interesting is that Syrian media has been…
