The United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan has dented the credibility of the trans-Atlantic relationship and dealt a body blow to the NATO. These developments add to the already existing frustration in Washington that the European allies disfavour its confrontational Indo-Pacific Strategy. Europe regards China as an economic competitor and ‘systemic rival’, but prefers the…
A year of diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel has proven to be mutually beneficial. The question is whether the assumptions underlying the UAE’s initiative that led three other Arab countries to also formalise their relations with the Jewish state will prove to be correct in the medium and long term. UAE…
The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban has triggered an earthquake that has travelled across the Gulf. The tectonic plates that defined who did what to whom in the region are shifting. Alliances that only a year ago seemed to be set in concrete are cracking. The vacuum created by the US withdrawal from Afghanistan has…
An Ankara-initiated phone call on August 31 between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Crown Prince of Abu Dabi Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan drew the attention of the broad political establishment and raised questions about its possible implications for many countries in the Arab-Muslim world. First of all, does it signal an…
The reconciliation train between the UAE and Qatar has been rapidly gathering speed. On Thursday, Emirati national security advisor and strongman Sheikh Tahnoun bin-Zayed paid a surprise visit to Doha. On Saturday, the ruler of Dubai and UAE vice-president Sheikh Mohammad bin-Rashed made a point of meeting the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin-Hamad, on…
A recent analysis of Middle Eastern states’ interventionist policies suggests that misguided big power approaches have fueled a vicious cycle of interference and instability over the last decade. Those approaches are abetted, if not encouraged by US and Chinese strategies that are similar, if not essentially the same, just labelled differently. The United States has…
