Escaping a bear hug: Kazakhstan seeks closer ties to US and Europe
Eight years ago, Kazakh shrugged off Russian President Vladimir Putin's remarks suggesting he could pull a Ukraine on Kazakhstan. They did so again in...
Defense reform may be the key to US-Saudi relations
Saudi Arabia’s little touted effort to overhaul its defense and national security architecture may be the United States’ best bet to rebuild relations with...
The privatization of Haifa Port: India 1 China 0
I2-U2, the Indo-West Asian quad, has boasted its first success with the acquisition by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani of Haifa Port.
The acquisition was announced...
A double-edged sword: Mr. Biden’s pilgrimage to Jeddah
US President Joe Biden’s controversial pilgrimage to Jeddah is part of a broader and more complex geopolitical puzzle with multiple Gulf and Red Sea...
Double standards haunt US and Europe in dealings with Turkey and the Middle East
US and European acquiescence in Turkey's long-standing refusal to honour Kurdish ethnic, cultural, and political rights came home to roost when Turkey initially objected...
Biden goes to Riyadh: Realism may not need to trump principle
At the core of a US policy debate over the merits of President Joe Biden's pilgrimage, this week to the Middle East lies the...
Munich Olympics give way to Soccer v. Jihad
In many ways, the Black September attack on the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972 discloses little about the evolution of the targeting of...
Qatar World Cup offers lessons for human rights struggles
It’s a good time, almost 12 years after the world soccer body, FIFA, awarded Qatar the 2022 World Cup hosting rights and five months...
Saudi religious soft power diplomacy eyes Washington and Jerusalem first and foremost
Geopolitics is written all over Saudi religious soft power efforts. Nowhere more so than when it comes to Israel and Jews because of the...
The World Cup and beyond: Thinking strategically about LGBT rights
When Egyptian football legend Mohammed Aboutreika came out swinging against homosexuality in late 2021, he touched a raw nerve across the Muslim world.
The tit-for-tat...