Putin, clumsily, seeks to exploit mounting Gulf tensions
Vladimir Putin, eager to capitalize on escalating tension in the Gulf,
looks like he needs a marketing and reputation management advisor.
Mr. Putin recognized opportunity when...
Saudi oil attacks put US commitments to the test
Neither Saudi Arabia nor the United States is rushing to retaliate for a
brazen, allegedly Iranian attack that severely damaged two of the kingdom’s key
oil...
Eurasia’s Great Game: India, Japan and Europe play to Putin’s needs
Eurasia’s Great Game is anything but simple and straightforward.
A burgeoning alliance between China and Russia that at least for now is
relegating potential differences between...
A bird’s eye view of Asia: A continental landscape of minorities in peril
Many in Asia look at the Middle East with a mixture of expectation of
stable energy supplies, hope for economic opportunity and concern about a
potential...
Death of female Iranian soccer fan puts FIFA and Asian soccer body in the dock
When Sahar Khodayari this week set herself alight in front of a Tehran
courthouse, she indicted world soccer body FIFA, its Asian regional group, the
Asian...
Playing politics: Trump and Netanyahu risk sparking nuclear arms race
Afghan president Ashraf Ghani may not be the only one to have welcomed US President
Donald J. Trump’s cancellation of peace talks with the Taliban....
Challenging the world order: Erdogan wants right to develop nuclear weapons
Brinkmanship may be his trademark, but Turkish
president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is unlikely to provoke the ire of the
international community by launching a nuclear weapons...
Gulf wealth: All that glitters is not gold
Little suggests that fabulously wealthy Gulf states and their Middle
Eastern and North African beneficiaries have recognized what is perhaps the
most important lesson of this...
Playing Palestinian politics: UAE-backed ex-security chief weighs his options
A controversial former security official and Abu
Dhabi-based political operator, Mohammed Dahlan, has lurked for several years
in the shadows of Palestinian politics. Now, he could...
Protest: The King is dead, long live the king
Protest is back on the front burner.
Protesters occupy streets in cities ranging from Hong Kong and Moscow to
Khartoum and Algiers. They would likely do...