Saudi gas ambitions likely to have geopolitical impact
A Saudi push to become a major natural gas player is as much about
diversifying the kingdom’s domestic consumption and export mix as it is...
Arab power struggles: “The King is dead, long live the King”
Political transition in the Middle East and North Africa operates so far
on the principle of ‘The King is dead, long live the King.’
Libya’s battle...
Sudan puts Saudi-UAE religious and cheque book diplomacy to the test
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates’ chequebook
diplomacy driven-soft power strategy is being put to the test in Sudan where a
stand-off between protesters and...
Violence complicates Pakistan PM’s tightrope walk as he visits Iran and China
Two attacks in as many weeks in Pakistan’s troubled province of Balochistan
shatter hopes that the country has gained the upper hand in efforts to...
War in Libya: A rare instance of US-Russian cooperation
There is little that Russia and the United States
agree on these days. Renegade Libyan Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar may
be a rare exception.
As Mr....
Battling for the Future: Arab Protests 2.0
Momentous developments across Arab North and East Africa suggest the
long-drawn-out process of political transition in the region as well as the
greater Middle East is...
Economic reform in the Gulf: Who benefits, really?
For Gulf leaders, long-overdue economic reforms were never going to be
easy.
Leaders like the crown princes of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates, Mohammed bin...
Eurasia’s Great Game and the Future of the China-Russia Alliance
Addressing last year’s Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, then US defense
secretary Jim Mattis dismissed fears first voiced in 1997 by Zbigniew
Brzezinski, one of America’s greatest...
Illiberals and autocrats unite to craft a new world media order
Underlying global efforts
to counter fake news, psychological warfare and malicious manipulation of
public opinion is a far more fundamental battle: the global campaign by
civilisationalists, autocrats,...
Ratcheting up tension: US designation of Revolutionary Guards risks escalation
The stakes in the Middle East couldn’t be higher.
Suspicion that the United States’ intent is to change
the regime in Tehran rather than its officially...