Crown Prince Mohammed’s vow to moderate Saudi Islam: Easier said than done
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s recent disavowal of the kingdom’s founding religious ideology had a master’s voice quality to it. His words could...
Activists and Gulf crisis turn Qatar into potential model of social change
Potential Qatari moves to become the first Gulf state to effectively abolish the region’s onerous kafala or labour sponsorship system, denounced as a form...
Gulf crisis broadens definitions of food security
Food security has taken on a new dimension almost five months into the Gulf crisis that pits a UAE-Saudi alliance against Qatar and for...
Kurdish battle positions Kurds as US ally against Iran
There may be a silver but risky lining for Kurdish nationalists in their devastating loss of Kirkuk and other cities on the periphery of...
Countering supremacy: Johor Sultan battles Muslim equivalent of Islamophobia
Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, the sovereign of the Malaysian state of Johor, does not mince his words. His repeated verbal assaults on Sunni Muslim...
Soccer success has a price: Pressure builds to lift Egypt’s stadium ban
With Egypt qualifying for World Cup finals for the first time in 28 years and a crackdown on militant soccer fans that has put...
US-Turkish visa spat: A fight for basic freedoms
Moves by the United States and Turkey that largely ban travel of their nationals between the two countries is about more than two long-standing...
Battling for independence: Small states stake their claim
The Gulf crisis that pits a United Arab Emirates-Saudi-led alliance against Qatar has emerged about more than a regional spat. It is part of...
Playing with Fire: Israel and its problematic friends solidify ties
Remarks at United Hebrew Congregation, Singapore, 3 October 2017 There are no nice guys in the Middle East, a region that is in the...
Women’s driving: Saudi ultra-conservatives lick their wounds
Saudi Arabia’s lifting of a ban on women’s driving raises a host of questions that transcend the issue of women’s rights and go to...