Posted on February 25, 2018. Tags: House of Saud, Iran, MBS, Middle East, Mohammed bin Salman, Oil, oil and, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, yemen civil war
A new country is gradually emerging from the desert terrain of Saudi Arabia. Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS as the Crown Prince is commonly known, is at the helm. At 32 years of age, Mohammed bin Salman is the youngest minister of defence in the world, and is offering an ambitious programme of economic, religious, […]
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Posted in corruption, Economic Security, Global Economy, Saudi Arabia, World
Posted on July 5, 2017. Tags: Al Jazeera, Bahrain, Doha, GCC, Iran, Middle East, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Grievances between Qatar and much of the rest of Middle East go back decades and help explain the schism that burst into the open recently and led to the widespread boycott of Qatar. Take the case of bad blood between Bahrain and Qatar. Bahrain is still angered over Qatar’s attempts to use its vast funds […]
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Posted in Conflict, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, World
Posted on May 7, 2016. Tags: Barack Obama, Civil Society, Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, Gulf, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, London, Middle East, Nuclear Weapons, Obama, Oil, Palestinian Israeli Conflict, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, U.S. Foreign Policy
I sat down with the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission for the U.K., Minister Elizabeth Dibble, to discuss the Obama visit, the Middle East and the complex Iran-Saudi relationship. The Obama Visit to the U.K. D.M.: You touched on President Obama’s visit in your talk and what he said about the EU referendum. What for […]
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Posted in Conflict, Interviews, Iran, Israel, Israeli Palestinian Conflict, Middle East, Political Security, Saudi Arabia, Security Issues, Syria, US, World, Yemen
Posted on January 14, 2015. Tags: Bill Maher, Charlie Hebdo, CNN, Islam, Islamic State, Saudi Arabia
This isn’t a new video but in the aftermath of Charlie Hebdo and the standard rush to judgement on the nature of Islam, Reza Aslan is worth listening to.
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Posted in Culture, Global Politics Videos, Islam, Middle East, Security Issues, Terrorism, World
Posted on March 28, 2015. Tags: Business, Economics, Iran, Khamanei, Oil, Rouhani, Saudi Arabia, World
Garnering over 50 percent of the vote, Hassan Rouhani assumed a decisive victory on June 2013 and became Iran’s new president after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s eight year long reign. Vowing to pull the country out of its sanction filled, depressed economy, he won the elections by a landslide. Less than three months ago, during a December […]
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Posted in Economic Security, Economics, Global Economy, Iran, Middle East, Security Issues, World
Posted on February 20, 2015. Tags: Baltic States, China, Cold War, Crimea, Cuba, Cuban Missile Crisis, Europe, European Union, France, Human Rights, International Security, NATO, Poland, Putin, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UK, Ukraine, United Kingdom
Last year I criticized some of the hawk-like voices, including that of David Brooks of the NYT, which were calling for Barack Obama to increase the fear factor in dealing with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine. I should point out that I am decidedly not a fan of Putin, whose actions in Crimea and Ukraine have been reprehensible. However, we need […]
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Posted in Conflict, Europe, Russia, Security Issues, Ukraine Conflict, Uncategorized, US, World