"The decision makers of the Saudi government should not have any doubt that this blood will trouble them. It will haunt them."- Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - The eastern province, bordering on the Gulf, not only has a concentration of oil, it … [Read more...] about The Petrokingdom In Peril*
Iran
A Century after Sykes-Picot: Strategic and Geopolitical Aspects*
"The instability and the uncertainty that characterize the current state of affairs is best exploited, as mentioned before, by the most prominent enemies from the Radical Islamic camp – both Iran and its surrogates and the Sunni Radicals." The … [Read more...] about A Century after Sykes-Picot: Strategic and Geopolitical Aspects*
Key factor in sharply-improved Putin-Netanyahu strategic ties? The Obama White House
Left: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Sept. 21, 2015 / EPA Israeli-Russian strategic cooperation already good was markedly improving in early October 2015. The primary impediment … [Read more...] about Key factor in sharply-improved Putin-Netanyahu strategic ties? The Obama White House
Sisi and Rouhani on Crisis in Islam
Left: Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi addressing Islamic scholars at al-Azhar university in Cairo, December 22, 2015. Two Muslim Presidents. Two speeches celebrating the anniversary of Prophet Muhammad’s birth. Two very different … [Read more...] about Sisi and Rouhani on Crisis in Islam
Dancing with Tyrants*
Left: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal. The communist leadership of China; President Putin of Russia; Turkey’s Erdogan, King Salman of Saudi Arabia. Should Israel deal with such regimes? They are all wholesale … [Read more...] about Dancing with Tyrants*
Iran to Increase its Involvement in Syria
Growing Iranian involvement in the war in Syria is about to be officially requested by Basher Assad in Tehran later this month. To assure his safe arrival in and departure through Iraqi airspace, his plane will be guarded by "four strategic Russian … [Read more...] about Iran to Increase its Involvement in Syria
The Middle East Poker*
Left:U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and foreign ministers from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Europe in Vienna, November 14, 2015 in a bid to step up diplomatic efforts to end the four-year-old conflict … [Read more...] about The Middle East Poker*
Dangerous Mideast Reality*
The volatility of Middle East events notwithstanding, a new picture is emerging of alliances very different from those preceding the outbreak of the Arab Spring and the now five-year-old Syrian civil war. That new reality is obscured by the Obama … [Read more...] about Dangerous Mideast Reality*
The New Old Sick Man of Europe*
For a century European politics was dogged with “the sick man of Europe”: the collapsing Ottoman Empire and its implications for the major powers. That’s not the case now, of course. Multi-ethnic empires are a thing of the past, their death rattle … [Read more...] about The New Old Sick Man of Europe*
Connecting the Terror in Paris with the Terror against Israel
Left: Kashmiri demonstrators hold up Palestinian flags and a flag of the Islamic State during a 2014 demonstration (AFP) Seemingly, the connection between the Islamic terror against the West and the Palestinian terror against Israel is confined to … [Read more...] about Connecting the Terror in Paris with the Terror against Israel