"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*
Middle East Conflicts
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*
Stopping The Palestinians’ Simmering Terrorism*
Left: Arabic Caption: “We’ve come to slaughter you.” Published after the massacre of four rabbis and a Druze policeman in Jerusalem in November 2014. The Palestinian terror wave is not letting up, and fighting it more effectively requires a … [Read more...] about Stopping The Palestinians’ Simmering Terrorism*
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
Characteristics of Palestinian “Popular Activists” Confronting the IDF (Oct 3 – Nov 22, 2015)
Left: Cartoon from the website of Fatah's information unit accusing Israel and the United States of executing Palestinian children (website of Fatah's information department, December 12, 2015). The latest ongoing Palestinian terrorist attacks … [Read more...] about Characteristics of Palestinian “Popular Activists” Confronting the IDF (Oct 3 – Nov 22, 2015)
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*
From the Head, But From the Heart?*
Credit: White House Pool / Reuters What was most striking about the President’s speech from the Oval Office – only his third in seven years – was that it “read” but did not “speak”. For despite his fame as an orator, the talk somehow lacked the … [Read more...] about From the Head, But From the Heart?*
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