Left: Definition of Middle Eastern countries: Central Intelligence Agency Recent developments in the Middle East show a disturbing trend to add to all the other disturbing trends that have emerged in the region since the "Arab Spring" began in 2011. … [Read more...] about Increasing Militarization of the Middle East *
Saudi Arabia
Feeding Iran’s Terrorist Agenda
Left: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif waving [goodbye] to the Peace Dove. (cartoon by Keyvan Varessi, Iranian daily Iranian daily Ghanoon) - The lifting of the sanctions on Iran is significant not only because … [Read more...] about Feeding Iran’s Terrorist Agenda
Obama’s Millennial Problems
President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union address to Congress, along with calling Ukraine a Russian "client state", which infuriated the Ukrainians, referred to conflicts in the Middle East "...that date back millennia" It's not clear what … [Read more...] about Obama’s Millennial Problems
The Volcano of Islamic Terrorism*
Terrorism has dominated the history of Islam, as demonstrated by the murder of three of the first four caliphs who succeeded the Prophet Muhammad: Umar ibn Abd al-Khattab (644 C.E.), Uthman Ibn Affan (656 C.E.) and Ali ibn Abi Talib (661 C.E.). … [Read more...] about The Volcano of Islamic Terrorism*
The Petrokingdom In Peril*
"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*
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*
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*
The Salafis Daddy Warbucks – Saudi Arabia
The first-ever global meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) network of some 200 jurisdictions over the weekend in Paris, “to discuss actions…to combat the financing of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) …and to combat the … [Read more...] about The Salafis Daddy Warbucks – Saudi Arabia
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*