When the Cat’s Away: China Brokers Deal Between Iran and Saudi Arabia
The China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia has shuffled the deck in the Middle East, cutting the US out of the pot.
Tagged: middle east
President Trump Touts Israel-Bahrain Agreement
While it is good news, the latest peace deal in the Middle East is very much in the category of “to be determined.”
The Inexplicable Origins of World War III
Fears about World War III, when they are not jokes, mostly revolve around an outdated view of how wars begin in the modern world.
U.S. Airstrike Kills Qasem Suleimani, Others
This killing of Suleimani has the potential to be a very big moment in 40+ years of American-Iranian tensions
In Shift, U.S. Says Israeli Settlements in West Bank Do Not Violate International Law
“The Trump administration declared on Monday that the United States does not consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank a violation of international law, reversing four decades of American policy”
Freedom of Movement
It seems like Europe may be vacillating on its apparent commitment to freedom of movement.
On Syria, the War on Terror, and the Loss of Souls
As war with Syria approaches, no one cares. This, argues Tod Kelly, is the ultimate cost of the War on Terror.
Syria Musings Pt 2: Turkey — The Forgotten Ally
So President Obama made a big announcement today. I think it’s a very positive development. It’s also not what I’m going to be talking about in pt 2 of my musings. Instead I’d like...
Driving Blind: The Road to “Intervention”
While the President and his administration prime the American public for war with Syria, a look at some of the day’s most prevalent writing on the topic demonstrates just how little anyone knows about what might happen after the country does so.
Waiting for Halabja
~by Creon Critic What exactly is the delay in formulating a comprehensive strategy to transition the Assad regime out of power in Syria? However reluctant President Obama is to get further involved in another...
Friedman Redivivius
The old (and good) Tom Friedman was on display in yesterday’s op-ed. The guy who knows and can communicate The Middle East. Key quote:
Peace in the Middle East
Well, not exactly, but if you want to set down that cynicism for a moment, this could be the beginning of something perhaps sort of resembling a peace…
Failed Binary Middle East Lenses: Lebanon and Iranian Elections Edition
I realize this is the editorial page of the neocon Washington Post, but I find this kind of commentary on the recent elections in Lebanon and the upcoming ones in Iran far too common....
One way forward for the West Bank
by max socol In the bowels of ED Kain’s most recent Israel prophecy, there’s a (pleasantly civil) debate swirling around the security implications of a West Bank withdrawal. As I mentioned there, it reminded...
Israel, Alone
There is something remarkable and frightening about the fact that Avigdor Lieberman’s Party, Yisrael Beiteinu, came in third in Israel’s recent parliamentary elections, gaining 15 seats in the Knesset, only 13 fewer than Tipi...
the democracy fallacy
Here’s a line of reasoning I simply can’t follow: The Islamic world is nothing like the Western world. We have few, if any, of the same values and virtually no historical commonality save our...
The Ottoman Counterfactual
I offer up this alternate history for consideration: What if the Ottoman Empire had not fallen, or crumbled rather, in the wake of World War I? What if, on the other hand, the Turkish...
