AIDAN SMITH-FAGAN WRITES — After 20 years of war, the Biden administration finally ended the US presence in Afghanistan. And by the end of this year, the US role in Iraq – the second of the America’s 9/11 wars- will be reduced as well. Last July, President Biden announced that…
Full Article UNITED STATES: AS AMERICA ENDS COMBAT OPERATIONS IN IRAQ, WILL BIDEN MOVE TO A FULL MIDDLE EAST WITHDRAWAL?
AHMAD ALSADHAN WRITES –Kuwait, a small oil producing country situated in the north of the Arabian Gulf, has been heavily impacted economically by the pandemic. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in the worst economic crisis since the 2008 Financial Crisis. While the world almost stopped operating as…
Full Article KUWAIT: FROM SURPLUS TO DEFICIT
FRANCESCO FIMIANI WRITES — Why should Middle East analysts and anyone else interested in the region’s economy and geopolitics be concerned about the tiny nation of Lebanon? Because, in shambles as it is now, it provides yet another theatre for proxy war in the region. The country is facing its…
Full Article LEBANON: WORST ECONOMIC CRISIS OVER A CENTURY AND WHY WE SHOULD CARE
FRANCESCO FIMIANI WRITES — Climate change continues to prove its catastrophic force. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), every year since 2014 has experienced record breaking heat, with 2020 the second hottest year on record and the 44th consecutive year during which global land and ocean temperatures were…
Full Article MIDDLE EAST: CAN THE PLIGHT OF BEDOUINS TURN UP THE HEAT ON CLIMATE CHANGE?
NAWAF ALSABAH WRITES — The new Arab uprisings of 2018-2020 have demonstrated that instability in the Middle East can result from regional states’ domestic turmoil. A case in point: threats posed to the national security of the tiny Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries as a result of these recent Arab Spring…
Full Article The GCC: TINY STATES NEED BIG HELP FENDING OFF BIG ENEMIES
SARA ALTUWAIJRI WRITES – As both an American and Saudi Citizen, I have experienced first-hand how Americans view the outside world. The Western media tends to focus on the negative side when talking about Asia and the Middle East while overlooking positive aspects. For example, there is a common belief that…
Full Article MEDIA: THE WEST VS THE REST
NAWAF Al-SABAH WRITES– Rahaf Al-Qunun captured international attention at the beginning of the year as she sought to escape her allegedly abusive family. Rahaf, who is Arabian, barricaded herself in a Bangkok airport hotel room to prevent Thai authorities from deporting her. She had been detained at the Bangkok airport…
Full Article SAUDI ARABIA: The Unending Labyrinth of Male Guardianship
ABDULMOHSAN ALMUTAIRI WRITES– What do football and a sociopolitical blockade in the Middle East have in common? Many of us would say, “not much.” Tensions between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar were apparent during the 2019 Asia Cup, held between January 5 and February 1, when the UAE…
Full Article QATAR: Asia Cup Reveals Just How Deep the Political Crisis runs in the Gulf
ALEXIS CRUZ WRITES – More than 100 days of diplomatic crisis have taken their toll on Qatar. While fighting has yet to break out, proxy shots have most certainly been fired in the press and on the airwaves between Qatar and the quartet of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab…
Full Article QATAR: BATTLE OF THE PRESSES
ALEXIS CRUZ WRITES – From its creation, Al Jazeera was bound to incite controversy. Though state-funded, it was the first allegedly independent news network in a region tightly regulated by the government. Contentious coverage of neighboring countries brought the network plenty of threats, but none lasted. Still, the threats to…
Full Article QATAR: ISRAEL JOINS THE FIGHT AGAINST AL JAZEERA
ALEXIS CRUZ WRITES – In 1996, Qatar laid the foundation to become a regional power when it created the news network, Al Jazeera. Qatar’s growing influence even granted the Middle Eastern underdog the FIFA 2022 World Cup. Now, the same source that won Qatar’s recognition is threatening Qatar’s diplomatic relationships…
Full Article QATAR: WHAT TO DO WITH AL JAZEERA?
ALEXIS CRUZ WRITES- This year, two pan-Arab television channels were launched with the aspirations of providing an independent media platform. Al-Arab launched in Bahrain on February 1. Its owner, Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal, promised that he could run the channel without any political interference and set up the…
Full Article QATAR: Changing the Channel
TRISTAN WILLENBURG WRITES– Western ideas clash yet again with Middle Eastern realities. Saudi Arabia will no longer issue or renew the visas of Swedish nationals and has withdrawn its ambassador from Stockholm in response to the comments of a senior Swedish official. An arms deal between the two countries has also fallen apart over the…
Full Article SAUDI ARABIA: The Saudis Strike Back
ROBERT DYLAN FIELDS WRITES- Since its partial takeover of Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, better known as ISIS, has committed various acts of barbarism, including a series of live beheadings of international hostages. Most recent were the deaths of two…
Full Article JAPAN: A Call to Arms and a Call to Honor
NICK ARMER WRITES – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced earlier this week that the U.S. strategy to defeat the Islamic State is “working”. It is hard to imagine how funding the organization’s expansion into Iran and Pakistan is helping to achieve national goals. Unfortunately, the American campaign to…
Full Article IRAN and US: Helping or Hurting?
Tom Plate writes in his syndicated column: Since almost no one is coming to the defense of President Barack Obama, whose opinion poll numbers continue to slide, why don’t I give it my best effort? After all, back in 2002, before the actual invasion of Iraq, the then-senator from Illinois…
Full Article IRAQ: Losing When You’re Right