Bahrain

By Mohammed Nuruzzaman | (Informed Comment) | – – The Saudi – Qatar diplomatic rift is intensifying, showing no sign of immediate solution. Since June 5, the day Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt broke off relations with Qatar, both sides have kept hardening their mutually opposed positions. The limited diplomatic initiative the Emir […]

Bahrain

Saudi v. Qatar: Will Turkish intervention cause Escalation?

contributors

By James M. Dorsey | (Inter Press Service) | – – SINGAPORE (IPS) – Turkey’s parliament is this week fast tracking the dispatch of up to 3,000 troops to Qatar, home to the country’s military base in the Middle East. Certain to stiffen Qatar’s resolve to resist Saudi and UAE-led pressure to force it to […]

Bahrain

With Fall of Aleppo, will a Russo-Iranian Middle East challenge Trump?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – On Thursday, the Syrian government announced that the last of those who wanted to be evacuated from the East Aleppo pocket had been bused out, and that the Bashar al-Assad regime had reestablished complete control over the entire city of Aleppo. Bashar al-Assad in his remarks […]

Bahrain

After Vienna, Arabs, Israel seek massive conventional Arms Deals: US ready to Sell

contributors

By Thalif Deen | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – The nuclear agreement concluded last week between Iran and six big powers, the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, is threatening to trigger a new Middle East military build-up – not with nuclear weapons but with conventional arms, including fighter planes, combat helicopters, […]

Bahrain

Why the Arab Gulf Oil Monarchies should Welcome Iran Deal

contributors

By Miriam R Lowi | (Via al-Araby al-Jadeed ) | – – Gulf states, long-time rivals of Tehran, should seize the opportunities for regional peace and security offered by the historic deal, writes Miriam Lowi. In recent months, a lot has been said about the promises and perils of negotiating with Iran, making compromises and […]

Bahrain

Iran’s Khamenei Praises Nuclear Deal, but slams US Foreign Policy

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s clerical Leader, appeared to be attempting to mollify hard liners on Friday in his Friday prayers addresses. On the one hand, he praised the negotiators at Vienna who in long and arduous negotiations crafted the deal on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. He […]

Arab Spring

Wikileaks Docs Reveal Saudi intrigues against Bahrain’s Arab Spring

contributors

By Faten Bushehri | (Global Voices) | – – The Saudi Cables, released by WikiLeaks, includes a treasure trove of information in secret exchanges between Saudi diplomats on restive Bahrain Saudi Arabia's meddling in Bahrain's internal affairs has been revealed in top secret documents released by whistle blowing site WikiLeaks from June 20. WikiLeaks published […]

Bahrain

Should Formula 1 be held in Major Human Rights Violator Bahrain?

contributors

VICE News | – “Formula 1’s annual Bahrain Grand Prix opened April 17 to global fanfare, but demonstrators in the small Gulf kingdom off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia have been protesting the motorsports event for weeks, accusing Formula 1’s management of ignoring longstanding human rights abuses in the country. This year’s race comes […]

Bahrain

Artificial Billionaires: Regimes’ Crony Capitalism Stifling Middle East

contributors

World Bank Across the Middle East and North Africa, countries are being forced to face up to a harsh reality—that, left as they are now, their economies won’t create anything like enough jobs for the hundreds of thousands of people entering their job markets each year. Popular discontent will continue alongside widespread economic inactivity. What […]