Arab World

(Informed Comment) – After misleading hopes that the United Arab Emirates will withdraw from Yemen, severe recent clashes in Aden show that peace is still a distant prospect, while highlighting the consequences of the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Various violent incidents have led to numerous casualties. Lately on Wednesday UAE-backed southern secessionists […]

Saudi Arabia

Shadowy Pro-Saudi D. C. Think Tank that Defended Crown Prince Suddenly Closes

Brian Whitaker

(Al-Bab.com) – The Arabia Foundation, a pro-Saudi think tank established in Washington only two-and-a-half years ago suddenly closed down yesterday, citing “ongoing differences” among its donors that have “made continued operations difficult”. In a series of posts on Twitter the organisation’s founder, Ali Shihabi, said the closure decision was made by the board of directors. […]

Donald Trump

Why Trump let Saudi Arabia and UAE censor his “America First” Speech on Energy

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Sunday the NYT revealed that Trump’s staff ran his May, 2016 speech on “America First” by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for their input into the energy passages, and actually altered the text based on their editing. The hollow joke of Trump’s “America first” slogan could not […]

Immigration

US Homeland Security could return Syrian Refugees in US to Violence, Arrest, Torture under al-Assad

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch (Washington, DC) – The US should renew its grant of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to almost 7,000 Syrians living in the United States, Human Rights Watch said today. People forced to return to Syria still face violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, and torture. Destroyed house from US-led coalition strike that killed 13 […]

Iraq

Caught between Iran, the Sunnis and the US, is Iraq a State without a Nation?

Tareq A. Ramadan

By Tareq A. Ramadan | – (Informed Comment) – The fall of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist dictatorship in March of 2003 was a cataclysmic political event for the Iraqi state. Sixteen years later, the fallout continues to shape and re-shape its political, religious, social, cultural, judicial, and economic life. Over the years, and as a result […]

Displaced and Refugees

Are Syrian Refugees a Danger to the West?

The Conversation

By Arie Kruglanski, David Webber, Erica Molinario and Katarzyna Jaśko | – While today’s news is full of stories about refugees and migrants to the U.S. from Central America, the plight of those particular refugees is only part of an international migration crisis that has been going on since 2015 and has driven 25.9 million […]

Featured

Is Trump setting the US up for further al-Qaeda attacks by putting Troops in Saudi Arabia?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump is sending US troops to be based in Saudi Arabia, and King Salman has signed off on the paperwork. Several hundred US military personnel will be at Prince Sultan Air Base, accompanying fighter jets and Patriot missile defense systems. US troops were first based in Saudi Arabia during the […]

Libya

The United Arab Emirates is getting out of Yemen: Will it Target Libya Next?

Middle East Monitor

By Abdulaziz Kilani | @AZ_Kilani | – Last week, the United Arab Emirates confirmed its troop drawdown from Yemen, which has raised questions about what Abu Dhabi’s next target will be. “Many people asked if this is also linked to the current rise of tensions with Iran,” said a senior UAE official who declined to […]

Saudi Arabia

As United Arab Emirates pulls out of Brutal Yemen War, is it now Saudi Arabia ‘s?

Middle East Monitor

By Thembisa Fakude | Twitter: @fakudet | – The war in Yemen is entering its fifth year with no solution in sight. Every day thousands of people, including women and children, are injured and maimed. According to Amnesty International, “there is extensive evidence that irresponsible arms flows to the Saudi Arabia-led coalition have resulted in […]