Saudi Arabia

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council came to meet President Barack Obama at Camp David in search of a renewed, formalized US commitment to their security. They came away disappointed. Though they did get firm oral commitments, there is no prospect of formal treaty obligations binding […]

Featured

Yemen: Fierce fighting in Lead-up to Saudi Ceasefire, Children at risk of Starvation

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – Heavy fighting continued in Yemen on Monday and Tuesday, despite the agreement reached between Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia that a five-day ceasefire would begin on Tuesday at midnight. Humanitarian organizations have high hopes in the ceasefire as a time when aid can be gotten to the […]

Children

Now Yemen’s Houthi Rebels are forcing Children Into Battle

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – (Beirut) – The Houthi armed group in Yemen has intensified its recruitment, training, and deployment of children in violation of international law. Since September 2014, when the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, took control of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, they have increasingly used children as scouts, guards, runners, and fighters, […]

Barack Obama

Saudi Arabia as the Incredible Hulk: King Salman snubs Obama’s Gulf Summit

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — Watching Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia nowadays, is like Kremlin-watching in the old days of the Cold War. It is not as if most Western journalists have a really good idea of the maneuverings inside the Saudi palace or know why exactly things happen. Since King Salman […]

Featured

Syria: What if Turkey and Saudi Arabia install al-Qaeda in Damascus?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – Journalists such as the intrepid Liz Sly covering the Syrian Civil War were struck with the victories of the Army of Conquest coalition in northern Syria, which in recent weeks first took Idlib city (they had already taken most of Idlib province) and then Jisr al-Shughur, a […]

Featured

Fatal Triangle: Saudi, Iran, US Tensions spike over continued Yemen Airstrikes

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – The attention span of US television news is so short that it is difficult for it to cover ongoing wars in which there isn’t dramatic news every day. Not to mention that getting a camera crew into some conflict zones is highly dangerous or just impossible (television […]

censorship

Don’t Be Fooled by Saudi’s Reshuffle

contributors

By Adam Coogle | (Human Rights Watch) | – King Salman’s promotion of his nephew Mohammed bin Nayef to the position of crown prince and heir apparent marks a change of direction for Saudi Arabia, raising the possibility that power in the kingdom may be put directly into the hands of the House of Saud’s […]

Displaced and Refugees

115 Children Killed: Saudi Arabia’s War on Yemen by the Numbers

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Since the beginning of the Saudi air campaign against the Houthi movement in Yemen on March 26 until April 22, these are the UN statistics on its human cost: 500 civilians killed since March 26 150 children killed 1,185 non-combatant civilians injured 150,000 have fled their homes 23 […]

censorship

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Azerbaijan among Top 10 Worst Censors: Media Watchdog

contributors

By Valentina Ieri | – UNITED NATIONS, (IPS) – While technology has given millions greater freedom to express themselves, in the world's 10 most censored countries, this basic right exists only on paper, if at all. According to a report by thereport by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which will be officially […]