How Saudis overcame “reputational damage”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, New Delhi, Sept 11, 2023 European Union’s super bureaucrat Ursula von der Leyen chose April Fools’ Day last year to threaten China that it would suffer “reputational damage” in the world community for backing Russia’s Ukraine war. Being a civilisational …

The Middle East at an inflection point

US President Joe Biden (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct 18, 2023 It has been a perennial hope and expectation that Israel would abandon the path of repression, colonisation and apartheid as state policies and instead accept a negotiated settlement of the Palestine problem under pressure from …

No serious effort to reset US-China relations at San Francisco summit

US President Joseph Biden held a Summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Woodside, California, November 15, 2023 The signal from the summit meeting between presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in San Francisco on Wednesday is that a rocky year in the US-China relationship had a makeover in atmospherics. Serious differences remain and there …

Arab-Iran amity is a geopolitical reality

Palestinians work in the debris of buildings targeted by Israeli airstrikes in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza, Nov 1, 2023 The forthcoming first visit by Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi to Saudi Arabia on November 13 marks a milestone in the rapprochement between the two countries mediated by China in March. The relationship is fast acquiring …