President of Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak (L) at Cairo, October 20, 2023 The world-wide condemnation of Israel’s horrific violation of international humanitarian law is not deterring its military operations in Gaza. In remarks on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the calls for ceasefire, saying these “are calls for …
Continue reading “Neocon regime change in Gaza will complicate ‘two-state solution’”
Russia’s Dy Foreign Minister & Special Envoy Mikhail Bogdanov (C) held talks with Iran’s Dy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani and Hamas’ head of International Relations Mousa Marzouk, Moscow, Oct. 26, 2023 The US President Joe Biden is convinced that one of the reasons why Hamas launched the attack on Israel was because of the …
Continue reading “US diplomacy lost traction in Middle East. Isolating Iran no longer possible.”
For the first time since Gaza crisis began, Chief of Staff of Iranian Armed Forces Gen. Mohammad Baqeri engaged with Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on October 19, 2023. There is no question that smart power enhances foreign policy. Since the notion of “smart power” entered international diplomacy some two decades ago, a major regional power, …
Continue reading “No takers for a West Asian war but war seems inevitable”
China’s Special Envoy on Middle East Zhai Jun met the envoys of Arab states in Beijing at the latter’s request for a group meeting to discuss the grave situation in Gaza, Beijing, October 13, 2023 One hundred years after the Arab Revolt (1916-1918) against the ruling Ottoman Turks amidst the impending defeat of Germany and the …
Continue reading “US faces defeat in geopolitical war in Gaza”
Palestinian children and a rare white dove with an uncertain future amidst the ruins of Gaza City following horrific Israeli air strikes. One week has passed since an explosive situation erupted in West Asia around Israel. India’s famously loquacious External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is maintaining deafening silence. That is not befitting the Vishwaguru (world …
Continue reading “Netanyahu is an albatross around India’s neck”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference, Tel Aviv, Oct. 12, 2023 The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s press conference on Thursday concluding his visit to Israel conveyed three things. One, the Biden Administration will be seen as backing Israel to the hilt by …
Continue reading “US in a quandary over Israel’s war on Gaza”
Azerbaijan’s military takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh led to a mass exodus of entire region’s population of ethnic Armenians Frozen conflicts can only be understood through history. That is why the ‘erasure’ of Nagorno-Karabakh from the map by Azerbaijan is an incredibly tumultuous development for Transcaucasia and its surrounding regions. The backdrop is the breakup of the Soviet …
Continue reading “The Caucasus and West Asia are joined at the hips”
Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) with the visiting Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas, Beijing, 18th July, 2017 The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken drew a blank in Riyadh in his mission to coax Saudi Arabia to grant diplomatic recognition to Israel and resuscitate the moribund Abraham Accord. The Saudi stance is unwavering: a two-state solution …
Emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers agreed to readmit Syria, Cairo, May 7, 2023 When a mere subplot overnight assumes habitation and a name, it becomes more fascinating than the main plot itself. Syria’s return to the Arab League after its decade-long exclusion can be regarded as a sub-plot of the China-brokered rapprochement between …
Continue reading “Syria’s return to Arab League is a big deal”
US President Joe Biden is dispatching one his top aides to Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman The Biden Administration is in a persuasive mood, won’t take no for an answer. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan disclosed at a think tank conference in Washington on Thursday that he proposed to travel …
