Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (R) receiving Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar (2nd-R), Doha, Sept. 2020 When the US State Department announced that it would host a virtual ministerial meeting on August 30 with “key partners on Afghanistan,” there was an element of surprise in the list of participants. Apart from the US’ NATO and EU allies, …
Continue reading “Rise and rise of Qatar in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan”
The incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lost his last-minute legal challenge to stall government formation by opposition right wing politician Naftali Bennett and his potential coalition partner, centrist politician Yair Lapid. Bennett and Lapid have a Wednesday midnight deadline to formally submit the bid for the newly proposed government coalition before President Reuven …
Continue reading “Israeli politics breaks through glass ceiling”
Parliament in Cairo unanimously voted on July 20, 2020 to authorise dispatch of Egyptian troops on combat missions abroad Just as the Mediterranean air is thick with talk that a military confrontation between Turkey and Egypt is brewing over control of Libya, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Versihinin flew into Ankara for consultations with his counterpart …
Continue reading “Turkey, Russia take timeout in Libyan war”
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L), UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed (R) held a phone conversation, March 27, 2020 The phone call by the UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday signifies in many ways a major development in regional politics. The official UAE news …
Continue reading “Coronavirus hastens an Arab rapprochement”
(Protestors in front of Army Headquarters, Khartoum, Sudan, April 11, 2019) The Arab Spring has returned to the Middle East after nearly six years in exile. It was in July 2013 that reversing the tide of democracy in Egypt that swept away the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a …
Continue reading “Arab Spring returns home to uncertain welcome”
The fate of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hangs in the balance. The common perception is that everything depends on which way President Donald Trump moves – go by his own preference to bury the scandal over Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance or give in to the rising demand that Saudi-American relations can no longer be …
Continue reading “Neo-Ottomanism Surges in Middle East Politics”
