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 …
Syria’s return to Arab League is a big deal
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 …
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US needs a junior partner in the Gulf
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 …
Sudan: Alignment of forces, players
People fleeing fighting in Khartoum, Sudan, April 19, 2023 The worst-case scenario is coming to pass, apparently, in Sudan. That is, at any rate, the apocalyptic message streaming out of Khartoum in the western media. President Biden lent credence to the alarmist perception by confirming that on his orders, the US military conducted an operation …
Free will trumps determinism in Gulf politics
UAE President Sheikh Mohammed (R) received Syria’s President Assad on official visit at Abu Dhabi airport, March 19, 2023 China’s mediation to normalise Saudi-Iranian diplomatic ties has been widely welcomed internationally, especially in the West Asian region. A clutch of unhappy states that do not want to see China stealing a march on any front, …
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China steps up, a new era has dawned in world politics
Under Chinese mediation, Saudi Arabia and Iran have reached an agreement to resume diplomatic relations, Beijing, March 10, 2023 The agreement announced on Friday in Beijing regarding the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran and the reopening of their embassies is a historic event. It goes way beyond an issue of Saudi-Iranian …
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New era of China-Saudi ties riles Iran
Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) sees Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a decisive leader, Riyadh, Dec. 9, 2022 The pomp and ceremony of the recent visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Saudi Arabia has drawn comparison with the banality and frigid atmosphere surrounding the US President Joe Biden’s trip to the kingdom …
A perfect storm in US foreign policy
The old adage is that a good foreign policy is the reflection of the national policy. A perfect storm is brewing on the foreign policy front in America triggered by the OPEC decision on Thursday to cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day, which will on the one hand drive up the gas …
OPEC’s body blow to Biden presidency
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) and US President Joe Biden bump fists in Jeddah before talks, July 15, 2022 The Biden Administration is swiftly establishing a narrative that the recent OPEC decision to cut oil production by two million tonnes is a geopolitical “aligning” by Saudi Arabia and Russia. It taps into the …
OPEC+ agrees on oil output cut
Sun sets behind an idle pump jack near Karnes City, US The OPEC+ meeting at Vienna on Monday came amidst two events affecting the oil market — the G7 finance ministers decision to endorse the US proposal regarding price cap on Russia’s oil exports with effect from December 5 and secondly, Gazprom’s announcement on cutting …