Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince, (R), received Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, Riyadh, Oct. 9, 2024 Reuters reported on Friday quoting three sources in the Persian Gulf that the regional states are lobbying Washington to stop Israel from attacking Iran’s oil sites as “part of their attempts to avoid being caught in the …
India-Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor is a geopolitical pipe dream
The gusto with which the United States co-opted the idea of an India – Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor [IMEC] during the recent G20 Summit should not come as a surprise. It brings to mind an astounding natural phenomenon in the northern desert of Saudi Arabia — a little purple flower that blooms very rarely, …
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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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Two potentates meet up at St. Petersburg
A 19th century painting of Konstantinovksy Palace, St. Petersburg There was something profoundly meaningful that the President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan undertook a visit to Russia amidst the gathering storms in Ukraine. Conscious of the symbolism, Russian President Vladimir Putin received Sheikh Mohammed on Tuesday in a grand setting befitting …
Biden’s I2U2 summit diminishes India
US forms a West Asian Quad with Israel, India and UAE, which held its first summit meeting in virtual setting on July 14, 2022 coinciding with President Biden’s first regional tour of West Asia. India’s involvement with US President Joe Biden’s quixotic venture called “I2-U2 Summit” is bizarre, to put it mildly. India’s excellent relations …
Biden returns to time past in the Gulf
US Vice-President Kamala Harris met UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi, May 16, 2022 The extraordinary sight of the Biden administration’s entire foreign and security policy establishment representing Washington on the occasion of the passing away of the emir of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa …
US to remove IRGC from terror blacklist
Axios reported earlier this week citing Israeli officials and US sources that the Biden administration is considering the removal of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC] from its terror blacklist, in return for a ‘public commitment from Tehran to de-escalation in the region.’ It is improbable that Tehran will give any such ‘public commitment’. But, …
Macron’s revenge for AUKUS betrayal
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) greets French President Emmanuel Macron upon his arrival in Jeddah, Dec 4, 2021 What distinguishes great powers like France is their sense of history and their profound understanding of the temporality of historical experience — or, how their past, present, and future are thought to be connected in …
As UAE embraces Iran, fizz goes pop for Abraham Accords
Iran’s Dy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani (C) with diplomatic adviser to UAE President Anwar Gargash (L) and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khalifa Almara, Abu Dhabi, Nov. 16, 2021 The terrible secret about Faustian deals is that they need a Mephistopheles to nurture them. That said, Goethe’s Mephisto is very different from the …
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Gulf security paradigm in historic shift
Foreign Ministers of Cyprus, Israel and Greece and the diplomatic adviser of UAE’s President met in Paphos, Cyprus April 16, 2021 The geopolitical alignments of the Gulf region are rapidly transforming both in bilateral and multilateral formats. Starting with the rapprochement between Qatar and Saudi Arabia in January, the common thread here is that the …