London (Informed Comment) – Saudi Arabia has long been accused of needlessly hitting civilian targets during its air campaign in neighbouring Yemen. Most commentators have put this down to a mixture of indifference and military incompetence on the part of the Saudi armed forces. Their capabilities against hardened fighters like the rebel Houthis were long […]
Defeating ISIL in Iraq will Take Sunni-Shiite Reconciliation, not Just Tanks
London (Informed Comment) – As Iraqi, Kurdish and Syrian forces squeeze its territory in the Arab world and Turkey hunts down the group’s support networks and sympathisers inside its territory, it can seem like the days of Islamic State (IS) are finally numbered after a two year reign of terror in the region. However it […]
Has the Turkish-Saudi direct Military Intervention in Syria Begun?
London (Informed Comment) – The news that Turkey has begun military strikes against the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) militia inside Syria marks an ominous chapter in that country’s civil war. Turkey acted after YPG forces and allied units from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) seized the strategic Mennagh Military Airport in northern Aleppo […]
The new Chinese Century? Can a Green China with no Mideast Entanglements Surpass US?
London (Informed Comment) – In the last fifteen years the United States has spent a total of between $4 trillion and $6 trillion on its twin wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, all the while running up its national debt, and damaging its international prestige. The root cause of these foreign entanglements, and America’s costly position […]
Hidden Dragon: China quietly becomes a Major Player in the Middle East
By Neil Thompson | (Informed Comment) – The era of Western neo-colonial dominance in the Middle East may finally be drawing to a bloody close. The Western monopoly ended almost unnoticed in 2013 when China replaced the European Union as the region’s foremost trading partner, pushing the US into third place, with India breathing at America’s heels […]
Give Democracy a Chance in the Middle East, include the Muslim Religious Parties
London (Informed Comment) – When many Westerners think of the Middle East today they tend to see a region gripped by religious and sectarian violence. What all the many conflicts have in common is the participation of inflexible and fanatical groups of fighters dogmatically opposed to the further modernization and Westernization of their home countries. […]
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