Saudi Arabia

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – President Obama cut short his India trip to head off to Riyadh in the wake of the death last Thursday of King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia. Some 30 members of the Washington elite came along, of both parties, including Sen. John McCain and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. This love […]

Dissent

Saudi’s Barbaric Flogging for Blogging, explained by a Blogger

contributors

BBC News | — “Blogger Raif Badawi has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for criticising Saudi Arabian clerics on his internet blog. British blogger Sunny Hundal said this case, and others like it, mean the UK should stop “hugging” the Saudi regime. In a personal film, he said it was […]

Featured

How Stable is Saudi Arabia?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) This article appeared at The Nation earlier this month. I’m reprinting an excerpt on the occasion of King Abdallah’s death . . . the kingdom faces a severe budget shortfall because of the plummeting price of petroleum. All this instability takes place against a backdrop of substantial regional turmoil. […]

Dissent

Saudis torture jailed Liberal Blogger w/ 1000 lashes for… Blogging

contributors

Human Rights Watch | (Beirut) — More Lashes Pending for Creating Liberal Website, Insulting Religious Authorities King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia should overturn the lashing and prison term for a blogger imprisoned for his views and immediately grant him a pardon. Saudi authorities lashed Raif Badawi 50 times on January 9, 2015, in front of […]

Iraq

Saudi General, Border Guards Killed by Daesh/ISIL for not being Fanatical Enough

contributors

France24 | — “At 4,30 am 4 men coming from Iraqi territory attacked a border post on the northern frontier of Saudi Arabia. Two of the attackers were killed during the attack, one by gun shot and the second activated his explosive belt killing general Awda al-Balwi, commander of the northern frontier zone, with one […]

Human Rights

Saudi Women who dared Drive to be tried in Terrorism Court

contributors

DeutscheWelle English | — “Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women from driving. Two women who did just that have been in custody for nearly a month – and they may now be charged with terrorism because they used social media.” DW: “Saudi women drivers fear terror charges | Journal”

Featured

Cuba: Top 5 other Dictatorships with which US has Diplomatic Relations

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | — The US sanctions on Cuba were justified by their supporters with reference to the Communist government’s human rights record. That record, bad as it is, however, cannot explain the sanctions. They are rather pique that Cuba defied American hegemony and corporate domination. The sanctions have not overthrown the government of […]

Economy

Saudi Arabia at the G20: Is it waging Econ War on Iran, Russia and N. Dakota?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole The G20 is a conference of the world’s top 20 economies as measured by Gross Domestic Product. Some observers have slammed it as an unelected and arbitrary body that is doing some of the work the United Nations was intended to do– only in a much less egalitarian way. The official web […]

Featured

Daesh/ ISIL calls for Terror attacks on Saudi Arabia

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | — Daesh, the brutal terrorist group the US calls ISIL or ISIS, is calling for attacks in Saudi Arabia. A voice recording has surfaced, attributed to Ibrahim al-Samarra’i, the leader of the brutal terrorist group Daesh (which the US calls ISIL or ISIS). Al-Samarra’i was wounded in a US airstrike on […]