By Jonathan Marcus Defence and diplomatic correspondent Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES To all intents and purposes, Saudi Arabia and Israel are de facto allies in the struggle against Iran’s rising influence in the region. It’s a developing but highly sensitive relationship, but every so often there is a hint of what may be going on beneath the…
The Independent Only Shakespeare’s plays could come close to describing such treachery – the comedies, that is The nation is now embroiled in a crisis – but what part is Saudi Arabia playing in stoking it? Reuters The Qatar crisis proves two things: the continued infantilisation of the Arab states, and the total collapse of the Sunni Muslim…
China and Saudi Arabia are building military bases next door to US AFRICOM in Djibouti—and bringing the consequences of American withdrawal from the region into stark relief. By Joseph Braude and Tyler Jiang , Huffingtonpost Djibouti, a resource-poor nation of 14,300 square miles and 875,000 people in the Horn of Africa, rarely makes international headlines. But between…
© AFP/File / by Mona Salem | Although generations of Egyptians have grown up believing the islands belonged to Egypt, Cairo insists they have always been Saudi territory, which was leased to it in 1950 following a request by Riyadh By Mona Salem CAIRO (AFP) – Egypt’s surprise move to give two Red Sea islands to Saudi…
Reuters Investigates SCRABBLE: A propaganda video posted online by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The group has grabbed more territory along the Yemeni coast and regularly puts out photos and videos that paint it as a functioning administration. (SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE) Militant economy One unintended consequence of the war in Yemen: Al Qaeda now…
BBC, King Salman announces deal on second day of Cairo visit after meeting Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi King Salman and Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in Cairo. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has announced an agreement with Egypt to build a bridge over the Red Sea connecting the two countries. The monarch made the announcement…
Slate Hint: It has nothing to do with the deal. By Fred Kaplan Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement in his office in Jerusalem on July 14, 2015, after world powers reached a historic nuclear deal with Iran.Photo by Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images Here’s the thing to keep in mind about most critics of the…
BY STEPHEN M. WALT, Foreign Policy It’s time to ponder a troubling possibility: What should we do if the Islamic State wins? By “wins,” I don’t mean it spreads like wildfire throughout the Muslim world, eventually establishing a caliphate from Baghdad to Rabat and beyond. That’s what its leaders say they are going to do, but…
By Tyler Rogoway, Foxtrot Alpha There is no doubt that the idea of Iran controlling Yemen via their Houthi Rebel proxies is a nightmare for Saudi Arabia. A large part of this nightmare is the possibility that Iran could deny access to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf simultaneously, cutting off Saudi Arabia’s main avenues for…
By Max Fisher , VOX Map of modern Saudi Arabia (Nations Online) Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud became king of Saudi Arabia this week on the death of his older brother King Abdullah. When Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud was born in 1935, his country was only three years old. The Saudi Arabia of Salman’s birth had not yet discovered…