While the war in Yemen remains inconclusive, Saudi Arabia is escalating its intervention in Syria. Unlike the Yemeni theater, where the Saudis are the largest military force, the Syrian battleground will be more complex for Riyadh. The Saudis will be partnering with Turkey, and Riyadh and Ankara are …
Read More »Saudis Propose Truce for an Aid Effort in Yemen
Saudi Arabia has proposed a five-day halt to hostilities in Yemen to allow aid agencies to reach civilians suffering because of the country’s war, the Saudi foreign minister said on Thursday. The minister, Adel al-Jubeir, said the cease-fire’s start date had yet to be decided and could be …
Read More »British Foreign Policy After the Election
Alexander Mercouris It is difficult to believe that there is nobody within the British foreign policy establishment who does not have grave doubts about the Cameron government’s ultra-hardline anti-Russian policy. Though it has attracted surprisingly little international attention, Britain is holding a general election to decide the make-up of its …
Read More »Germany’s Dilemma: Critics Want Tougher Berlin Stance Against Israel
By Nicola Abé, Christiane Hoffmann, Horand Knaup, René Pfister and Christoph Schult Relations between Germany and Israel are at a crossroads. Is it possible for the German government to continue to steadfastly support the country even as Jerusalem continues to refuse to allow the Palestinians to establish their …
Read More »Yemen: The Shadow of Invasion. The Deployment of Saudi Ground Forces?
On May 3, Saudi-led coalition entered Yemen. According to reports about from 20 to 50 soldiers have landed in Yemen’s strategic port of Aden for a ‘reconnaissance’ mission and more troops are coming. The deployment of Saudi-led forces seeks the goal to help forces loyal to US, Saudi …
Read More »How Pakistan Plays the Middle East?
Charlotte Kennedy Anthony Bubalo recently lamented that alliances and enmities in the Middle East are becoming so complex that even long-term watchers are struggling to keep up. Well, if that’s the case, Pakistan just added to the layers of confusion. Last month, Pakistan surprisingly refused to join its long-time ally and benefactor …
Read More »Why America Should Really Fear Russia’s Armata T-14 Tank?
Nikolas K. Gvosdev There have been two general reactions in the West to the first public glimpses of the T-14 Armata tank, the first completely post-Soviet Russian design for a main battle tank. The first is to view its claims—of greater speed, maneuverability, firepower and survivability vis-à-vis anything …
Read More »How America and Russia Could Start a Nuclear War
By Tom Nichols A few weeks ago, I directed Harvard Extension School’s “Crisis Game,” in which students had to play out a hypothetical Cold War crisis involving nuclear weapons. The realization that a crisis could escalate to nuclear war shocked younger students who had never given much thought …
Read More »The Islamic State’s Most Deadly Weapon of War: Water?
Allyson Beach As a requisite resource, water and its infrastructure are decisive targets in the self-declared Islamic State’s (IS) strategy for regional expansion in the Middle East. Although IS has not demonstrated the capacity to operate technologically intensive water infrastructure, it continues to pursue control of dams and …
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