By Mohammad Khajouei   One year has passed since Salman bin Abdulaziz became the king of Saudi Arabia. It was last January when he ascended to the throne following the demise of his brother, King Abdullah, and this development was a beginning to fundamental changes in Saudi Arabia’s …

Nawaf Obaid Last week, the spokesman for the Saudi military, General Ahmed Asseri, announced that Saudi Arabia is “is ready to participate in any ground operations that the coalition (against Islamic State) may agree to carry out in Syria” and that its decision to move into the war-torn …

We are going through a period that will define future features of the US-GCC ties. To be able to form an idea about how best, from both sides’ perspectives, could these ties be shaped, we have to gloss quickly over some of the past and present problems before …

When peace talks were arranged to put an end to the years-long Syrian crisis, there were some questionable parties slated to sit at the negotiating table in Geneva. Before those talks were postponed in February as fighting escalated in Syria, media buzzed, describing theSyrian opposition leading the talks …

Saudi Arabian foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir has warned that if the Syrian political process fails, President Bashar Assad will have to be removed “by force.” “We will push as much as we can to ensure that the political process works. But if it doesn’t work, it will be because of the obstinacy …

he new military developments of Russia and China have tilted the balance in global military capabilities, says the newly released report by the UK-based International Institute for Strategic Studies which examines global military capabilities and defense economics. “Russia’s employment of advanced cruise missiles over Syria and China’s display of capabilities, like the longer range DF-26 missiles, …

Christians in the Middle East hope that Friday’s meeting between Russia’s Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis in Cuba will signal the beginning of the long overdue process of Christian reunification. During their historic meeting at Havana international airport the two Christian hierarchs signed a joint declaration, which many …

Abdel Bari Atwan As Saudi Arabia announces that it is prepared to deploy ground troops in Syria, we examine Riyadh’s motives and intentions. Is their target really the Islamic State as claimed or does it hope to topple Assad? Or both? What are its chances of success and will …

Paul Pillar Large-scale armed insurrection tends to move through identifiable phases that correspond roughly to what Mao Zedong described many years ago. In Mao’s formulation, the first of three phases emphasizes organization, propaganda, and the establishment of cadres and a presence in the areas in which the revolutionary …