Analysis

On August 28, 2014, Abdul-Rauf Rigi, alleged to be leading a Sunni sectarian organization called Jaish-al-Nasr, was assassinated in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. The motive for his killing could not be ascertained, but Jaish-al-Nasr had been accused by Iranian officials of carrying out attacks on Iranian …

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky Sorry, we made a mistake: The NYT’s retraction was presented as a technical error whereby the wrong pictures were mistakenly selected. “A packet of American briefing materials that was prepared for the Geneva meeting asserts that the photograph was taken in Russia. The same …

Arab foreign ministers on Sunday accused Iran of interfering in the affairs of other Middle East states and undermining regional security, as officials met at an emergency Arab League session to discuss escalating tensions in the region. The crisis between the Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and …

By Eric Zuesse The Saud royal family are by far the world’s largest buyers of US weapons. The King of Saudi Arabia is by far the world’s richest person, with a net worth well over a trillion dollars; and, when his (Aramco’s) 260 billion barrels of oil reserves …

A lot of people were expecting some really big things to happen in 2015, and most of them did not happen. But what did happen?  It is my contention that a global financial crisis began during the second half of 2015, and it threatens to greatly accelerate as …

Supported by Russian air strikes, the Syrian Army has reportedly managed to regain control of a spate of strategic areas in the western province of Latakia. With the help of Russian air strikes, the Syrian Army and the country’s National Defense Forces (NDF) won back an array of strategic areas …

In the aftermath of the downing of the Su-24 by two Turkish F-16s, Turkey absolutely without doubt miscalculated on shooting down the Russian jet fighter as  Ankara thinks the act would preserve a “safe status” for Turkey from terrorist attacks by ISIS, others by being anti-Russian, beside that …

By MICHAEL CROWLEY The crisis over Saudi Arabia’s execution of a pro-Iranian Shiite cleric has brought President Barack Obama’s long-troubled relationship with the Saudi royals to a new low. U.S. officials said Obama wants to reassure Saudi Arabia that his July nuclear deal with Iran doesn’t mean that …

James Dorsey Scholars, policy pundits, policymakers, and journalists have identified any number of reasons for a crisis in the Middle East and North Africa that, starting with the 2011 popular revolts, has swept the region; toppled leaders in four countries – Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen; prompted Saudi-led …