OPINION

James Dorsey • In addition to stimulating an arms race it has actually revived momentum for unprecedented, albeit snail-paced social reforms, initially sparked by Qatar’s winning bid for the 2022 soccer World Cup. Those reforms break with policies among the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – Saudi …

By Shehab Al Makahleh • A meeting on August 7 between King Abdullah of Jordan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas established a joint crisis committee to follow up the Israeli violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque and evaluate the past and expected Israeli violations in Jerusalem. This committee’s significance is …

By Abdel Bari Atwan The surprises keep coming in Syria, one after the other. They reflect radical changes in the local, regional and international dynamics that have long governed the conflict ravaging the country. Following the Syrian Arab Army’s recovery of the town of as-Sukhna in the governorate …

Shehab Al-Makahleh and Maria Dubovikova The future of Syria is now being decided in Amman after the withdrawal of Syrian armed opposition troops from neighborhoods near the Jordanian-Syrian border, leaving the crossing point of Naseeb under the control of the Syria Arab Army (SAA). The fate of Syria, and importantly …

by Uri Avnery Posted onAugust 12, 2017   The vultures are circling. They can see the wounded man on the ground, and are waiting for his end. So are the human carnivores – the politicians. They sing his praises, swear to defend him with all their heart – but in …

By Shehab Al-Makahleh •  Seeing Iraq regain stability serves as a source of panic for some in the region. Iraq’s influential Shia leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, paid an unexpected visit to Saudi Arabia on July 28 and 29, where he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and other senior officials. …

US special operations forces are teaming with the Lebanese Army to coordinate a strike against Daesh from Lebanon as the paramilitary group Hezbollah is reportedly engaging Daesh from the Syrian flank, Haaretz reported Monday. A Pentagon spokesman confirmed that US Special Forces personnel were presently “providing training and …

By Shehab Al Makahleh • The agreement between the Syrian government and the armed opposition to cease hostilities in certain locations in Syria is seen as a principled success of the deal reached late June, that went into effect in July, on establishment of de-escalation zones in Eastern Ghouta …

The UAE, not an old state and not even a state in every sense of the word, was founded in the 1970s with the British support for small sheikhdoms and immigration of people from other parts of the Arab Peninsula. The 47-year-old state lies on the southern coasts …