Geopolitics

Abdel Bari Atwan  US President Barack Obama has refused to receive his Turkish counterpart at the White House during the latter’s current visit to the American capital. The perceived ‘snub’ was widely discussed in the media and Erdogan used a high-profile meeting with top academics and think-tank advisers to …

Abdullah tells US politicians that radicals are being ‘manufactured in Turkey… as part of Turkish policy’ King Abdullah of Jordan accused Turkey of exporting terrorists to Europe at a top level meeting with senior US politicians in January, the MEE can reveal. The king said Europe’s biggest refugee …

King Abdullah reveals special forces preparations to members of US Congress, saying troops with ‘some balls’ are needed to fight IS group. Jordan sent troops to retake a key Syria-Iraqi border crossing from Islamic State (IS) fighters in support of a wider campaign against the militant group in …

Anatol Zukerman Donald Trump is an honest plutocrat, which is a contradiction in terms. When he started to run for President most people laughed. A buffoon billionaire reality TV star with ridiculous hair and three trophy wives couldn’t be more unfit for President. Yet, it is exactly that …

While Syria’s ceasefire is slowly unfolding as expected, it is fair to say that the general fight against ISIL, which has two parallel tracks: military and political, is facing serious obstacle on both tracks at present. Yet, we do not see those obstacles as signs of regress. They …

Ted Galen Carpenter A major part of the current turmoil in the Middle East is the product of a regional power struggle between the Shiite and Sunni branches of Islam. Iran is the leader of the first faction and offers strong support to the Shiite-dominated government in neighboring …

Why Muslims Are Rising Fastest and the Unaffiliated Are Shrinking as a Share of the World’s Population? The religious profile of the world is rapidly changing, driven primarily by differences in fertility rates and the size of youth populations among the world’s major religions, as well as by …

Gareth Porter US Secretary of State John Kerry provoked widespread speculation when he referred in testimony before the Senate foreign relations committee last week to “significant discussions” within US President Barack Obama’s administration about a “Plan B” in Syria. The speculation was further stoked by a “senior official” …

Weapon imports in the Gulf region have soared over 200 percent in the past four years, according to a new report. Saudi Arabia and Qatar were among the states to significantly increase their weapon import from the United States since the Arab Spring in 2011. The Stockholm International …