Geopolitics

The Chinese government has published its first Arab Policy Paper, which calls for greater political, economic and security cooperation with the region that is Beijing’s main supplier of petroleum and seventh largest trading partner.  The document, released ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first visit to Egypt, paints cooperation in broad …

It is assumed in many European capitals that Moscow is more focused on the outcome of the proposed transitional process in Syria than it is on the future of Assad. This sounds logical. Mr. Putin said several times that what is important is to prevent the collapse of …

Another additional flare in the Middle East crisis is evolving rapidly-the escalation between Saudi Arabia and Iran after the execution of a Shia cleric and 46 other Al Qaeda terrorists. The crisis which followed the executions is but the last reminder that the general regional crisis is indeed …

2016, bound to be a crisis year, is Barack Obama’s last year in office. It is also the year that will shape the security strategy for the next president. The civil war in Syria and the terrorist threat from the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq will test …

Olivier Decottignies and Soner Cagaptay Having a permanent military foothold in the Gulf will put Turkey in an elite group of powers, but more presence also means more exposure, whether to Saudi-Iranian tensions or other local crises. In December, Ankara announced that it will establish a new military …

David Schenker, Sarah Feuer, Vish Sakthivel, and John P. Entelis This series of articles sheds light on regional actors outside the tired authoritarian-versus-Islamist narrative and provides suggestions for how best to cultivate and preserve this limited resource during this critical time of transition. Concern about the political direction …

Dennis Ross By taking an overcautious approach in Syria, the president has highlighted America’s failure to have an open discussion about the real strategic lessons of the Iraq war. Few issues have confronted President Barack Obama with tougher dilemmas than Syria. Over the course of the nearly five …

King Abdullah II of Jordan discussed a greater Jordanian and indigenous ground presence in the fight against Daesh in Iraq and Syria during a Tuesday visit with US lawmakers, two senators told Sputnik. “He [King Abdullah II] did make comments to us about what they were thinking,” Senator James Risch said on Tuesday when asked if there …

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 …