Abu Otaiba, the nom du guerre of a self-taught imam and Islamic State (IS) recruiter in Jordan, uses soccer…
Author: James M. Dorsey
Kamal Salibi, one of the Arab world’s foremost contemporary historians, kicked up a storm when he concluded in a 1985…
Mohammed Simsim, the president of the Saudi Arabian Weightlifting Federation, embodies existential dilemmas involved in Saudi deputy crown prince…
If the Islamic State (IS) was serious about attacking Euro 2016, its plans clearly never materialized. Leaked transcripts of the…
The Muslim world’s battle over the legitimacy of political Islam has expanded to the soccer pitch as proponents and…
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dresses up his increasing authoritarianism with nationalist and religious overtones, sparking battles over the future…
Last month’s opening of storied Istanbul soccer club Besiktas JK’s renovated Vodafone Arena stadium was laden with political symbols ranging…
With Saudi Arabia announcing plans for a major restructuring of the kingdom’s economy and Iran gearing up to become a…
Turkish soccer pitches tell the story of the country’s multiple sharpening fault lines that are exploding into political violence on…
Subtle changes in the way Qatar projects itself on the international stage symbolized by a recent government reshuffle, economic reform…
Saudi Arabia is using soccer and its influence in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to expand its campaign to isolate…
Saudi Arabia and Iran, highlighting the domestic drivers of mounting tension that threatens to deepen and complicate sectarian and multiple…
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suffered in the run-up to crucial elections in early 2016 what amounted to at least a…
A staunch supporter of general-turned-president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, has called on the government to allow soccer…
Synopsis The political geography of oil and minorities in Saudi Arabia and Iran highlights a fault line in the Sunni-Shiite…
Synopsis The Saudi military intervention in Yemen against Houthi rebels has repercussions in the kingdom amid cracks appearing in the…
Synopsis This month’s killing of 23 Druze clan members by Jabhat Al Nusra jihadists has made Syrian Druze a potential…
Iranian Azeri Soccer Fans Burn the Iranian Flag Against a backdrop of the violent redrawing of the map of…