Qatari vs. Saudi Wahhabism and the Perils of Top-Down Change
State Mosque of Qatar under construction, image by Omar Chatriwala via Flickr CC EXECUTIVE…
Browsing: Features
The Case To Hold Eritrea Accountable
How to hit the Eritrean regime where it hurts the most An Eritrean joke goes:…
Skeletons could provide clues to who wrote or protected the Dead Sea Scrolls
SCROLL CALL Newly excavated skeletons at a roughly 2,000-year-old West Bank site support a theory that…
Senior Saudi officials tour Paris Grand Synagogue
Saudi Muslim World League Sect. Gen. al-Issa, ambassador to France al-Angari visit Paris Grand Synagogue,…
Hamas: Israeli Mossad behind assassination of drone engineer
Mohammad al-Zawahri, a member of Hamas’s military wing, was shot to death in Sfax, Tunisia…
IDF chief: Israel willing to share intelligence with moderate Arab states
Eisenkot gives rare interview to Saudi newspaper, calling for international coalition against Iran, adding Jerusalem…
Arab media: Saudi purge promises tighter control
Long-standing Saudi efforts to dominate the pan-Arab media landscape appear to have moved into high…
Murder in The Hague: Saudi-Iranian proxy war heats up
Shot dead this week on a street in The Hague, Ahmad Mola Nissi may have died the…
Saudi Arabia’s ‘Anti-Corruption’ Purge
The shocking spate of high-profile arrests will strengthen the crown prince’s political position, but the…
Saudi crackdown raises spectre of wider spread dissent
Few paid attention to a rare protest in Saudi Arabia in late January 2011 as…
Saudi Arabia Arrests 11 Princes, Including Billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK LONDON — Saudi Arabia announced the arrest on Saturday night of the…
In shadowy covert wars, Iran takes centre stage
In the shadowy world of covert proxy wars, Iran is taking centre stage, both as…
Kurds = Scottish Highlanders without their restraint
If you blinked, you would have missed it. For less than three weeks, it…
The Gambler, The Killer and the Unexplored Motive
It has been over-two weeks since Stephen Paddock went into a Las Vegas hotel room,…
Saudi Royal Transition: Why, What, and When?
Speculation is widespread that King Salman may soon abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Muhammad,…
Countering supremacy: Johor Sultan battles Muslim equivalent of Islamophobia
Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, the sovereign of the Malaysian state of Johor, does not…
Iran-backed Iraqi ultimatum to Kurds to leave Kirkuk. First test for Trump’s threat to Rev Guards
Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar Al-Abadi Saturday night, Oct. 14, gave the Kurdish Peshmerga an ultimatum to surrender…
State-Run KUNA: Kuwaiti Actor Abdulredha Dies at Age 78
KUWAIT CITY — Abdulhussain Abdulredha, Kuwait’s most prominent actor and comedian who delighted audiences with…
How Qatar Could Liberate Itself From Isolation
Qatar should transform its political system from a monarchy to a democracy to liberate itself…
WATCH: IDF exposes network of Hezbollah border posts
The IDF releases video evidence of Hezbollah intelligence gathering operations in southern Lebanon along…
Iran Dominates in Iraq After U.S. ‘Handed the Country Over’
By TIM ARANGO BAGHDAD — Walk into almost any market in Iraq and the shelves are filled…
Islamic State’s Raqqa Elegy Shows Both Weakness And Power
On June 19, 2017, the Islamic State’s Wilaya (Province) of Raqqa, one of the two…
Pot, Kettee: why Iran blames Saudi Arabia for Islamic State attacks
Terrorist killings at Iranian parliament and mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini bring into focus something Riyadh…
State Department Terrorist Designations of Hashem Safieddine and Muhammad al-Isawi
The Department of State has designated Hashem Safieddine and Muhammad al-Isawi as Specially Designated Global…
Conflict in the Middle East threatens Pakistan and lynchpin of China’s One Belt, One Road
Increasingly caught up in the Middle East’s multiple conflicts, Pakistan is struggling to balance relations…
Netanyahu wary of Trump’s interest in solving Israeli-Palestinian conflict
With no congressional impediments to peace initiatives between the Palestinians and Israelis, Netanyahu worried about…
The Timing is Right, Finally, for Sudan
As with comedy, timing is everything for the politics of being a state sponsor of…
Treasury Hosts Meeting of the Law Enforcement Coordination Group Focused on Countering Hizballah’s Terrorist Activities
Washington – On May 4-5, 2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasury hosted the fourth…
Blasphemy and Terrorism: Catchall Phrases to Repress Dissent
Blasphemy has joined terrorism as a catchall phrase to intimidate, incarcerate and kill critics…
Maroun Semaan’s legacy will resonate through the ages
May 2, 2017 Dear Members of the AUB Community, The American University of Beirut (AUB)…
Message from Ayman Asfari: Maroun Semaan
Dear Colleagues, It is with deep sorrow and profound sadness that I inform you that…
Kuwaiti Sheikh Ahmad: The rise and fall of political corruption in international sports
For Kuwaiti Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, long seen as one of the three most…
Islamic Fellow Travelers On The Road To Bigotry And Mass Murder
Christian holy books and images damaged in April 2017 Tanta church bombing The spectacular…
Trump’s new Russia expert wrote a psychological profile of Vladimir Putin — and it should scare Trump
Review of “Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin” by Fiona Hill and Clifford G. Gaddy…
There’s a New Player in the Horn of Africa
BY ABDI LATIF DAHIR UAE is funding ports and military bases in an area already…
Rojava Seeks to Break Out in Syria
Despite their desire for greater independence, Syria’s Kurds have shown a willingness to broker agreements…
Russia Has a Ton of Problems in Syria — Israeli Air Strikes Are Not One of Them
The Kremlin’s missiles could threaten Israeli warplanes, but it’s curious that they haven’t Israel’s…
Trump in the Middle East: The New Brutality
The rubble of a home destroyed by reported coalition air strikes in al-Jadida, Mosul, Iraq,…
Sako to communities emigrated from Iraq: trust your married priests
There are not enough Chaldean priests in the new communities outside of Iraq. The patriarch’s…
Khamenei’s Nowruz Nuances
The Supreme Leader’s two New Year’s speeches provide a valuable look at the regime’s internal…
Israel sets to annex disputed maritime border area
The dispute between Israel and Lebanon over the maritime border between them has been going…
Syria claims it shot down an Israeli combat plane; Israel denies: dissecting the latest IAF strike on Damascu
According to a Syrian Army statement, an Israeli jet involved in a raid over Syria…
Pakistani military engagement: Walking a fine line between Saudi Arabia and Iran
Pakistan is emerging as an important military player in the Gulf as its struggles to…
Iran’s Assad Regime
This report was produced with the Critical Threats Project. The insights are part of an…
What an Egyptian-Iranian thaw would mean for U.S. foreign policy in the region
The Trump administration has adopted an aggressive approach towards Iran. It seeks to establish a…
Insular West can’t afford to ignore the Arab world
In his inaugural speech, president Donald Trump showed that one thing that would not preoccupy…
Poll: Israelis and Palestinians prefer 2-state solution
The poll released on Thursday, which surveyed over 1,200 people, shows 55% of Israelis prefer…
Galant works to block Golan becoming another front
The Security Cabinet presents a three-phase plan whose goal is to safeguard Israel’s northern border…
Did Tehran attempt a coup in Damascus?
Iran and Russia Are Apparently Fighting Each Other in Syria Between Jan. 23 and 27, 2017,…
One Muslim Country Seems Well Positioned To ‘Graduate’ Off The Visa Ban
I recently saw a small but noisy demonstration in a Spanish city. The young demonstrators,…