US elections shockwaves hit Europe
ahmed sabirBy Eric S Margolis Donald Trump's startling and explosive victory has not only shaken America's oligarchy to its core, it's also sending shock waves across Europe and scaring the top…
Why Saddam and Gaddafi failed to get the bomb
By Malfrid Braut-Hegghammer Imagine if Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi had nuclear weapons in 2003. The invasion of Iraq may not have been possible, and states would have been much…
City of Killers The Battle for Tal Afar
By Patrick Cockburn Tal Afar is a small city notorious for sectarian hatred and slaughter, which may soon be engulfed by a final battle between Isis and its bitterest enemies.…
US-Russian relations are about to change what next for Syria and eastern Europe?
Short-term peace for PR purposes, long-term ego clashes Vadimir Putin was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Donald Trump on becoming the 45th President of the United States.…
US scraps plan to punish Syria for using chemical weapons
With an assist from Moscow, Damascus could dodge sanctions for gassing its own people By Colum L Ynch The Obama administration has throttled back its diplomatic push to make Syria…
It’s not Donald Trump who matters now in the Middle East it’s Putin
By Robert Fisk It is easy to say that the Arabs are appalled that an Islamophobe has won the White House. But did they think Obama or any of his…
All is not quiet on the Libyan front
By Osama Al Sharif Libya has not been much in the news lately but that does not mean that all is good. Five years after western powers intervened militarily in…
Vladimir of Arabia
By Emile Simpson In this masterful account Strategy: A History, Sir Lawrence Freedman defines strategy as “the art of creating power.” This is a useful lens through which to consider…
How Iran’s pet terrorists won Lebanon
By Benny Avni 'You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” sang Bob Dylan. And this week, the winds of change in the Middle East kept…
India’s ‘hush-hush’ assets face a Chinese privacy invasion
By M. K. Bhadrakumar The decision by the Sri Lankan government to sell the deep sea port in Hambantota to a Chinese state-owned company should not have come as surprise…