Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Zayd Alisa
-
Has MBS paved the way for Netanyahu to target Iran through a fictitious treaty compromising their oil deterrence?
Ever since Iran launched an unparalleled large-scale attack against Israel on 1 October, using a barrage of nearly 200 ballistic missiles, the Middle East has been holding its breath in anticipation of a swift and crushing Israeli retaliation. Iran said its long-awaited attack was in response to Israel’s assassinations...
-
Will Biden drag Sunak into Houthi quagmire as Bin Salman struggles to break free?
The US and the UK launched a fourth wave of joint air strikes against Houthi positions in Yemen on 24 February with the intention to degrade the movement’s capabilities and thereby deter what they have called illegal aggression against commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The previous round of...
-
Will Biden double down on the reckless strategy of appeasing MBS?
President Joe Biden administration’s response to a question by judge John Bates on whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman – known as MBS – should be treated as a head of state or government, and thereby entitled to sovereign immunity was hardly surprising. It announced on 17 November that based on...
-
Will Iraq’s election expose US-Saudi endorsement of Sadr’s drive to impose a prime minister?
Despite US President Joe Biden’s scathing criticism of his predecessor’s policies in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has not shied away from implementing them. In Afghanistan, he stuck to Trump’s troop withdrawal agreement with the Taliban. Following the Taliban’s swift takeover of Kabul, Biden blamed Afghanistan’s corrupt government and army. In...
-
The Trump-MBS battle to keep Al-Abadi in power could unravel Iraq’s democracy
Iraq’s fledgling democracy has undoubtedly and successfully seen off many grave threats, the most potent of which was posed by Daesh. Now, however, it is facing an unusual existential threat stemming from its supposedly staunchest guardians, namely the Shia majority and the Shia religious establishment, both of which were...