Aug 30 2017
The movement’s new leadership has reached out to Hezbollah and Iran, and hopes to reconcile with Syria too By Abdel Bari Atwan Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya as-Sinwar, held a candid two-hour meeting with a group of journalists on Monday in which he revealed the outlines of a new strategy for the movement. Its two […]
By mahaburbar1 • Palestine •
Aug 25 2017
Ankara is coming to the conclusion that it urgently needs to mend fences with Iran, Iraq and Syria By Abdel Bari Atwan It was no surprise that this week’s Syrian opposition conference, called for at Saudi Arabia’s behest by the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) and including representatives of the so-called Cairo and Moscow platforms, […]
By mahaburbar1 • Turkey •
Aug 20 2017
The Saudis are making clear they want the Qatari emir ousted, but how do they plan to achieve that? By Abdel Bari Atwan The crisis between Qatar and Saudi Arabia has recently taken a potentially serious turn for the worse. More than two and a half month months into the quarrel – during which […]
By mahaburbar1 • Saudi Arabia, The Gulf •
Aug 18 2017
After clearly trying to ease tensions with Tehran, why has Riyadh suddenly changed course again? By Abdel Bari Atwan Saudi Arabia’s angry denial that it is interested in any kind of reconciliation with Iran has come as something of a shock. An official statement on Thursday insisted that the kingdom ‘has not asked for any […]
By mahaburbar1 • Saudi Arabia, Yemen •
Aug 14 2017
The longer the Yemen war continues, the worse it will get for the Saudis and their allies By Abdel Bari Atwan Last week, the UAE announced that four of its soldiers were killed when their helicopter was downed in Yemen where they were deployed as part of the Saudi-led coalition. A few days […]
By mahaburbar1 • Yemen •
Aug 14 2017
A whole new phase is starting as the state recovers control of its borders and refugees begin to return By Abdel Bari Atwan The surprises keep coming in Syria, one after the other. They reflect radical changes in the local, regional and international dynamics that have long governed the conflict ravaging the country. Following […]
By mahaburbar1 • Syria •
Aug 4 2017
Despite reports of secret talks on a Saudi/UAE-sponsored deal, an early end to the crisis is unlikely By Abdel Bari Atwan As a deadly cholera epidemic compounds the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the Saudi-led war on Yemen, the military and political situation in the country is in stalemate. Other than the occasional […]
By mahaburbar1 • Yemen •
Aug 1 2017
Riyadh’s wooing of Iraqi Shia leaders won’t be credible without a radical change of strategy By Abdel Bari Atwan It came as a surprise to many in the Middle East – specifically in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran – to see Iraqi Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr pay an official visit to Saudi Arabia. Speculation […]
By mahaburbar1 • Iraq, Saudi Arabia •
Jul 31 2017
Bringing the issue of Saudi control of the holy places into the dispute can only make it worse By Abdel Bari Atwan No new measures or sanctions against Qatar were announced after Sunday’s meeting of foreign ministers of the four countries that have been subjecting the country to an air, sea and land blockade. […]
By mahaburbar1 • Saudi Arabia, The Gulf •
Jul 29 2017
Israel’s latest display of contempt for Jordan and its people calls for a firm and decisive response By Abdel Bari Atwan By cutting short his summer vacation and returning to Jordan to deal ‘personally’ with the fallout of the killing of two Jordanians by an Israeli embassy guard in Amman, King Abdallah II has […]
By mahaburbar1 • Israel, Jordan •
Jul 23 2017
The US has opted to back out of a failed venture, and the Gulf states could follow suit By Abdel Bari Atwan Friday’s announcement that the CIA’s covert program to arm and back Syrian rebels is being shut down amounts to an official declaration that the US administration has abandoned both the political and […]
By mahaburbar1 • Syria •
Jul 20 2017
Asad is entitled to feel confident when the two main sponsors of his armed opponents turn on each other By Abdel Bari Atwan Syrian President Bashar al-Asad was recently reported to have admitted that corruption is a major problem in Syria. He told Amina ash-Shammat, head of the Central Commission for Inspection, that it […]
By mahaburbar1 • Syria •
Jul 17 2017
Trump has made a killing from the Saudi-led alliance’s spat with Qatar, and intends to continue By Abdel Bari Atwan Thank God that US President Donald Trump cannot stop himself from talking. From time to time, he says things in his interviews and tweets which betray attitudes and secrets that are truly revealing. They […]
Jul 14 2017
The Palestinian people keep reaffirming that they will never submit to occupation whatever the odds By Abdel Bari Atwan The three young men from the Jabareen family of Umm al-Fahem who carried out Friday’s attack in Jerusalem sent a wake-up call to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its president Mahmoud Abbas. He hasted to telephone […]
By mahaburbar1 • Palestine •
Jul 14 2017
With the Saudi-led camp faltering, the region’s geopolitics could be on the verge of a transformation By Abdel Bari Atwan It may be pure coincidence that the recapture of Mosul by Iraqi forces was accomplished on the anniversary of the defeat of Israel’s July 2006 assault on Lebanon. But there is a clear link […]
By mahaburbar1 • Saudi Arabia •
Jul 11 2017
Rather than resolving the Gulf crisis, the US may be setting the stage for further escalation By Abdel Bari Atwan US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s belated intervention in the Gulf crisis – preceded by that of British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson – implies that all other mediation efforts have reached a dead-end, and that […]
By mahaburbar1 • Saudi Arabia, The Gulf •
Jul 10 2017
There is much to fear in the absence of a proper plan by the Iraqi government and its allies for the post-IS phase By Abdel Bari Atwan Celebrations have officially begun to mark the recapture of Mosul from Islamic State (IS)/Daesh. The group’s formidable defences finally broke down in the face of an […]
By mahaburbar1 • Iraq •
Jul 6 2017
military or a security intervention (or both) is the more likely outcome of the Gulf crises. By Abdel Bari Atwan We watched the press conference held by the foreign ministers of Qatar’s four adversaries after a meeting in Cairo that was meant to ‘coordinate’ their next steps, since the 12-day period granted to Qatar to […]
By mahaburbar1 • Saudi Arabia, The Gulf •
Jul 2 2017
The row between Saudi Arabia and Qatar could have a positive de-escalating impact on the conflict in Syria By Abdel Bari Atwan The crisis that broke out in the Gulf pitting Saudi Arabia and its allies against Qatar could provide some relief to the much more serious regional crisis in Syria. The increasingly […]
By mahaburbar1 • Syria •
Aug 30 2017
Netanyahu in a Bind
Are the Israeli premier’s domestic difficulties tempting him to go to war against Syria and Lebanon? By Abdel Bari Atwan To understand the state of panic currently afflicting the ruling elite in Israel, which has gone to the extent of openly threatening to bomb the presidential palace in Damascus and Iranian military formations in Syria, […]
By mahaburbar1 • Israel •