Saudi Arabia
Biden Bumps Into Saudi Arabia
Far from charting a new course in the Middle East, Biden’s fumbling strategy has taken America back to the Obama playbook — but in a world that is very different from 2008. A simple thing Biden can do to restore American prestige is not to replace handshakes with fist bumps but to erase the space between words and deeds.
Yemen’s Great Enabler Departs
It took years until the Saudis realized that there was a problem with the announced goal of their operation in Yemen to restore the legitimate Hadi government to its place in the capital, Sanaa: Hadi himself had no intention of returning to anywhere in Yemen.
The Saudis’ Religious Legacy
It is difficult to glean the actual impetus behind the initial decision to ban the broadcast in the first place. The scenes from the holy mosques are emotive to a lot of observant Muslims and cement Saudi Arabia’s role as the custodian of the holy mosques and an Islamic center. They are also powerful showcases of the state’s organizational prowess in pulling off such seminal events hosting millions of faithful every year.
A Saudi Interfaith Cultural Center Is Leaving Vienna — But For All the Wrong Reasons
"And that’s the amazing thing: that most critics, especially in Austria, haven’t even bothered to go to the website to see what it does,” Rosen told New Lines. In spite of his aforementioned hesitance about becoming involved with KAICIID, he believes the project has been worthwhile.
Newcastle’s Soccer Strife
Yemenis living in England are obsessed with Newcastle football, yet the club’s new Saudi ownership leaves these superfans with mixed feelings, against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Yemen.
In Second Regime, Both the Taliban and the World Face a New Reality
Afghanistan itself was a sideshow in which money and careers could be made and repatriated. In the meantime, an artificial economy was created there to service birds of passage, from diplomats and aid workers to military officials and outside contractors.
A Libyan Revenant
For one militia commander, a battlefield defeat was payback to the aspiring Libyan strongman Gen. Khalifa Haftar. But it also illustrates in stark clarity how the Middle East’s proxy wars and ideological rivalries have spilled across borders, ensnaring both the innocent and not so innocent.