Prince Salman: An outlier in the conservative state
M. K. Bhadrakumar | The royal decree of June 21 by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman appointing his son Mohammed bin Salman as the Crown Prince and next...
Ideological foundations and organizational structure of Islamic State
Nauman Sadiq | The fight against the much-dreaded ISIS is on with varying degrees of resolving and success.It becomes important to trace the ideological antecedents...
Gulf crisis ties global soccer governance into knots
James M. Dorsey | International soccer governance is tying itself up in knots with football associations grappling with the fallout of the Gulf dispute between...
Destruction of Al-Nuri mosque and the death of history
News Analysis | Members of the militant Islamic State (IS) group on Wednesday blew up the Grand al-Nuri Mosque of Mosul and its famous leaning...
Gulf crisis: A new tale or a recap of the Southeast Asian story?
James M. Dorsey | Two competing visions of ensuring regime survival are battling it out in the Gulf. To Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,...
Washington’s good terrorists, bad Terrorists policy: Selling Satans as saviors
Nauman Sadiq | Karl Marx famously said that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. The only difference between the Afghan jihad back...
Will the fall of Mosul make Iraq safer?
News Analysis | Iraqi forces began storming the Islamic State-held Old City of Mosul on18 June, in yet another assault they hope will be the...
Iran sits pretty as the Qatar crisis continues to loom
News Analysis | The Qatar saga continues to frustrate peaceniks. For many, this rift between Arab countries is Iran’s hit. As the crisis remains unresolved,...
Increased intervention in Syria: How many targets is the US eyeing?
M. K. Bhadrakumar | The shooting down of a Syrian SU-22 warplane by a US F/A-18E Super Hornet to the south of the city of...
Gulf crisis and new alliances: Where does Pakistan stand?
News Analysis | Bahrain has ordered Qatari troops serving with a coalition fighting the Islamic State group to leave its territory. It comes after Bahrain...
Muslim Brotherhood: the real reason behind Saudi Arabia’s hostility
M. K. Bhadrakumar | Do not be surprised if Arab politics reminds you of Meryl Streep feuding with Dustin Hoffman in the 1979 American drama...
A battle for influence between two monarchies
Yasir Malik | Qatar, a tiny oil-rich nation, an ally of the USA and European powers having a wealth fund of $335 billion is the largest...