by Samuel Ramani In mid-October, Russian President Vladimir Putin will make his first visit to Saudi Arabia since 2007. Putin’s trip underscores Russia’s emergence as a major geopolitical stakeholder on the Arabian Peninsula and gives Moscow an opportunity to cement… Continue Reading
by James M. Dorsey Little suggests that fabulously wealthy Gulf states and their Middle Eastern and North African beneficiaries have recognized what is perhaps the most important lesson of this year’s popular uprisings in Algeria and Sudan and the 2011… Continue Reading
by Charles W. Dunne As recently as last June, the de facto alliance between Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt appeared to be in the driver’s seat of US policy on the Middle East, influencing Trump Administration thinking… Continue Reading
by Shana Marshall from the Middle East Research and Information Project In May 2018, Matthew (Matt) Hedges, a PhD student at Durham University in Great Britain, was arrested by United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) authorities while conducting dissertation fieldwork and detained… Continue Reading
by James M. Dorsey A controversial former security official and Abu Dhabi-based political operator, Mohammed Dahlan, has lurked for several years in the shadows of Palestinian politics. Now, he could emerge as a monkey wrench in an attempt to pave… Continue Reading