America’s Outdated Special Relationship with Saudi Arabia

by Ryan Suto The current US presidential campaign debate on Middle East policy has focused disproportionately on the US response to the Islamic State (ISIS or IS). This series will focus instead on five alternative Middle East policy challenges facing… Continue Reading

Gulf Cooperation Council: Reality or Fiction?

by Eldar Mamedov In the aftermath of the implementation of the nuclear agreement with Iran, there has been abundant commentary on the need to reassure the Gulf allies of the West. The fear is that a richer Iran, unshackled from… Continue Reading

New Saudi Budget: The Good, the Bad, and the Potentially Ugly

by Thomas W. Lippman It hardly came as a surprise that the Saudi Arabian government budget for the upcoming fiscal year, approved by the cabinet the weekend after Christmas, projects a yawning deficit. Economic analysts knew it was coming; the… Continue Reading

World Leaders Yawn at Saudi Human Rights Abuses

by Brian Dooley When the Islamic State beheads captives, it’s nothing less than “an assault on all humanity,” President Obama told the UN last week. Good for you, Mr President, you’re right to be indignant and angry when prisoners have their heads… Continue Reading