by Paul R. Pillar Although President Trump is wisely resisting starting a new war in the Middle East, the dead-end nature of his failed “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran has put him on the spot to do something, after last… Continue Reading
by François Nicoullaud Who exactly carried out the September 14 attacks on two major oil facilities in Saudi Arabia? Was it the Houthis? The Iranians? Some combination of the two? It does not really matter, as most already consider Iran… Continue Reading
by Lawrence Wilkerson The Persian Gulf and its entryway, the Strait of Hormuz, have been a cockpit of U.S. strategic interest since President Jimmy Carter declared, in his January 1980 State of the Union address, that “An attempt by any… Continue Reading
by International Crisis Group For much of 2019, Crisis Group has warned that a trigger event could spark direct military confrontation between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, on one side, and Iran on the other, precipitating a regional conflagration. The… Continue Reading
by James M. Dorsey Neither Saudi Arabia nor the United States is rushing to retaliate for a brazen, allegedly Iranian attack that severely damaged two of the kingdom’s key oil facilities. That is not to say that Saudi Arabia and/or… Continue Reading