by Paul R. Pillar The recent intensification of Saudi-Iranian tension also has intensified the all-too-habitual urge, in debate about U.S. foreign policy, to take sides in other nations’ conflicts even in the absence of any treaty obligations to do so… Continue Reading
by Thomas W. Lippman The Obama administration’s reaction to the mass executions in Saudi Arabia on New Year’s Day came in the form of a mildly worded statement issued over the holiday weekend by State Department spokesman John Kirby.
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
by Thomas W. Lippman Not since the royal power struggle of the 1950s have the rivalries and conflicts within the ruling family of Saudi Arabia burst into public view as they have in the past two weeks. The British newspaper The… Continue Reading
by Thomas W. Lippman One of the most predictable, scripted events in Washington is a visit to the White House by a foreign leader during which neither the president nor his visitor wants to make any real news. A classic… Continue Reading