Washington to Whomever: Please Fight the Islamic State for Us Washington to Whomever: Please Fight the Islamic State for Us
Why the Gulf states, the Kurds, the Turks, the Sunnis, and the Shia won’t fight America’s war.
Dec 10, 2015 / Peter Van Buren
To Defeat ISIS, We Must Call Both Western and Muslim Leaders to Account To Defeat ISIS, We Must Call Both Western and Muslim Leaders to Account
And that includes the Saudi kings whose funding of Wahhabi doctrine gave rise to the scourge of Islamic extremism.
Nov 15, 2015 / Editorial / Laila Lalami
France Should Stop Listening to Saudi Arabia on Syria France Should Stop Listening to Saudi Arabia on Syria
ISIS is the most urgent threat to the West stemming from the Syrian war and must be destroyed. Assad’s murderous dictatorship can be dealt with next.
Nov 15, 2015 / Juan Cole
The Saudis Are Stumbling. They May Take the Middle East with Them. The Saudis Are Stumbling. They May Take the Middle East with Them.
America’s leading Sunni ally is proving how easily hubris, delusion, and old-fashioned ineptitude can trump even bottomless wealth.
Nov 12, 2015 / Conn Hallinan
Will Iran Abandon the Vienna Peace Talks on Syria? Will Iran Abandon the Vienna Peace Talks on Syria?
Its invitation was unprecedented—but Tehran’s attendance may fall victim to the regional proxy war with Saudi Arabia.
Nov 3, 2015 / Juan Cole
The Biggest Winners of the Arab Spring? Dictators The Biggest Winners of the Arab Spring? Dictators
While authoritarian rule appears to provide stability over the short term, it breeds discontent and affirms the idea that violence is the only way to be heard.
Oct 9, 2015 / Mohamad Bazzi
The US Massacre in Kunduz Exposes the Bankruptcy of Obama’s National-Security Policy The US Massacre in Kunduz Exposes the Bankruptcy of Obama’s National-Security Policy
Air power inflicts horrific human-rights violations and has been thoroughly discredited as a means of fighting insurgencies.
Oct 6, 2015 / Feature / Bob Dreyfuss
How One Man Laid the Groundwork for Today’s Crisis in the Middle East How One Man Laid the Groundwork for Today’s Crisis in the Middle East
We’re still paying the price of Henry Kissinger’s “grand strategies.”
Sep 28, 2015 / Greg Grandin
Yemen, the World’s Next Great Refugee Crisis Yemen, the World’s Next Great Refugee Crisis
As the civil war heats up amid intervention by the Gulf monarchies, thousands are fleeing every day.
Sep 9, 2015 / Juan Cole
The US-Backed Saudi Coalition Is Winning in Yemen The US-Backed Saudi Coalition Is Winning in Yemen
But will a devastated country destabilize the region?
Aug 19, 2015 / Juan Cole