Relations within the Iran-United States-Saudi Arabia triangle
The civil war in Iraq is raging on – local Sunnis have risen up against the Shiite authorities. The causes of the uprising lie in the Sunni elite’s resentment of its position in the country and in the role played by ...
... Ukraine and Syria dominating media coverage, billions of dollars are moving around to influence the outcomes in those crises. Much of that money comes from sources who have a stake in the outcome of the FIFA investigation; Qatar and their arch rival Saudi Arabia, the United States which has pivoted to a Cold War-style posturing and Russia, which western media sets up as the “bad actor” in the Ukraine situation. Add Edward Snowden and Victor Bout to the mix and Octoberfest becomes Propgandafest....
A groundswell of popular articles and academic monographs are appearing that discuss nuclear guided missile warfare, modernizing delivery platforms, warheads and sophisticated guidance systems. On the power curve one sees a major realignment of diplomatic relationships among major powers that seek to control threats but provide opportunities for new situations to develop. Refugees and fundamentalist agitators have become pawns in the game.
The trend is reinforced by news and expert analysis about...
Badly in need of a partnership with Saudi Arabia, a key state in the Arab and Muslim world, Russia stands to gain from diversified cooperation in areas ranging from hydrocarbons to the Middle East and global security. The two states’ current relationship can hardly be called one of ...
Last week, I had a chance to attend a talk by the eminent New York Times journalist and writer, Stephen Kinzer. Kinzer's talk centered on Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, the countries he wrote about in "Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America's Future." While discussing the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, Kinzer mentioned about the deepening schism in relations between ...
... talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry provide an opening for broader discussions. But these measures do not include mediating and checking the ongoing efforts of feuding regional powers Qatar and Saudi Arabia, whose big money and disruptive tactics have joined with western interests to advance a parallel government and army in Syria. Earlier this year, U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, who was part of the negotiations along with ...
... third stage. This was a big global reshuffle as during the 1960s these powerhouses sold around 85% of the global crude oil – much more than modern OPEC at around 40%. Again, the third stage was followed by a transitional period of 1985 to 1986, as Saudi Arabia pushed for the net-back mechanism across not only petroleum products, but also crude oil. Saudis also began to reject officially manipulated prices by OPEC. We essentially see how net-forward is rejected in favour of net-back and crude oil ...