... White House. Although the American presence on Saudi territory provides Riyadh with a sense of security, true faith in allied guarantees is gone. Moreover, since the greater part of the dialogue between Russia and the Gulf states has been focused on Syria with Moscow's stance coming across as the most principled, the Saudis tend to think (reasonably or not) that the solution to the Syria conundrum should be sought in Moscow rather than in Washington.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/Pixstream
Yuri Barmin:
...
... 21st, 2015
Originally published on LinkedIn Pulse here and also published by Stupidparty Math v. Myth thanks to Patrick Andendall and by Tuck Magazine.
Other articles in this series:
Grading Obama’s Middle East Strategy (Sensibly): Part II: Syria
The cocks who crow “failure” every time the sun rises about the Obama Administration’s overall Middle East strategy—and we will be hearing their mindless crowing at its highest decibels since the competition within the ...
The well-known recent gains by jihadists in Syria and Iraq, both in the military and the political spheres, have become an issue of serious concern for the Russian leadership. Unlike the West and many regional partners in the fight against terrorism, Russia continues to see President Bashar al- ...
... and the political vacuum that followed to Iran’s growing influence in the region.
Islamic State occupies leading positions in the global jihad movement today due to a number of internal and external factors. However, recent developments on the Syrian front, where Islamic State is conquering territories controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra and
other Islamic groups
, the outbreak of armed confrontation between supporters of the Caliphate and the Taliban in Afghanistan, as well as the intensified conflict ...
... reconcile the US with its long-time partners in the region, the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The ties that have been weakening during Obama’s presidency have suffered a major blow due to Washington’s reluctance to stand by the Gulf states in Syria and more recently due to America’s decision to engage with Iran. Gulf monarchies are disturbed by the possibility of a real thaw in US-Iran relations as a result of the nuclear deal and see it as a major threat to their interests. The fact ...
April has been a month of vibrant Russian foreign policy activity in the Middle East. A number of Middle Eastern leaders visited Moscow; Russian diplomats held the second consultative meeting between representatives of the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition; Russian planes evacuated all Russian citizens from Yemen, as well as citizens other countries, including the United States and Europe; Russia took an active part in reaching an interim solution in the Iranian ...
Media outlets and government circles both cringe and squirm when the subject of Westerners leaving the West to go fight in Syria and Iraq with the Islamic State arises. While acquiring data and calculating accurate numbers wildly diverges from source to source, there is no doubt that ANY number simply makes countries like the United States uncomfortable and perplexed: in ...
... task of resisting jihadists both from the outside (the Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front) and from the inside, amidst unstable legislative and executive branches and a dire humanitarian situation caused by economic difficulties and the influx of Syrian refugees.
The Lebanese army and weapons to Lebanon
The position of Lebanese authorities on the strategy to combat ISIS has been formed in response to real threats to Lebanon. It is based on the country’s own assessment of developments in ...
... least from the start of the Iran–Iraq war in 1980. Only the protagonists change (with the exception of Iraq itself). The new force is the Islamic State of Iraq, a terrorist group that sprang up in Iraq and achieved success in the civil war in Syria, success that enabled it to reformat itself, expand and get a new name – the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) – and make a triumphant return to Iraq. During a lightning offensive in the summer of 2014, ISIS instantly occupied ...
... Russia, America, and the state of their relationship is the lack of measured and reasoned commentary. Make no mistake, though, the problems between Russia and America are serious and affect a whole host of major issues around the world from wars in Syria and Ukraine to global energy distribution, access, and prices, to space exploration and militarization, just to name a few.
Perhaps this is understandable, given the nature of the history of the most serious, dangerous rivalry the world has ever ...
