... clear-cut even from the beginning. Understandably, all the regional powers were keeping a close look on the events even before the first shots had been fired. That was almost a given when considering the strategic position of Yemen at the border with Saudi Arabia and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, a crucial passage for the maritime oil trade through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Photo from: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/yemen4.htm
To continue to the more interesting angles,...
... cooperation between the two organizations.
During the meeting the sides discussed prospects for holding joint scientific and expert events. The Saudi side proposed to run this year a conference on the present stage of bilateral relations between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Such an initiative could contribute to discussing a wide range of obstacles that hinder multilateral cooperation between the two countries. Economic projects and the work of the media were noted as the key directions in this respect.
RIAC ...
... characteristics of crowdfunding schemes that change on a daily basis, much like markets that post profits and losses. Welcome to crowdfunding with the enemy. Here'show it works.
Reuters and CNN buzzed up a tenuous agreement between Russia and Saudi Arabia to freeze oil output at current “maximum” production levels( no reduction in production). But this initiative can't move forward without the approval of Iran, who want to increase production and earn hard currency. What ...
... extent the Arab monarchies and Iran are ready to cooperate.
The Arabian monarchies allied to the U.S. see the approach as shortsighted, although frustration with President Obama’s course of action is hardly the primary factor that has pushed Saudi Arabia into confronting Iran. Nevertheless, against the backdrop of a major economic recession, a crisis of governance and domestic volatility, this sense has definitely exacerbated Riyadh’s feeling of uncertainty, as well a loss of regional ...
President Barack Obama, seeking to shape his legacy, said that COP 21 makes the United States, which did not ratify the earlier Kyoto Protocol, “the world leader in fighting climate change.”
But Obama will not be around to lead the COP 21 fight, which is not scheduled to start until 2020. By that time another U.S. president will be campaigning for reelection.
Adding drama to the conversation, U.S. secretary of state John Kerry calls climate change “an existential threat...a...
The
crisis
that erupted between Saudi Arabia and Iran recently has been brewing for years now. There is no arguing that the two countries have never been allies but since the start of the armed conflict in Syria they found themselves directly challenging each other’s interests....
"Daesh has a mother: the invasion of Iraq. But it also has a father: Saudi Arabia and its religious-industrial complex. Until that point is understood, battles may be won, but the war will be lost. Jihadists will be killed, only to be reborn again in future generations and raised on the same books." This is an
excerpt
...
... diplomatic attention that it has attracted, but also in terms of the staggering variety of foreign troops officially and unofficially operating on Syrian territory. This comes at a time when the long-term regional role of key players such as the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, remains up in the air. This report aims to remedy this communication lacuna by furnishing readers with Russian and GCC perspectives on the issue, delivered by researchers specializing in Gulf strategic issues.
Introduction
The ...
... clear that the Kingdom would grant lucrative arms contracts to Russia (most notably the Russian mobile surface-to-air missile system S-400) on the condition that it curbs military cooperation with Iran. The “S-400 diplomacy” between Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran then proved to be a bargaining tool in the hands of Riyadh. More recently, in 2013 and 2014, Prince Bandar (who was then the Saudi intelligence chief) paid several visits to Vladimir Putin and reiterated proposals of colossal billion-worth ...
... December 2015 stands at $66 per barrel, this would reduce oil prices to an estimated $56). The World Bank estimates that a drop of $10 in oil prices could negatively impact the fiscal balances of major oil exporters in the MENA region, shaving 5% off Saudi Arabia’s GDP and 10% off Libya’s GDP. This would correspond to a loss of $40 billion for Saudi Arabia and $5 billion for Libya in annual oil export revenues. Meanwhile, the EU and United States, as the largest oil importers, would gain ...
