... region is divided based on each country’s national interests which contradict other states. Regarding the civil war in Libya, security will aggravate in the country, mainly in Tripoli, unless an agreement is reached among militant groups in addition to Turkey, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, the USA and Russia. The impeachment process of US President Donald Trump and the US role in the MENA region would determine the future of conflicts in many countries starting from Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya and the future government in Lebanon, Iraq and Algeria, Turkey ...
... in countries throughout much of the world? How should the Coalition against the Islamic State deal with such a scenario?
The Question of Qatar
As the proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran intensifies throughout the ‘wider Middle East,’ U.S. and Russian mediation appears absolutely crucial to calm tensions between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran. After Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain
accused
Qatar (and Qatari individuals) of supporting the Moslem Brotherhood and Hamas, among other “terrorist” groups, including the Islamic State — in addition to accusing Qatar of working closely with Iran.
Saudi Arabia’s 13 demands on Qatar — with ...
... with Iran but also Israel, without much regard for the Arab League boycott, while simultaneously financing Hamas and the Palestinian resistance movement and assisting the Gaza population.
Many countries wish to act as mediators and peacemakers in the Qatar conflict. Kuwait, Oman, Turkey and even Russia are all ready to offer assistance in the hopes of alleviating the tensions. Rumors have it that the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah, who has just paid a visit to Doha, has already achieved some progress in reconciling the parties. Even so, the rigidity ...
... that the United States now is a major player in the region.
Russia in the region
An important trend in 2016 is that Russia has managed to expand significantly the circle of its partners in the Middle East. We can note the high level of cooperation of Russia with Egypt, Israel, new partners in the Gulf, such as Bahrain, some progress in relations with Qatar, cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the energy sector, particularly in oil production, and, of course, the normalization of relations with Turkey, including the beginning of cooperation between Moscow and Ankara on the Syrian crisis, which is completely new and unexpected trend. In fact, by the end of the year, Turkey has replaced the United States as a Russian partner on the Syrian crisis ...
... of late.
Debka, a website with close ties to the Israeli defense and intelligence communities, posits that both Bandar and Kochavi made "miscalculations".
Bandar had sealed his fate last year during his secret visit outside Moscow with Russian president Vladimir Putin. He bragged that Riyadh controlled Chechen extremists in Russia, and that he would unleash them on the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics unless Putin ended his support for the Assad regime in Syria.
Haaretz and Al Monitor reported ...
