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The Deal of the Century
The Palestinian Issue Through the (Very Recent) Ages First, check out Ian Black’s excellent review of GCC-Israel ties. Now, a look back at the past 5 years or so of prominent commentator Abdelrahman al-Rashed’s main articles related to Palestine and the Palestinians. From 2014 – “The Secret of Palestine’s Negotiations” I doubt that Kerry’s plan…
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Qassem Suleimani
[To be updated] Official and Semi-official: Restraint The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs was guarded in its official statement, despite implicitly referencing past Iran-associated actions as justification and motivation for the act. The Kingdom “calls for the importance of self-restraint” to avoid “aggravating the situation, with unbearable consequences.” Adel Jubeir (Minister of State for Foreign…
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The Return of Dhari
This holiday week saw the effective return, or at least rehabilitation, of Saud al-Qahtani, once deemed “the loudest and most visible Saudi official” online or off. This came as part of a round of verdicts announced in the trial of those accused of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs made…
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بينساكولا وعزل الرئيس الأمريكي ألخ
بينساكولا اشتباك سعودي مع مدرب. تواصل هيئة التحقيقات الفدرالية إجراء المقابلات مع الجميع في قاعدة بنساكولا البحرية الجوية التي ربما تكون ذات الصلة… بالملازم الثاني محمد الشمراني، وقد ظهر تقرير جديد أن المتدرب السعودي قدم شكوى رسمية في وقت سابق من هذا العام ضد أحد مدربيه، الذي سبب “غضبًا” في محمد الشمراني باستخدام المدرب لقب…
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Aramco, Pensacola, Etc.
Pensacola Shooting After a Saudi graduate student opened fired on a U.S. Naval base Pensacola, with a handgun purchased inside Florida, condemnations rolled in across Twitter and the Kingdom’s op-ed pages. The unanimity of the Saudi people, government, and King in condemning this cowardly criminal act, committed by a citizen of the Kingdom against a…
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Iran, Aramco, and Other Things
Iran Iran has been a consistent topic of discussion in recent weeks, owing to the framing of uprisings in Lebanon and Iraq as anti-Iranian revolts, protests within Iran itself, and lengthy investigations involving leaked documents that ran in the NYT and the Intercept this past week. The protests within Iran were a “Red Card for…
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Riyadh Agreement and Aramco IPO (11/4 to 11/11)
Riyadh Agreement One of the top stories for local media and commentary was the signing of the Riyadh Agreement, which “ended a three-month standoff that threatened to split the anti-Huthi bloc.” (Peter Salisbury, ICG). A wide range of commentary presented this is a major diplomatic triumph for the Kingdom: Yemen could have been tossed into…
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الرئيس ترامب وموقع تويتر
لم أقدم شيئا باللغة العربية منذ فترة ولكني ظننت أن السلسلة التحقيقة المقدمة من صحيفة النيو يورك تايمز حول استخدام الرئيس ترامب لموقع تتويتر قد يهم البعض. وهي تتكون من 3 أجزاء أترجم اقتباسات منها واحد تلو الاخر في الايام القادمة 1 – في حساب ترامب لتويتر: مؤامرات والعنصريين والجواسيس قام السيد ترامب بإعادة تغريد…
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Lebanon, al-Baghdadi, Other Items
Protests in Lebanon A number of Saudi op-eds over the past two weeks have focused on the ongoing protests in Lebanon – mainly focused on the complete lack of credibility of Lebanon’s political class with protesters, but with much commentary also highlighting (to various degrees) the implications for Hizbullah and its relationship with Iran. Okaz…
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Russia, Turkey, L. Paul Bremer III
Saudi-Russia Ties A fair bit of commentary in Okaz on the Kingdom diversifying its relationships by strengthening ties to Russia – to be updated as more comes in. Update [10/17/2019]: Key Themes of Commentary: The Kingdom pursues a flexible foreign policy that balances old relationships with new, pragmatic engagements – explicitly mentioning the U.S. relationship…
The Bitter Lake
البحيرات المرة
The Bitter Lake 