Tag Archives: Bahrain

Trump Fast Forwarded Pullout From Iraq?

The US hostilities are likely to not only derail the Afghan peace process but also, possibly turn western Afghanistan into another battleground for the US-Iran proxy war.

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Why Increasing Arab-Israeli Closeness Matters

With the opening of a synagogue in Dubai and warmer relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, some Arab states suddenly appear to be more open to friendship with Israel and Jews. Why?

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Growing Food Trade, Shrinking Self-Sufficiency

Growing demand for food and fuel has put pressure on the world’s agricultural lands to produce more. Now, a trend in “land grabbing” has emerged, as wealthy countries lease or buy farms and agribusiness in poorer countries to ensure their own future supplies.

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Saudi Arabia Using Oil as Weapon

With ongoing proxy wars in Syria and Iraq, Saudi Arabia risks instigating an oil war with Russia and Iran -- a war that the kingdom can perhaps win in the short term. But like sectarian conflict, Saudi actions threaten to spark a conflagration that can spin out of everyone's control.

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Pakistan: Protecting the Economic Skies

Pakistan’s powerful aviation mafia consisting of both public and private sector interest has pushed the country’s national flag carrier to the brink. But one analyst believes Pakistan will succeed in making the Pakistan International Airlines a profitable entity only if appointments are made on merit in PIA and and the civil aviation administration.

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UK Court Revokes Immunity of Bahraini Prince

The son of the King of Bahrain, Prince Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, may have to revise his travel itinerary — the London High Court has ruled that the royal son is no longer immune from prosecution in UK courts over torture claims.

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Kingdom of Slaves

The unspeakable abuse of foreign laborers in the Gulf underscores a dark underside to the modern, glossy exterior the GCC states like to showcase to the world. In the absence of a powerful labor movement in the Gulf, the GCC’s millions of suffering foreign laborers will have to hope that their home countries can protect them abroad, even if they couldn’t provide jobs at home.

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Bahrain: Seeing Through the Fog

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was full of tough talk when he visited the island kingdom of Bahrain in early December. The United States, he vowed, will continue to guard “the free flow of energy and commerce” from the Persian Gulf and keep Iran nuclear-free, through the presence of 35,000 U.S. military personnel or the (as-yet-unproven) regional missile defense system.   Hagel also trumpeted …

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Iran: New Emerging Geopolitics in the Middle East

While many Americans’ eyes were glued to the TV regarding the dysfunction of government in Washington, eyes elsewhere in the world were observing the current geopolitical and potential geo-strategic changes taking place in the Middle East. The news from Washington diverted attention from the horrible civil war in Syria and the renewal of negotiations among the five permanent members — …

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