Tag Archives: UAE

As the US prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan, the regional powers of the Middle East will have a chance to expand their spheres of influence to the war-torn country. Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will soon take their competition to the next level.

This latest debacle shows that the corona crisis is shaking up friendships which seemed infallible. But the UAE stands out in the GCC region as the most likely country to go “rogue” with its geopolitics starting with a row with India over beatings which have increased following the corona pandemic.

Europe must use its diplomatic leverage to ensure that increased Russian involvement does not come at the cost of further destabilization on Europe’s southern border.

Successful state building in Somaliland has raised the stakes of holding – and losing – power. While Somaliland has remained largely committed to democratic government, recurrent political crises and delayed elections risk postponing much needed internal debate.

As the first anniversary of the Saudi decision, to let the oil market determine oil prices approaches, it would be reasonable for OPEC outsiders to interpret Saudi policy shift as designed to serve its interests and those of its Gulf Arab allies rather than their interests and those of OPEC in general. The damage the Saudi decision has inflicted on itself provides reasons for the Saudis to change course.

Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran and other major oil producers are engaged in the oil equivalent of mutually assured destruction. The sharp drop in oil revenue damages each of these countries economically and financially, while the wars they wage directly and indirectly against each other drain resources from vital domestic projects.

Unless a constitutional settlement is reached between Libya's warring regions in the coming months, the country risks division into three independent countries, fears one Benghazi-based blogger.

Pakistan is at a dangerous crossroads, lip-service to the rule of law and accountability thereof erodes the credibility of governance that it desperately needs.

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.

There is a formidable challenge in reversing the consequences of Pakistan’s flawed policies of ‘strategic depth’ and containing the contagion of religious radicalization. Until the government, and its entire security apparatus, drastically revises its strategic matrix, divorces itself from the radical groups it helped create and draws up an internal security strategy, it will find it hard to shake off the image that Pakistan is the crucible of terrorism.