Commentary

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or P5 +1 nuclear agreement, as its signatories emphasize, is a single issue agreement. It is not necessarily a signal that Iran is opening politically, nor does it indicate that the U.S. has forgotten Iran’s history of supporting terrorist groups. There is a growing suspicion among Arab Gulf states,...

During King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s first year on the throne, he has transformed Saudi Arabia from a status quo power to one that actively seeks to reshape the region’s complex power dynamics. Since taking power, following the death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz on January 23 last year, King Salman has established a formidable Arab...

Yemen’s war is a forgotten catastrophe. Peter Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, stated in August: “Yemen after five months looks like Syria after five years.” All too commonly, civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence in Yemen. According to the United Nations, more than 2,700 people have been...

At a press conference in Riyadh on Jan. 3, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia announced that Saudi Arabia was severing diplomatic relations with Iran. The decision was triggered by the scathing statements that Iran’s highest political and religious authorities issued following Saudi Arabia’s execution of forty seven people it had accused of committing terrorism-related...

2015 was a seminal year in the history of Saudi Arabia. Not only did it mark the passing of King Abdullah who had been de facto monarch since 1995 and the ascension to the throne of his brother Salman, it also ushered in a new era of a more assertive foreign policy and a more...

Amid increasing tensions in the Middle East – with potential consequences for the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen – North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a miniaturized hydrogen nuclear bomb on Wednesday. The test predictably drew swift condemnation from the U.N. Security Council, South Korea and Japan. U.S. Republication presidential contenders attributed it...

Appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, 2015 was a decisive year and even a turning point on several of the most pressing issues facing the Middle East. What looks like chaos and confusion has actually forced clarity on the key players. It may well be remembered as the year in which the United States, perhaps irrevocably,...

In Riyadh, shortly after midnight on Dec. 14, Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammed bin Salman surprised the world when he held a press conference — his first — in which he announced the formation of a new Islamic military coalition against terrorism. Predicated on the premise that Muslims have suffered more from terrorism than...