Commentary

Amid the crazy quilt of billionaires, Republican insiders and retired generals who are populating president-elect Donald J Trump’s emerging cabinet, the Gulf states and other US Middle East allies are among the few outside of his core supporters with something real to cheer about already: his choice for secretary of defence, retired Gen James Mattis....

The first British Prime Minister to ever address a Gulf Cooperation Council summit, Theresa May, pledged on Wednesday in the Bahraini capital, Manama, to enhance security and defense cooperation with the alliance. “Gulf security is our security. I want to assure you that I am clear-eyed about the threat that Iran poses to the Gulf...

The unfolding tragedy in Aleppo is not only a humanitarian and moral disaster, but it is a political calamity as well. All the worst actors are poised to be the big winners from what appears to be the imminent collapse of rebel groups in the besieged eastern half of the city. The Syrian regime and...

The Gulf states are acknowledging a difficult truth: the oil and gas–powered, state-led economic development model that lifted them from isolation and poverty less than a century ago must change. Times, and Gulf societies, have changed. A new Saudi push for economic reform is an admission that the state can no longer provide everything for...

Like millions of other Americans, I watched Tuesday night’s election results first with cautious optimism, then creeping foreboding, followed by mounting alarm giving way, ultimately, to utter horror. A uniquely unqualified, unfit, and potentially dangerous man has been swept to power by outraged rural and exurban voters drawn to his populist demagoguery. The disdain with...

Call it an “American intifada”. The election of Donald Trump was a virtual rebellion by the rural and suburban lower-middle class against the educated urbanites who usually define American culture and society. It was not just an uprising against Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. It was as much against the leadership of the Republican...

In these pages last month, I outlined a number of reasons why the Gulf states should be cautiously optimistic about US foreign policy in a Hillary Clinton administration, given that the Democratic nominee is extremely likely to become the next president. But there are several additional factors, both positive and negative from a Gulf perspective,...

With less than three weeks to go before the American presidential election, virtually all credible observers believe that Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is now assured of victory. It’s therefore reasonable to begin to look at what a Clinton administration might mean for international relations, particularly from the point of view of the Gulf states.