The Israeli Interest in Ending the Blockade of Qatar

12 Feb 202112 Feb 2021

Posted originally to Antiwar.com on 12 February 2020. Jared Kushner’s role in the recent Qatar-GCC normalization is arguably its most noteworthy aspect. Given his profile and the context of his key role…

Is Eurasian integration Israel’s answer to strategic deadlock in the Levant?

26 Dec 202012 Feb 2021

Posted originally to The Tehran Times on 26 December 2020. Making US Middle East policy near-indistinguishable from its own had certain immediate advantages for Israel, but long-term caveats. The bonus…

Deciphering Iran’s declaration of support for Turkey’s allies in Libya

29 Jun 20204 Oct 2020

Posted originally to Islamabad Policy Institute (IPI) on 29 June 2020. Iran’s recent statement of support to the Turkish-backed Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) may come as a surprise…

How a Subtle Turkey-Iran Entente is Helping Iran Secure a Firm Presence in Syria

18 Apr 202018 Apr 2020

Posted originally to MintPress News on 24 February 2020 as Part 3 of a 3 Part series on the evolved geopolitical scenario in Syria. In stark contrast to their positions…

Russia and Iran’s Clashing Visions for Syria’s Future

18 Apr 202030 Nov 2020

Posted originally to MintPress News on 7 February 2020 as part of a 3-Part series on the evolved geopolitical scenario in Syria. Rivals of the West in their own right,…

Wealthy Gulf States Plan to Spend Big to Coax Syria Away from Iran

18 Apr 202029 Jun 2020

Posted originally to MintPress News on 31 January 2020 as Part 1 of a 3-Part Series on the evolved geopolitical scenario in Syria. Since the dawn of the 2011 Syrian…

Erdogan’s Idlib misadventure: Reality checks and hard lessons for Turkey

3 Apr 202018 Apr 2020

Posted originally to MintPress News on 3 April 2020. Even when viewed through the prism of Turkish interests, President Tayyib Erdogan’s escalatory actions in Syria’s Idlib governorate constitute now plainly…

Is Pakistan’s US-Centrism Ceding Regional Strategic & Economic Power To India?

13 Mar 202016 Nov 2020

Posted originally to OneWorld on 13 March 2020. The present Pakistani government’s attempts to jockey the US for support have been met with constant affirmation of the Indo-US alliance. The…

The falsehood that is the ‘Persian-Arab conflict’ narrative

2 Nov 201918 Nov 2019

Posted originally to The Express Tribune Blogs on 2 November 2019. Discredited and archaic explanatory frameworks are superposed onto geopolitical conflicts and rivalries at the expense of accurate appraisal of…

How Russia’s vision for the Middle East is rigged against Iran

22 Oct 201924 Feb 2020

Posted originally to American Herald Tribune on 22 October 2019. Stanislav Ivanov writing for the prestigious Russian state-run Valdai Club recently described ‘Israel and most of the Arab countries’ as…