Why the Gulf Arab States Are Tailor-Made Allies for Israel

19 Aug 20206 Sep 2020

Posted originally to Antiwar.com on 19 August 2019. Israel-GCC ties were strategic even before the first official Israel-GCC diplomatic normalization took place recently with the UAE. For Israel, the mode…

Why Israel is in no position to forcibly implement the ‘Deal of the Century’

1 Feb 20201 Feb 2020

Posted originally to Express Tribune blogs on 1 February 2019. US President Donald Trump announced with the attendance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House the ‘Deal…

Pakistan: A candidate for supporting the ‘Deal of the Century’?

27 Jan 202027 Apr 2020

Posted originally to Express Tribune Blogs on 27 January 2019. While difficult to predict how Pakistan would react, the scenario where it is deemed suitable by the makers of the…

Rapid GCC requests for US-Iran de-escalation recall who really wants the war

17 Jan 202023 Jan 2020

Posted originally to Express Tribune blogs on 17 January 2020. The Gulf Arabs’ urgent engagement with the US to urge de-escalation with Iran from the current crescendo reached after the…

Lessons in tenacity: Why Pakistan should learn from Turkey

4 Jan 202017 Jan 2020

Posted originally to The Express Tribune on 4 January 2020. When faced with the seemingly unyielding support of its ostensible NATO ‘partners’ for Kurdish secessionists in the Syrian-Turkish border regions,…

Saudi fragility makes Imran’s volte-face on Malaysia Summit more embarrassing

21 Dec 201919 Aug 2020

Posted originally to Express Tribune blogs on 21 December 2019. The flawed gains-and-losses calculus of Imran Khan’s PTI government recently produced what may well be the most aberrational and peculiar…

Will the Israel-GCC alliance prop up Hindu nationalist India?

17 Dec 201921 Dec 2019

Posted originally to American Herald Tribune on 17 December 2019. Indo-Israeli ties have always been deep and underscored by ideological affinity, with Israel even in the years prior to having…

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…

Netanyahu’s Election Loss: Reasons and Regional Consequences

22 Oct 201925 Oct 2019

Posted originally as an issue brief to Islamabad Policy Institute on 19 September 2019. Benjamin Netanyahu’s 10-year continuous stint at Israeli Prime Minister is coming to an end, with his…

Putin’s ‘doubts’ on Iran’s alertness on ISIS: A reminder of Russia’s true alignment

13 Oct 201925 Oct 2019

Posted originally to One World on 13 October 2019. Hesitancy persists among many in the media regarding owning up to just how radically different in some aspects geopolitical alliances in…