Middle Eastern conflicts always unfold on multiple levels — think 3-D chess — and for Israel the most relevant level of the crisis in Syria is what it says about the world’s approach not to Syria, but to Iran. As the U.S. …
Bashar Assad
Arab League Shies Away from Fully Backing Syrian Intervention
The Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi spoke with CNN about a potential western-backed airstrike on Syria. Despite condemning the Syrian regime for its reported use of chemical weapons on its own civiliians, al-Arabi warned that U.S.-led strikes could intensify anti-American feeling in the region.
Assad Taunts U.S. Over Iraq, Vietnam
Assad said intervention would bring “failure just like in all the previous wars they waged”
Lebanon Car-Bombings Latest Sign of Middle East’s Deepening Hatreds
On Aug. 23, Muslims in Lebanon’s majority Sunni city of Tripoli congregated as usual for Friday prayers. But just as the prayers ended, an enormous blast hit the al-Taqwa mosque in Abu Ali Square. Just a few minutes later, a …
The Known Knowns and Known Unknowns of a Chemical Attack in Syria
On Thursday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius offered what is perhaps the most vehement reaction so far to opposition allegations that the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad used chemical-warfare agents against …
The Failed Saudi-Russian Talks: Desperate Diplomacy as Syria Implodes
Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief reportedly offered Russian President Vladimir Putin a multibillion-dollar arms deal to curb Moscow’s support for the Syrian regime
Qatar’s Geopolitical Gamble: How the Gulf State May Have Overreached
Nearly three weeks after Egypt’s military forced the country’s President Mohamed Morsi out of office and jailed him and officials of his Muslim Brotherhood party, the explosive reaction on Cairo’s streets has brought death …
After Morsi’s Ousting, Egypt Swears in New President, Cracks Down on the Muslim Brotherhood
Egypt’s sudden military-enforced transition from the reign of former President Mohamed Morsi continued on Thursday as Adli Mansour was sworn in as interim president while the security crackdown on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood …
Qatar’s Leadership Shake-Up: Powerful Emir to Step Down for 33-Year-Old Son
Residents of Qatar can finally stop holding their breath. On Monday evening, the nation’s official Qatar News Agency announced that on Tuesday morning Qatar’s Emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, 61, will address the nation …
Syria’s Air-Defense Arsenal: The Russian Missiles Keeping Assad in Power
Boasting about one’s weaponry is nothing unusual in war, where there’s little way of confirming the veracity of the claim. In that, Syrian President Bashar Assad was following a long tradition of wartime leaders, when he told …
The Syrian Chessboard: Behind the Game Played by Russia, Israel, the U.S. and Other Powers
The umbrella group representing Syria’s rebellion on the world stage announced on Thursday that they would not attend peace talks proposed to take place in Geneva during June, a flat rejection that might appear to sideline the …
Top Russian Diplomat Explains Reasons for Syrian Arms Sales
In the past two weeks, the U.S. and its allies have done just about everything short of getting down on their collective knees and begging Russia to stop delivering weapons to the Syrian government. President Vladimir Putin has …
Syria’s Opposition Hopes to Win the War by Selling Oil
Given the many resolutions on Syria that have hit a brick wall at the U.N. Security Council, and the endless wrangling among Western leaders over how to end the calamitous two-year war, the April 22 decision by E.U. foreign …