Riyadh polices its streets and cafés with a fearsome rigor, but it doesn’t seem to know how to shut down the chatter on Twitter and Facebook
Saudi Arabia
Must-Reads from Around the World, June 26, 2012
Today’s global stories delve into the prospects for peace in Kashmir, Paraguay’s presidential impeachment and the Queen’s historic visit to Northern Ireland.
Saudi Arabia’s Heir to the Throne: Meet Crown Prince Salman
Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud is the latest heir to the Saudi throne. Is he here to stay?
A Death in The Family. Saudi Arabia’s Succession Saga
With the death of Crown Prince Nayaf, Saudi Arabia braces for a new round of musical thrones
Must-Reads from Around the World, June 11, 2012
Must reads for June 11: What will Spain’s bailout really achieve? Who killed Li Wangyang? And will any of Mexico’s presidential hopefuls solve the country’s bloody narco crisis?
Why the U.S. Won’t Give Up on Kofi Annan’s Syria Plan
Senator John McCain may be cranking up the political heat on the Obama Administration over Syria amid reports of a new massacre at Hama, but don’t expect Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to berate Kofi Annan over the failure …
Must-Reads From Around the World: April 24, 2012
China’s Crisis – As the Bo Xilai saga continues, the New York Times reveals that for much of the last decade, while the now-disgraced official was moving up the ranks of the Communist Party, his relatives were using his …
As Kofi Annan Arrives to Mediate, Syria’s Assad Regime is Far From Beaten
The defection of Syria’s deputy oil minister to the country’s year-old rebellion briefly captured headlines on Thursday, hailed in the West as a hopeful sign that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad may be starting to …
Peacekeepers for Syria? Not While There’s No Peace to Keep
As Arab and Western diplomats work to fashion tools to pressure the Syrian regime to end its military response to a year-old rebellion, an unrelenting artillery exacts a terrible daily toll on the residents of rebel-held Sunni …
U.N. Security Council Meets: Syria’s Assad May Be Under Pressure, but He’s Not on His Way Out Yet
As geopolitical heavyweights gather in New York on Tuesday for a U.N. Security Council discussion on Syria’s increasingly bloody struggle for power, the Obama Administration insists the writing is on the wall: Syrian President …
As Iran Rattles Its Saber, Should the U.S. Still Ally Itself with Saudi Arabia?
The White House’s Dec. 29 announcement of a $30 billion sale of 84 F-15SA fighter jets to Saudi Arabia came with a lot of subtext. The deal, part of an earlier $60 billion arms agreement between Washington and Riyadh, is slated …
Ten Grim Lessons Learned From the Iraq War
Despite the upbeat talk of the Obama Administration, the eight-year war that ended this week has done plenty of long-term damage to both Iraq and the United States. And it has bequeathed lessons worth considering ahead of future conflicts
Yemen’s Saleh Agrees to Transfer Power: Will His Country Find Peace?
Combative to the end, embattled Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh signed an agreement in Riyadh today that will see him transfer power to his vice president, launching a new chapter in a 10-month saga that has seen some 1,300 killed in near daily street clashes and tens of thousands wounded. With hands stiffened and deformed by …