Qatar

How Gulf States became Business Partners in Israel’s Occupation

The professed rationale for the recent Abraham Accords, so-called “peace deals” signed with Israel by the UAE and Bahrain, was to stymie Israeli efforts to annex swaths of the West Bank. The aim was supposedly to neutralise another “peace” plan – one issued early this year by US President Donald Trump’s administration – that approved […]

Qatar: Between the Scylla of Coercion and the Charybdis of Accommodation: aan inquiry into sub-regional geopolitics

[Prefatory Note: Responses to Interview Questions on Sub-Regional Geopolitics in the Persian/Arab Gulf countries, Qods News Agency, 10 Dec 2020. Qatar is caught between seeking the end of the coercive diplomacy led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE and not wanting to end its necessary cooperation with Iran, especially with respect to large maritime natural gas […]

Qatar and Saudi Arabia approach historic breakthrough

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Since June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia ordered a land, air, and sea blockade on Qatar and severed diplomatic ties, along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, and Bahrain. The self-styled “Anti-Terror Quartet” issued Doha 13 demands, including closing media outlets like Al Jazeera, ending ties with Iran, reducing […]

Republican Senator tries to prevent the US from an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator US Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reintroduced the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, on Wednesday. The bill urges the US State Department to designate the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) as a foreign terrorist organization. Republican Senators. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Ron Johnson […]

The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum: Will it save Libya or destroy the country?

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), organized by the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and led by Stephanie Williams, former US Charge d’Affaires in Libya, opened in Tunis on November 9. At stake are Libya’s future, the holding of elections, and the composition of the transitional authorities that will […]

The Trump Swamp Rears Its Ugly Head Again-- Elliott Broidy

I believe the first time I heard of Elliott Broidy was when the NY Times revealed him to be working with a very right-wing shady Mercer family SuperPAC, Secure America Now (SAN), which Broidy was using to leverage the Trump regime into filling key positions with individuals favorable to-- meaning, like Broidy himself, bought off by-- the Saudi and UAE governments. Mercer was one of just 4 uber-wealthy far-right and very crooked contributors providing SAN with the millions of dollars it needed for its entirely nefarious projects.