Rekindling relations
After closed-door negotiations from March 6 to March 10 in Beijing, China, a joint trilateral statement by China, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced the rekindling of good neighbourly relations between…
Fatwas don’t work with terrorists
Pakistan’s establishment understands only too well why fatwas (religious edicts) against terrorism never work with terrorists. Its ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) partnered with America’s CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) to create the…
Cause of war
“Never let a good crisis go to waste”, is a quote often misattributed to Winston Churchill. It could also be the motto of the fossil fuel industry. The day before…
Renewed US-Russia rift threatens slim Syria peace hope
The latest US and Russian bid to find enough common ground on which to build some hope for Syria is in trouble, just days ahead of talks that could make…
Border policing
On September 22, as I descended from the ferry into the bustling port of Lesbos, Greece, I was stopped by a police officer. “Don’t worry, it’s just a security check,”…
The real villain
WHEN arrangements were underway last year for an unlikely meeting at Camp David between Donald Trump and the Taliban, it was decided at the highest levels of the US government…
Turkey support key as US seeks to hold on in Syria
The Islamic State group may be on the run from its last bastion in Syria but the United States is gearing up for a longer stay in the country. And…
Global balancing acts
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, the first president of Israel, and other founding members of the Zionist state could go to any extent to serve the interest of their community – hobnobbing…
With Taliban deal, US shifts away from two decades of global war
In making peace with the Taliban, the United States is moving to end its longest-ever war and also signalling a major shift: After two decades, an era of global US…
Minimal gains for Erdogan in Syria ceasefire deal
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came home with the Syrian ceasefire he wanted from his meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, but the deal leaves key challenges unresolved, not the least the…
