Special to WorldTribune.com By Yossef Bodansky, Senior Editor, Global Information System / Defense & Foreign Affairs [Editor’s note: The following full-length report by Yossef Bodansky details Russia’s unambiguous response to the growing jihadist threat in Syria and the Middle East that has remarkably been aided and abetted at several junctures by Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia […]
Special to WorldTribune.com GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs The aggressive opportunism of Eritrean President Isayas Afewerke is close to an implosion, but the prospect exists that the 69-year-old former revolutionary will lash out in a final attempt to reassert some regional relevance and to preserve his government. Certainly, he has done nothing to build an economic […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Concerned they will be overwhelmed by the social and political impact of a huge influx of refugees, wealthy Gulf states are highly unlikely to change their practice of keeping asylum seekers out. The UN convention on refugees, which has governed international law on asylum since World War II, includes exactly zero Gulf […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Qatar is sending 1,000 troops to join the Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. A Qatari official confirmed the deployment on Sept. 8 and said the troops, armed with heavy ground weapons, were “ready to fight.” The Qatari forces were positioned at Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia and “should be […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif went on a one-day, three-country Mideast tour on July 26 to defend a nuclear deal that many Arab countries are vehemently opposed to. Zarif’s charm offensive in the Gulf included stops in Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq. Teheran has insisted the nuclear deal will not change its […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Gregory R. Copley, and Dr. Assad Homayoun GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs I’ve reached the end of this great history And all the land will talk of me: I shall not die, these seeds I’ve sown will save My name and reputation from the grave, And men of sense and wisdom will […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Gregory R. Copley, Editor, GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs It is probable that history will mark early 2015 as the end of the Arab-Israeli war, a conflict which has lasted since 1948, when the modern State of Israel was proclaimed. However, the end of “the Arab-Israeli war” by no means marks the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs, Abuja. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan (People’s Democratic Party: PDP) on March 31, conceded defeat in the March 28-29, presidential election, paving the way for Maj.-Gen. (Ret.) Muhammadu Buhari, 72, to be sworn-in as President on May 29. However, there remain concerns that the present uniformed military leadership, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry lobbied Gulf Arab leaders today on behalf of the Obama administration’s upcoming rapproachement with Iran. Subsequent statements by Saudi leaders indicated they remain skeptical of U.S. intentions and are concerned about Iran’s rising profile in the region. After meeting with Saudi King Salman and Foreign Minister […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Yossef Bodansky, Senior Editor, Global Information System / Defense & Foreign Affairs The consolidation of a self-proclaimed Caliphate in eastern Libya provides the jihadist camp with springboard into Africa and southern Europe. That strategic thrust, supported strongly by Qatar, Sudan, Iran, and Turkey, has already begun, and highlights the transformation of […]