Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Hazem Ayyad
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What will become of the American-Saudi review in relations?
The Wall Street Journal reported Saudi officials privately saying that the kingdom could sell US Treasury bonds held by Riyadh if Congress passed legislation against OPEC. While American newspaper the New York Times revealed the details of a secret deal between Washington and Riyadh last May to increase Riyadh’s oil...
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The geopolitical consequences of the OPEC+ agreement
Amir Hossein Zamani Nia, Iran’s OPEC governor, announced when he left a meeting with representatives of the 13 member states of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their ten allies – known as OPEC+ – the decision to reduce oil production by two million barrels per day...
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The erosion of Israeli deterrence and its reflection on the West Bank
Israeli Defence Minister, Benny Gantz, summed up the tense scene in the Gaza envelope by saying: Life will not be normal in the Gaza Strip as long as the life routine is not normal in the settlements of the Gaza envelope. The settlers in this area complained about the...
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Will Xi and Putin succeed in creating a ‘new era’?
Putin used his visit to Beijing on Friday, 4 February, to promote a new gas deal with China, estimated at $117.5 billion to escape the expected sanctions of NATO and the EU in the event of failure to reach an agreement on Ukraine and the guarantees requested by Russia...
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Why do Israeli leaders fear a political vacuum in the region?
During his speech at the annual Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned against the vacuum that the US looks like leaving in the region. “We must act within existing circumstances,” he said, “not in a world that we wished existed.”...
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SDF separatist forces between Turkey and Russia
On the evening of Tuesday 9 November, Turkish warplanes targeted separatist elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Syrian city of Qamishli. The drone attack is not the first of its kind in the city, as it was preceded by similar attacks in the city and Ain...
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The Alaska talks between China and the US have repercussions for the Gulf and the Suez Canal
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan have met with Yang Jiechi, the most senior ranking official in the Chinese diplomatic corps, as well as State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The meeting took place in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday and Friday last...
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The attack on the Helios Ray leaves Gulf security hanging in the balance
The Arabian Gulf has turned into an arena for confrontation and possible conflict between Iran and Israel now that it has become certain that Iranian elements attacked the MV Helios Ray. The suspicious vehicle-carrier belongs to Israeli businessman Rami Ungar, known for his strong relationship with Mossad Director Yossi...
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Kuwaiti and Qatari mediation is effective and welcome
Kuwait hosted some meetings a few days ago between official delegations from Qatar, the UAE and Egypt. The Qatari delegation met with UAE officials on 22 February with the aim of bridging the diplomatic gap between the two countries. The Qatar team met with an Egyptian delegation the following...
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What’s next for Egypt after the GCC Al-Ula summit?
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in the Saudi Arabian city of Al-Ula has ended the blockade imposed on Qatar by the Kingdom, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt in 2017. The happy ending was not the result of Qatar committing to the conditions insisted upon by the blockading countries,...
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A new US law is like a knife in the back of Sudan and its people
The US Senate joined the House of Representatives last week to overturn President Donald Trump’s veto of the National Defence Authorisation Act. The Act covered the approval of the defence budget estimated at $740 billion. The Senate decision delayed the outgoing president’s objection to a law that included sanctions and...
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Israel’s annexation plan plots a new course for the conflict
As expected, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed Israel’s annexation plan, for one day apparently, on the pretext of finishing his consultations with an American delegation. His decision was not made known for certain to his Foreign Minister, retired General Gabi Ashkenazi, who told Israel’s Army Radio: “It seems unlikely...
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What’s new about Israeli threats against Hamas?
Israel’s senior officials have been hurling threats at the Gaza Strip and Palestinian resistance groups for months now. Whether security-related or linked to political events and Israeli elections, the recent threats are more numerous and come from politicians and security officers. In a changing environment filled with US-led normalisation...
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Khashoggi's ghost haunts the Saudi Crown Prince
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman tried to pre-empt the release of the final report of the international inquiry into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by giving an interview to journalist Ghassan Charbel of the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday, 16 June. The Khashoggi crisis has...
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Jordan cannot afford to be a passive victim of the US-China race for global hegemony
The head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service, Nadav Argaman, has issued a warning about Chinese influence in the Zionist state. He is not the first Israeli official to do this, which has prompted the Chinese ambassador to Israel to ask for clarification about such statements. This is...
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Netanyahu revels in the enthusiastic Arab normalisation with Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last Monday that some Arab countries consider Israel “an indispensable ally” in the fight against Iran and Daesh. During a visit to Rio de Janeiro, he told Globo television that, “Evaluation has caused a revolution in relations with the Arab world.” The alleged Arab-Israeli...
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Hamas, Moscow and the implications of Haniyeh’s visit
The Russian Foreign Ministry has rejected objections from its Israeli counterpart about the upcoming visit of the head of the Hamas political bureau to Moscow. According to Israel’s Channel 10, the Russians responded to the Israeli protest about Ismail Haniyeh’s trip by pointing out that the government of Benjamin...
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Where are relations between Jordan, Qatar heading?
Despite the fact that the Jordanian Labour Minister Samir Murad visited Doha and before that, the Minister of Higher Education Adel Tuwaisi, their visits occurring within less than two months of each other, the diplomatic representation is still at a low level, as there has been no exchange of...
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The problematic relations between Hamas and Moscow
Hamas is not the first to move towards Moscow as Fatah, the PA leadership and the PLO did this before, when it rushed to open up to Moscow and Beijing in an attempt to search for respite to counter the US pressure that escalated following the launch of the...
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Concerns and aspirations surround Netanyahu’s surprise visit to Jordan
Benjamin Netanyahu paid a surprise visit to Jordan this week. The Israeli Prime Minister went to Amman in advance of the forthcoming tour of the region by US presidential adviser Jared Kushner and peace envoy Jason Greenblatt. The US delegates’ tour includes a meeting proposed by Britain, according to...
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Trump’s latest Secretary of State failed on his Mid-East tour
Despite the momentum that Israel gave to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent tour to the Middle East, with its missile attacks on Aleppo and Hama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s televised “Iran lied” speech, it soon faded and dissipated. Iran managed to contain the missile attack on...