We depend on your contributions. Tax-deductible donation through PayPal or credit card: click Donate button, upper-right hand corner of this page. By check: "American Friends of IDC." "For GLORIA Center" on memo line. Mail: American Friends of IDC, 116 East 16th St., 11th Floor, NY, NY 10003. There are days when you think: No, this nightmare can't be real! Is the Obama Administration really so bad? Have the policymakers really taken leave of their senses?And then you see this:The … [Read more...]
Syria Marches Into Lebanon; Saudis Surrender to Inevitable, State Department Proclaims Victory
By August 1, 2010
By Barry Rubin P.J. Crowley, State Department spokesman and its answer to Pollyanna (Note 1), looks at the advance of America's enemies and gives the advice that their strategy isn't working. Ah, but it is. Crowley responds to the following question about the joint visit of the Saudi king and President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, self-styled leader of the Resistance to American interests in the Arabic-speaking world, to Beirut. "Do you see this as an effort, with your help, to … [Read more...]
Illusion and Reality Clash in Lebanon
By August 1, 2010
We depend on your contributions. Tax-deductible donation through PayPal or credit card: click Donate button, upper-right hand corner of this page. By check: "American Friends of IDC." "For GLORIA Center" on memo line. Mail: American Friends of IDC, 116 East 16th St., 11th Floor, NY, NY 10003. Initially, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the murder of Rafik Hariri focused on Syria. Lately, … [Read more...]
What Really Happened on the Mavi Marmara and Some Revealing Events in the Middle East Today
By July 14, 2010
We depend on your contributions. Tax-deductible donation through PayPal or credit card: click Donate button, upper-right hand corner of this page. By check: "American Friends of IDC." "For GLORIA Center" on memo line. Mail: American Friends of IDC, 116 East 16th St., 11th Floor, NY, NY 10003. I. Saudi and Arab Leaders Want Obama to Rescue Them, Not Flatter Them A UPI dispatch reports: "A former Arab leader, in close touch … [Read more...]
King Abdallah Compliments President Obama, Sort Of?
By July 2, 2010
We depend on your contributions. Tax-deductible donation through PayPal or credit card: click Donate button, upper-right hand corner of this page. By check: "American Friends of IDC." "For GLORIA Center" on memo line. Mail: American Friends of IDC, 116 East 16th St., 11th Floor, NY, NY 10003. By Barry Rubin According to the press pool reporter for the meeting between King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia and President Barack H. Obama of the United States, who wrote it just after stepping … [Read more...]
Two Photos That Express Obama Middle East Policy? Well, Yes and No
By April 18, 2010
We depend on your tax-deductible contributions. To make one, please send a check to: American Friends of IDC, 116 East 16th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10003. The check should be made out to "American Friends of IDC," with "for GLORIA Center" in the memo line.Let's begin with what's most important. This may be the most important single point about the world's most important issue and, consequently, the most important thing I write during this decade. In fact, it's so important that I'm … [Read more...]
The Saudi Foreign Minister Explains the New Middle East
By March 9, 2010
Click here to receive GLORIA Center articles directly to your inbox.Here's today's evidence that we are now living in Middle East 2.0 instead of the old version. First, a definition: Middle East 1.0: Characterized by Arab nationalist domination, competition among the strongerArab states to lead the region and by the weaker ones trying to survive those campaigns. Arab-Israeli conflict is a real enterprise. Roughly 1952-2000 or so. International aspect: Cold War competition between the United … [Read more...]
Saudis to Obama Administration: We’re Scared of Iran and You’re Going Too Slow
By February 17, 2010
Click here to receive GLORIA Center articles.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's trip to the Persian Gulf is generally being portrayed as a success in the media with the New York Times, for example, saying she "may have made some headway" in getting the Saudis to support sanctions.Headway? They were supporting sanctions a year ago.In fact, a genuine note of desperation crept into the press conference given by Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal. In front of Clinton he said:"Sanctions are a … [Read more...]
Analysis: Saudis Seek Illusory “Third Way” in Regional Diplomacy
By January 17, 2010
Syrian President Bashar Assad is reportedly scheduled to visit the Saudi capital Riyadh, where he is to meet with Saudi King Abdullah. The meeting is rumored to be a prelude to a three way summit also to involve Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The current round of talks is the latest stage in Syria's return from the cold in terms of its reintegration - on its own terms and with no concessions made - into the mainstream of Arab diplomacy. This process, in turn, is testimony to the … [Read more...]
The Arabic-Speaking World in 2010
By December 28, 2009
The politics of the Arabic-speaking world are going to face some serious challenges during 2010. Probably none of them, however, will have anything to do with the Arab-Israeli issue, despite the overwhelming attention and exaggerated importance usually given to that question by outside observers. Unquestionably, the leading problem will be dealing with an increasingly powerful Iran and its sidekick Syria which aren't being contained by the United States. The Arabs, after all, live in the … [Read more...]
