Tag: gulf states

Saudi-Iran reset will take time

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11 May 2021 — Indian Punchline

M.K. Bhadrakumar

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (R) received Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (L), Jeddah, May 11, 2021

The Saudi-Iranian contacts that began last month in secrecy has gained gravitas. The unannounced trip to Jeddah last night by the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and the exceptional courtesies he received, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman greeting him at the airport, calls attention to the winds of change sweeping Gulf region. Sheikh Tamim returned to Doha by the crack of dawn but it was a substantive visit.

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The British Cabal Behind a Gulf Dictatorship

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23 April 2021 — Consortium News

Senior figures in the British establishment have secretly served as “privy councillors” to a highly repressive dictatorship in the Gulf state of Oman, Phil Miller reports.

Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, Oman. (CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons)

By Phil Miller
Declassified U.K.

The repressive ruler of a close U.K. ally in the Gulf secretly received decades of advice on security, foreign and economic policy from a group of privy councillors who were drawn almost exclusively from the British establishment, it has emerged.

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Britain and Oman: Will their growing special relationship survive succession? By Mark Curtis

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19 June 2019 — Mark Curtis

Published in Middle East Eye, 17 June 2019

Sixty years ago, Britain won a long-forgotten war in Oman, setting the special relationship between the two countries that is still being boosted today.

The anniversary falls as the head of the British army recently visited Oman, and as the two countries signed a “Comprehensive Joint Declaration on Enduring Friendship” and a new Joint Defence Agreement. Last year, the two cooperated on the UK’s largest military exercise in the Middle East in 20 years.

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Middle East and Asia Geopolitics: Shift in Military Alliances? By Prof Michel Chossudovsky

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30 September 2017 — Global Research 

A profound shift in geopolitical alliances is occurring which tends to undermine US hegemony in the broader Middle East Central Asian region as well as in South Asia. 

Several of America’s staunchest allies have “changed sides”. Both NATO and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are in crisis. 

Turkey and NATO

NATO is characterized by profound divisions,  largely resulting from Ankara’s confrontation with Washington.

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Qatar: US Proxy in America’s Terror War in Syria By Phil Greaves

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1 July 2013 — Global Research

A recent report in the New York Times (NYT) claims, through trusted “sources”, that Qatar began weapons shipments to opposition militants in Syria at the same time they “increased” support for Al Qaeda linked militants fighting Colonel Gaddafi in Libya in 2011. Gaddafi was ousted (murdered) in October 2011; one must assume that any “increase” in Qatari efforts to arm the militants in Libya were delivered long in advance of Gaddafi’s ouster, meaning the synonymous shipments to “rebels” in Syria also commenced well before October 2011.

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Hezbollah and the War in Syria: Why is the UK Pressuring the EU to Designate Hezbollah a “Terrorist” Group? By Phil Greaves

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23 May, 2013 — Global Research

A distinct increase of negative coverage has been forming in Western and Gulf press; this focus is specifically regarding Hezbollah’s direct involvement in the battle currently raging to take control of the Syrian town of Qusair; its overall role in Lebanon and the region, and its ties to both Syria’s President Assad, and the government of Iran.

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Looking for Revolution in Kuwait By Mary Ann Tétreault

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1 November, 2012 – MERIP

For background on the Orange Movement and the fight for women’s political rights, see Mary Ann Tétreault, “Kuwait’s Annus Mirabilis,” Middle East Report Online, September 7, 2006 and Mary Ann Tétreault and Mohammed al-Ghanim, “The Day After ‘Victory’: Kuwait’s 2009 Election and the Contentious Present,” Middle East Report Online, July 8, 2009.

In the New York Review of Books, Hussein Agha and Robert Malley imagine the results of the Arab revolts as the possible beginning of a reconstitution of the Ottoman Empire. They see the regional unrest as media-driven, with various partisans asserting their own versions of reality to mobilize popular support. Outsiders fumble for understanding as forces push back and forth, now winning and now losing. Some see Islamists as the only ones with moral standing, yet Islamists in power seem ready and eager to “compromise” with the West to attract money and space to pursue their domestic projects. Continue reading →

Saudi Arabia Mostly Mainstream Media Newslinks for 8 March 2011

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8 March 2011 — creative-i.info

Goldman Says Saudi Arabia is Misleading the World About Oil Production – Wall Street Journal (blog)
By James Herron Goldman Sachs has accused Saudi Arabia, the world’s most important oil supplier, of misleading the world about its oil production since late last year. If true, this allegation would mean that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting …
blogs.wsj.com/source/2011/03/08/goldman-says-saudi-arabia-is-misleading-the-world-about-oil-production/?mod=google_news_blog

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Saudi Arabia Mostly Mainstream Media Newslinks for 3 March 2011

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3 March 2011 — creative-i.info

Saudi Arabia Must Keep Pumping Oil to Buy Stability: Peter Coy
BusinessWeek
By Peter Coy March 3 (Bloomberg) — It’s been more than a week since youthful Saudi Arabian demonstrators bucked the regional trend and cheered their ruler, celebrating his return to the kingdom from medical treatment abroad. Saudi Arabia remains …
www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-03/saudi-arabia-must-keep-pumping-oil-to-buy-stability-peter-coy.html

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Saudi Arabia Mostly Mainstream Media Newslinks for 28 February, 2011

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28 February, 2011 — creative-i.info

Activists on Facebook call for March protests in Saudi Arabia
USA Today
On Sunday, about 100 Saudi intellectuals, activists and university professors published an open letter calling on the king to launch major political reforms and allow citizens to have a greater say in ruling the country, Reuters reports. …
content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/02/activists-on-facebook-call-for-march-protests-in-saudi-arabia/1

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