By James M. Dorsey An earlier version of this story was published on Responsible Statecraft. To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Spreaker, and  Podbean. A push by Arab allies of the United States to bring Syria in from the cold highlights the limits of a Chinese-mediated rapprochement between the Middle East’s archrivals, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The effort spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates, and supported by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan, demonstrate ..read more

  By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Spreaker, and  Podbean. A Chinese-mediated Saudi-Iranian reconciliation potentially casts a spotlight on fundamentally flawed security policies of regional powers, including not only the kingdom and Iran but also the United Arab Emirates. While much of the discussion in recent years has focused on Iran’s strategy of creating a defense line far beyond its borders by nurturing and/or supporting aligned m ..read more

  By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Spreaker, and  Podbean. Saudi Arabia's sports blitz is encountering headwinds. Activists, athletes, and the soccer associations of Australia and New Zealand will celebrate their thwarting of world football body FIFA’s plans to accept Saudi Arabia’s tourism authority as a sponsor of this year’s Women’s World Cup. FIFA president Gianni Infantino admitted as much at a news conference convened this week sh ..read more

  By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Spreaker, and  Podbean. Chinese mediation between Saudi Arabia and Iran potentially signals paradigm shifts in Middle Eastern diplomacy and alliances. The mediation suggests a more productive approach than that of the United States by seeking to manage rather than resolve conflicts based on principles enunciated by China in 2021. The successful mediation between the Middle East’s foremost archrivals al ..read more

  By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Spreaker, and  Podbean. Reform of Islamic jurisprudence was the elephant in the room when two prominent Saudi clerics recently clashed publicly on whether apostasy was punishable with death under Islamic law. The debate's timing on a Saudi state-controlled, artsy entertainment channel, Rotana Khalijiya, suggested as much. The debate aired days before the kingdom's Ministry of Islamic Affairs severely r ..read more

  By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Spreaker, and  Podbean. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has become adept at walking tightropes. Mr. Bin Salman's latest balancing act may be among his most challenging. In a surprise development, Saudi Arabia and Iran, together with China, announced that the two Middle Eastern nations were reestablishing diplomatic relations. The Saudi Iranian agreement was reached in a meeting in China of the t ..read more

  By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Spreaker, and  Podbean. If there is one place Saudi Arabia was happy to be low on the totem pole, it was Iran. Those days are over. Strategic thinkers in Tehran have upgraded their perception of the threat posed by the kingdom. Rather than simply viewing Saudi Arabia as a Middle Eastern extension of the United States and a political rival, Iran today sees the kingdom as a security threat. Iran’s reeval ..read more

By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Spreaker, and  Podbean. Gulf autocrats are trying to squash calls for reform of Islamic law with three Bahraini men on trial. Redha Rajab, his son Mohamed Rajab, and researcher Jalal al-Qassab are members of the Al-Tajdeed Society, which encourages discussion and questioning of Islamic law. They're accused of violating articles 309 and 310 of the Bahraini penal code, says Bahrain's cybercrime prosecutor. In t ..read more

  By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Spreaker, and  Podbean. If played well, security is the United States trump card in stabilizing relations with its Gulf partners and competing with China for regional influence. In a just-released report, Middle East scholar and former Pentagon official Bilal Y. Saab argued that security entails far more than arms sales and defining the parameters of US security guarantees. Perhaps, first and foremost ..read more

  By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Spreaker, and  Podbean. Even before it officially launched, Saudi Arabia's bid to host the 2030 World Cup is on thin ice. The bid suggests that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is determined to do whatever it takes to become a dominant force in international sports. However, the hubris underlying the approach, rooted in a belief that there is little that money cannot buy, may be the kingdom’s Achilles ..read more