The Saudi Evolution
Fouad Ajami had an odd fondness for Saudi Arabia. He was an Americanized, secular Shiite with European sensibilities who, truth be told, had pretty much burned out on the ugliness of the modern Arab world. He...
Eastern Province
Some ‘Modernizer’
Is Saudi Arabia’s crown prince joining a long line of absolutist rulers in the Middle East?
Op-eds
Here’s How Trump Should Prepare for Iranian Escalation
Once sanctions are back in full force, the United States needs to be ready for the worst.
Op-eds
The West isn’t worse than the rest
Intellectuals of the left and those influenced by them judge the United States and certain European nations as uniquely guilty of imperialism, colonialism, racism, sexism, xenophobia, homop...
Op-eds
Done Deal?
All administrations are short-sighted. Even the brightest, most reflective people can develop acute tunnel vision when they join the paper-pushing, crisis-a-minute senior ranks of the National Se...
Op-eds
The Mr. Rogers Doctrine
Barack Obama last week visited Saudi Arabia, an unusual nation with which the United States has had a relationship that can be accurately characterized as both strategic and strange — and o...
Op-eds
When the U.S. Will Intervene in the Gulf, and Other Notes From the Camp David Summit
I've held a number of discussions with people who have direct knowledge of the conversations that took place at this month’s Camp David Summit between President Obama and leaders from...
Op-eds
Doomsday: Stopping a Middle East Nuclear Arms Race
Imagine the imposition of financial sanctions on the central bank of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia—the only Arab member of the G20 group of major economies. To this, add biting multinational...
Op-eds
A Widening Gulf: Impediments to Saudi Rapprochement with Iran
Despite...
Op-eds
The Persian Triangle
On November 24, 2013, a “Joint Plan of Action” was concluded in Geneva by Iran and the permanent members of the UN Security Council—the United States, the United Kingdom, France...
Op-eds
Saudis Stung by Obama Iran Initiative
President Obama’s Friday telephone call with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani—the first at such a level in over three decades—has exacerbated existing problems between the Unite...
Op-eds
The Kingdom Boils
Nearly a month after a crude film caricature of the Prophet Muhammad made headlines, protests in response to it continue across the Muslim world. Yet in the ultraconservative Kingdom of Saudi Ara...
Op-eds
Oh, Brother
Why Egypt's new Islamist president is keeping the Saudis up at night.
Op-eds
The Battle of Syria
Assad’s survival would be a victory for Iran – and a defeat for the U.S.
Op-eds
How Saudi Arabia Has Survived—So Far
On December 17, 2010, the self-immolation of Tunisian street vendor Muhammad Bouazizi, who was protesting the confiscation of his wares and harassment by the country’s authorities, touched...
Op-eds
Arabs vs. Iranians
Americans like to think big in foreign policy, so they yearn to settle the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation. Both Democrats and Republicans have repeatedly tried to rally the region's deniz...
Op-eds
An Idealistic Alternative to the Saudi Arms Deal
The US Government is considering a new gigantic arms sale to the Saudi Kingdom, up to 20 billion dollars' worth of complex weaponry. The proposed package includes advanced satellite-guided b...
Op-eds
Sounding the Alarm
In the war on terror, we have reached a winter of discontent. Democratic candidates tell us the center cannot hold, that we are over-extended and globally unloved, that the Bush policies hav...
Op-eds
The Real Roots of Islamic Extremism
By Stephen Schwartz The victimized terrorists are variously thought to be directing their anger against Western-induced poverty; the Western-supported rise of Israel; or the Western impe...
Op-eds
North of the Border
By Stephen Schwartz WHILE WESTERN MEDIA and politicians peddle their alarums in the aftermath of Iraq's liberation, focusing on Syria and Iran, attention should also be paid to Saud...