James M. Dorsey
ARTICLES BY: James M. Dorsey
The Taliban and Al-Qaeda: What Next?
The Taliban proved that they value loyalty when they rejected US and Saudi pressure to hand over Osama bin Laden no matter the cost. The...
Will China March on the Middle East?
Determined to exploit the principle of allegedly win-win relationships that are underwritten by economics, trade, and investment, China has so far delayed -- if not...
Who Are the New Taliban? No One Really Knows
To be fair, the Taliban -- despite controlling all of Afghanistan since Sunday, including the capital Kabul -- have yet to announce a government and...
Mideast Powers Vie to Shape the Next Generation of Muslims
Reports published earlier this year by the Israel-based Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE) chart a notable divergence in educational approaches across the...
The Ultra-Conservative Leanings of Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan
Pakistani Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan is aligning his country, in religious and social terms, closer to Turkey than to his country’s traditional allies, Saudi...
Saudi Arabia Steps Up Effort to Replace UAE and Qatar as Go-To Regional Hub
Riyadh has recently expanded its challenge to the smaller Gulf states by seeking to position Saudi Arabia as the region’s foremost sports destination once Qatar...
Iran’s Crackdown on Smuggling Reveals Vulnerabilities and Traumas
Clashes in February in Iran -- sparked by a crackdown on cross border fuel smuggling to neighboring Pakistan -- achieved what past US and Saudi machinations...
Playing Politics: Saudi Arabia Targets Middle America
In a striking move, the Saudi embassy in Washington has hired a lobbying and public relations firm headquartered in the American heartland rather than the...
This Time Turkish, Not Saudi, Schoolbooks Are Under Scrutiny
According to a recently released analysis of 28 Turkish textbooks, that country’s education system, which was once a model of secularism that taught evolution, cultural openness, tolerance...
Reform in Saudi Arabia: The Road Not Taken
Saudi Sheikh Salman Awdah, a popular but controversial religious scholar who has been mostly in solitary confinement since 2017, appeared in court recently only to...
Domestic and Regional Fissures Collide in Jordan
Differences over socioeconomic policies, governance, and last year’s normalization of relations between Israel, the UAE, and three other Arab states, as well as leadership of the Muslim...
The Clause That Could Scupper the Iran Nuclear Accord
A little-noted provision in the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal with Iran could scupper the deal’s resuscitation. The provision’s magic date is 2023. If the Biden administration chooses...
Is Turkey Making Waves With Iran?
Buoyed by last year’s defeat of Armenia by Azerbaijan, TGRT, a Turkish subsidiary of Ihlas Holding, a media and construction conglomerate that has won major...
US Intelligence Report Leaves Saudi Arabia with No Good Geopolitical Choices
The challenge facing Saudi Arabia in the wake of the Biden administration’s publication of an intelligence report holding Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) responsible...
