Tag / Saudi Arabia
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Faces Of Resolve
Somewhere in the world, a new alarm is set at 5 a.m., beckoning its owner to use those precious hours to make good on their resolution of going to the gym. Somewhere in an urban city, a cautiously optimistic face is seen at a food bank or local YMCA, unsure but confident in making a…
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The Middle East In The 2020s
As the Middle East enters the last year of this decade, it has completed what could be the worst epoch in its history. Oxford Professor Eugene Rogan, in The Arabs: A History, talks about the feeling of humiliation present in the Arab world following a series of events. The defeat of Iraq in the First…
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Should the U.S. Balance Saudi Arabia Against Iran?
A humanitarian disaster in Yemen. Sanctions against Qatar. Consolidation of power in Riyadh. And yet another possible proxy conflict in Lebanon between Saudi Arabia and Iran. This is what you get when states—Saudi Arabia in particular—get blank checks from the United States of America. This is why the world’s last absolutist monarchy must be brought…
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Feminist Friday
Big news out of Saudi Arabia this week: not only has King Abdullah overturned a court ruling sentencing a woman from Jeddah to ten lashes for driving, but Saudi women will soon be allowed to vote. Each of these big announcements should be taken with a grain of salt—Saudi Arabia is still the only nation…
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"Gideon's Spies:" Funny Stories about Mossad
In terms of sheer creativity these past months have been pretty intense for Mossad. According to some Arab states, the renowned Israeli intelligence agency has been willing to honor its own myth by perpetrating what have to among be the most extravagant plots of the decade, if not the century. By seizing upon the case…
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What to Make of National Borders
In the age of globalization, ideas, commerce, capital, and information can flow across national borders before you can say “damn, that was fast.” Why can’t people cross borders so easily? Here is how I see national borders: they are arbitrary lines drawn to establish who belongs and who does not. Let’s take a look at…
