With U.A.E. withdrawal from Yemen, Saudi Crown Prince could lose an ally
The United Arab Emirates is reportedly withdrawing most of its forces from Yemen to defend its home front in the event of an Iran conflict — a move that could also improve its standing with U.S.…
The Road to Trump’s Face-off with Iran
I was flying over the Strait of Hormuz when I first learned Iran had downed a US drone just 12 hours earlier. My Emirates Airlines 777 was on the final approach to Dubai and I had turned on the…
The US isn’t winning any popularity contests among Arabs
The Trump administration is dangerously out of touch with the Middle East, and it's beginning to show. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman may consider US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a “dear…
U.S.-Iran standoff perpetuates flaws of decades-old policies
Current U.S. policy toward Iran has deepened the Middle East's Sunni-Shia divide — embodied in the regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran — and risks repeating the failures of…
Pakistan Claims Kashmir’s ‘Moral High Ground’
FEBRUARY 28, 2019, 3:45 PM KARACHI, Pakistan—“I feel like I am invisible,” the president of Kashmir told me a few months ago. “Wherever I go, no one wants to hear what I have to say.” On…
Trump’s Raw Meat for the Islamophobes
18 Apr, 2019 When Donald Trump on Friday tweeted out-of-context clips from a speech by Ilhan Omar intercut with images of 9/11, it was part of a dangerous pattern of demonisation epitomised by his…
Islamophobes Came for Americans on the Campaign Trail
MARCH 13, 2019, 11:19 AM “Think about it: Omar wears a hijab,” Fox News host Jeanine Pirro said on her show Saturday. “Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to…
War Averted. What Now for Kashmir?
March 6, 2019 We are back to crass, self-interested politics in South Asia. What a relief. After a week on the brink of war between two nuclear-armed nations, political backbiting seems almost…
New Delhi and Islamabad Don’t Want Fire and Fury
As hostilities between India and Pakistan escalate, leaders in both countries are very aware of the risks of a nuclear catastrophe. BY LAWRENCE PINTAK | FEBRUARY 27, 2019, 5:04 PM Pakistan reported…
After Khashoggi’s death, Turkey sees a path to greater influence
Oct. 17, 2018 -- As Saudi Arabia went on the defensive last week about Jamal Khashoggi’s alleged murder, Ankara seized the chance to repair relations with Washington by releasing U.S. pastor…
ICYMI, Trump has U.S. Poised on the Edge of a Mideast Abyss
(DUBAI, June 9, 2017) Confused about what’s happening with Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Iran and ISIS and Trump’s war against evil losers? The simplest explanations are the scariest.Lawrence…
Nuclear Pakistan Sees The Saudi Game Against Qatar and Iran and Says, ‘No Thanks’
With the Arabs lashing out at each other—a family feud on steroids—nuclear-armed Pakistan is happy to back away from the coming fight with Iran.Lawrence PintakUpdated Jun. 07, 2017 6:11AM ET /…
