In The News

Reuters: Iran and OPEC Agreement

Bozorgmehr Sharafedin June 27, 2018
OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, raised production output at its July meeting but did not specify targets. Some analysts mention a production rise of 800,000 barrels per day, but Iran’s oil minister disagreed. “The United States, China and India had urged oil producers to release more supply to prevent an oil deficit that could undermine global economic growth,” reports...

New York Times: Erdoğan’s Victory in Turkey

Carlotta Gall June 25, 2018
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won reelection in Turkey, convincing a slim majority that a strong centralized government and increased controls contribute to security. Critics express concern about increasing authoritarianism for Turkey. The president will oversee a polarized country with fewer checks on his power and “a pliant Parliament, with his conservative party and its allies having won about 53...

The Economist: The Calculations of Muhammad bin Salman

June 22, 2018
Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman proceeds in stifling political dissent in exchange for the loosening of social restrictions. While the holy month of Ramadan had once been a time for pardons and royal amnesties in Saudi Arabia, the tide has turned. Instead, bin Salman adds to the 2,000 or so political prisoners detained since September. Over the past month, 17 activists were arrested: “Nine...

Reuters: Why Yemen Is at War

Angus McDowall June 18, 2018
The civil war in Yemen has raged for three years, and the country has struggled with internal divisions since North Yemen and South Yemen united in 1990. Extremists as well as neighboring powers, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, have taken advantage of the divisions. The 2011 Arab Spring protests led to more divisions and the president stepped down. The deputy president took over in 2012,...

Al Jazeera: Jordan Crisis – Gulf States Rush to Step In

Ali Younes June 14, 2018
Large protests have erupted in Jordan as a result of a new income tax law, leading to fears of expanding unrest in the Middle East. King Abdullah II of Saudi Arabia hosted a regional summit on Jordan’s economic crisis and a $700 million budget deficit with the aim of providing financial assistance. The Gulf Cooperation Council seeks to prevent the protests from spreading similar to the Arab...

The Guardian: UN Human Rights Body Meets on Gaza

Peter Beaumont May 24, 2018
The UN’s human rights council held a special meeting in the wake of mass killings by Israeli troops at border protests on May 14, the same day that the United States relocated its Israel embassy to Jerusalem. As of May 16, 60 Palestinians had been killed. The Palestinian foreign ministry has recalled its ambassadors to Romania, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic – four nations that broke...

Los Angeles Times: US Tested by Sadr’s Victory in Iraqi

Tracy Wilkinson and David S. Cloud May 16, 2018
Democracy ensures that one nation may not appreciate election results of another nation, and a longtime opponent of the United States took the lead in Iraq’s parliamentary elections. “For years during the long U.S. occupation of Iraq, Muqtada Sadr was an intractable foe, blamed by the Pentagon for hundreds of deaths of American service members, as well as atrocities against Iraqi civilians,”...