An Analysis of the Makkah Defense Pact
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
Strategic Council Online – Note: The initiative to revive the Hejaz Railway, beyond being a transportation project, constitutes an attempt to redefine geopolitics, the economy, and Turkey’s regional position; however, its realization appears to face significant financial, security, and institutional challenges.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Strait of Hormuz crisis is no longer merely the consequence of a military confrontation, but rather a sign of the transition from the US-centered maritime order to a new energy security structure involving the participation of emerging and influential powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Iran’s active deterrence strategy, while increasing the costs of US intervention, has increasingly exposed the hidden rifts between Washington’s interests and those of the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The escalation of verbal and strategic tensions between Turkey and the Israeli regime, although not increasing the likelihood of direct war, indicates the formation of a new order in West Asian geopolitical rivalries.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Recent developments in the political geography of West Asia, from rising tensions in the Persian Gulf to missile and drone activities in the Red Sea and the recent warning by Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, regarding the threat to freedom of navigation, indicate a key pattern shift; the US-Iran war has moved beyond the scope of a regional and local confrontation and has linked two vital passageways for the global economy: the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Ukraine war was not merely a European crisis, but rather the starting point for the rearrangement of the global balance of power and a shift in the strategic behavior of great powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Great power competition is now pursued more in trade, currency, technology, and global supply chains than on the battlefields of military confrontation.
Strategic Council Online: An analyst on US affairs said that with the outbreak of the corona crisis, everything that had been created by the Trump administration in the field of capital markets had disappeared. “Despite Trump’s declining chances, his election defeat is not certain,” he said.
Strategic Council Online: Republicans will keep threatening Iran as long as outbreak of war is unlikely. Democrats strongly condemn Trump’s order to assassinate Lt. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, but Republicans do not; however, they disagree on whether the assassination was necessary or not.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: The United States bombed five strongholds of Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) in al-Qa’im near the Iraqi-Syrian border on Sunday, December 29, 2019 which left 25 martyrs and more than 50 injured. The Americans claim the attack was in response to an attack on December 27 on an Iraqi military base where a group of US troops were also deployed. During the attack, several Americans and a number of Iraqi Army forces were injured and a US civilian contractor was killed.
Strategic Council Online: Measures such as ignoring international treaties, unilateral actions in support of Israel, or trade wars will ultimately weaken the US globally.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An American affairs expert, citing the resignation of Dan Coats, US National Intelligence Director and Trump’s tweet on his replacement, said Trump has no fears in dismissing those who stand in his way so the successor of Coats has to make the intelligence community more obedient to Mr Trump.
Strategic Council Online: After the announcement of a sudden decision by the US President Donald Trump on the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Syria, a shock wave was felt in the United States and the Middle East including Washington’s allies from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to Israel. The announcement sparked the concern that the United States might reduce its role in West Asia and that withdrawal from Syria was a prelude to pullout from the Middle East region.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: In commentaries, Americans seem to have finally accepted that the political establishment in Syria under the leadership of Bashar Assad cannot be changed; also the possibility of toppling Assad’s government and the US desired changes in Syria will not be realized; therefore, Europe and the United States will gradually but informally proceed towards recognizing the status quo.
Amir Ali AbolFatah, American Affairs expert
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
Strategic Council Online – Note: The initiative to revive the Hejaz Railway, beyond being a transportation project, constitutes an attempt to redefine geopolitics, the economy, and Turkey’s regional position; however, its realization appears to face significant financial, security, and institutional challenges.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Strait of Hormuz crisis is no longer merely the consequence of a military confrontation, but rather a sign of the transition from the US-centered maritime order to a new energy security structure involving the participation of emerging and influential powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Iran’s active deterrence strategy, while increasing the costs of US intervention, has increasingly exposed the hidden rifts between Washington’s interests and those of the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The escalation of verbal and strategic tensions between Turkey and the Israeli regime, although not increasing the likelihood of direct war, indicates the formation of a new order in West Asian geopolitical rivalries.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Recent developments in the political geography of West Asia, from rising tensions in the Persian Gulf to missile and drone activities in the Red Sea and the recent warning by Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, regarding the threat to freedom of navigation, indicate a key pattern shift; the US-Iran war has moved beyond the scope of a regional and local confrontation and has linked two vital passageways for the global economy: the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Ukraine war was not merely a European crisis, but rather the starting point for the rearrangement of the global balance of power and a shift in the strategic behavior of great powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Great power competition is now pursued more in trade, currency, technology, and global supply chains than on the battlefields of military confrontation.
Strategic Council Online: An analyst on US affairs said that with the outbreak of the corona crisis, everything that had been created by the Trump administration in the field of capital markets had disappeared. “Despite Trump’s declining chances, his election defeat is not certain,” he said.
Strategic Council Online: Republicans will keep threatening Iran as long as outbreak of war is unlikely. Democrats strongly condemn Trump’s order to assassinate Lt. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, but Republicans do not; however, they disagree on whether the assassination was necessary or not.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: The United States bombed five strongholds of Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) in al-Qa’im near the Iraqi-Syrian border on Sunday, December 29, 2019 which left 25 martyrs and more than 50 injured. The Americans claim the attack was in response to an attack on December 27 on an Iraqi military base where a group of US troops were also deployed. During the attack, several Americans and a number of Iraqi Army forces were injured and a US civilian contractor was killed.
Strategic Council Online: Measures such as ignoring international treaties, unilateral actions in support of Israel, or trade wars will ultimately weaken the US globally.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An American affairs expert, citing the resignation of Dan Coats, US National Intelligence Director and Trump’s tweet on his replacement, said Trump has no fears in dismissing those who stand in his way so the successor of Coats has to make the intelligence community more obedient to Mr Trump.
Strategic Council Online: After the announcement of a sudden decision by the US President Donald Trump on the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Syria, a shock wave was felt in the United States and the Middle East including Washington’s allies from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to Israel. The announcement sparked the concern that the United States might reduce its role in West Asia and that withdrawal from Syria was a prelude to pullout from the Middle East region.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: In commentaries, Americans seem to have finally accepted that the political establishment in Syria under the leadership of Bashar Assad cannot be changed; also the possibility of toppling Assad’s government and the US desired changes in Syria will not be realized; therefore, Europe and the United States will gradually but informally proceed towards recognizing the status quo.
Amir Ali AbolFatah, American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An analyst on US affairs said that with the outbreak of the corona crisis, everything that had been created by the Trump administration in the field of capital markets had disappeared. “Despite Trump’s declining chances, his election defeat is not certain,” he said.
Strategic Council Online: Republicans will keep threatening Iran as long as outbreak of war is unlikely. Democrats strongly condemn Trump’s order to assassinate Lt. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, but Republicans do not; however, they disagree on whether the assassination was necessary or not.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: The United States bombed five strongholds of Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) in al-Qa’im near the Iraqi-Syrian border on Sunday, December 29, 2019 which left 25 martyrs and more than 50 injured. The Americans claim the attack was in response to an attack on December 27 on an Iraqi military base where a group of US troops were also deployed. During the attack, several Americans and a number of Iraqi Army forces were injured and a US civilian contractor was killed.
Strategic Council Online: Measures such as ignoring international treaties, unilateral actions in support of Israel, or trade wars will ultimately weaken the US globally.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An American affairs expert, citing the resignation of Dan Coats, US National Intelligence Director and Trump’s tweet on his replacement, said Trump has no fears in dismissing those who stand in his way so the successor of Coats has to make the intelligence community more obedient to Mr Trump.
Strategic Council Online: After the announcement of a sudden decision by the US President Donald Trump on the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Syria, a shock wave was felt in the United States and the Middle East including Washington’s allies from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to Israel. The announcement sparked the concern that the United States might reduce its role in West Asia and that withdrawal from Syria was a prelude to pullout from the Middle East region.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: In commentaries, Americans seem to have finally accepted that the political establishment in Syria under the leadership of Bashar Assad cannot be changed; also the possibility of toppling Assad’s government and the US desired changes in Syria will not be realized; therefore, Europe and the United States will gradually but informally proceed towards recognizing the status quo.
Amir Ali AbolFatah, American Affairs expert
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
Strategic Council Online – Note: The initiative to revive the Hejaz Railway, beyond being a transportation project, constitutes an attempt to redefine geopolitics, the economy, and Turkey’s regional position; however, its realization appears to face significant financial, security, and institutional challenges.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Strait of Hormuz crisis is no longer merely the consequence of a military confrontation, but rather a sign of the transition from the US-centered maritime order to a new energy security structure involving the participation of emerging and influential powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Iran’s active deterrence strategy, while increasing the costs of US intervention, has increasingly exposed the hidden rifts between Washington’s interests and those of the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The escalation of verbal and strategic tensions between Turkey and the Israeli regime, although not increasing the likelihood of direct war, indicates the formation of a new order in West Asian geopolitical rivalries.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Recent developments in the political geography of West Asia, from rising tensions in the Persian Gulf to missile and drone activities in the Red Sea and the recent warning by Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, regarding the threat to freedom of navigation, indicate a key pattern shift; the US-Iran war has moved beyond the scope of a regional and local confrontation and has linked two vital passageways for the global economy: the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Ukraine war was not merely a European crisis, but rather the starting point for the rearrangement of the global balance of power and a shift in the strategic behavior of great powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Great power competition is now pursued more in trade, currency, technology, and global supply chains than on the battlefields of military confrontation.
Strategic Council Online: An analyst on US affairs said that with the outbreak of the corona crisis, everything that had been created by the Trump administration in the field of capital markets had disappeared. “Despite Trump’s declining chances, his election defeat is not certain,” he said.
Strategic Council Online: Republicans will keep threatening Iran as long as outbreak of war is unlikely. Democrats strongly condemn Trump’s order to assassinate Lt. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, but Republicans do not; however, they disagree on whether the assassination was necessary or not.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: The United States bombed five strongholds of Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) in al-Qa’im near the Iraqi-Syrian border on Sunday, December 29, 2019 which left 25 martyrs and more than 50 injured. The Americans claim the attack was in response to an attack on December 27 on an Iraqi military base where a group of US troops were also deployed. During the attack, several Americans and a number of Iraqi Army forces were injured and a US civilian contractor was killed.
Strategic Council Online: Measures such as ignoring international treaties, unilateral actions in support of Israel, or trade wars will ultimately weaken the US globally.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An American affairs expert, citing the resignation of Dan Coats, US National Intelligence Director and Trump’s tweet on his replacement, said Trump has no fears in dismissing those who stand in his way so the successor of Coats has to make the intelligence community more obedient to Mr Trump.
Strategic Council Online: After the announcement of a sudden decision by the US President Donald Trump on the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Syria, a shock wave was felt in the United States and the Middle East including Washington’s allies from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to Israel. The announcement sparked the concern that the United States might reduce its role in West Asia and that withdrawal from Syria was a prelude to pullout from the Middle East region.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: In commentaries, Americans seem to have finally accepted that the political establishment in Syria under the leadership of Bashar Assad cannot be changed; also the possibility of toppling Assad’s government and the US desired changes in Syria will not be realized; therefore, Europe and the United States will gradually but informally proceed towards recognizing the status quo.
Amir Ali AbolFatah, American Affairs expert
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
Strategic Council Online – Note: The initiative to revive the Hejaz Railway, beyond being a transportation project, constitutes an attempt to redefine geopolitics, the economy, and Turkey’s regional position; however, its realization appears to face significant financial, security, and institutional challenges.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Strait of Hormuz crisis is no longer merely the consequence of a military confrontation, but rather a sign of the transition from the US-centered maritime order to a new energy security structure involving the participation of emerging and influential powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Iran’s active deterrence strategy, while increasing the costs of US intervention, has increasingly exposed the hidden rifts between Washington’s interests and those of the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The escalation of verbal and strategic tensions between Turkey and the Israeli regime, although not increasing the likelihood of direct war, indicates the formation of a new order in West Asian geopolitical rivalries.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Recent developments in the political geography of West Asia, from rising tensions in the Persian Gulf to missile and drone activities in the Red Sea and the recent warning by Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, regarding the threat to freedom of navigation, indicate a key pattern shift; the US-Iran war has moved beyond the scope of a regional and local confrontation and has linked two vital passageways for the global economy: the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Ukraine war was not merely a European crisis, but rather the starting point for the rearrangement of the global balance of power and a shift in the strategic behavior of great powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Great power competition is now pursued more in trade, currency, technology, and global supply chains than on the battlefields of military confrontation.
Strategic Council Online: An analyst on US affairs said that with the outbreak of the corona crisis, everything that had been created by the Trump administration in the field of capital markets had disappeared. “Despite Trump’s declining chances, his election defeat is not certain,” he said.
Strategic Council Online: Republicans will keep threatening Iran as long as outbreak of war is unlikely. Democrats strongly condemn Trump’s order to assassinate Lt. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, but Republicans do not; however, they disagree on whether the assassination was necessary or not.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: The United States bombed five strongholds of Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) in al-Qa’im near the Iraqi-Syrian border on Sunday, December 29, 2019 which left 25 martyrs and more than 50 injured. The Americans claim the attack was in response to an attack on December 27 on an Iraqi military base where a group of US troops were also deployed. During the attack, several Americans and a number of Iraqi Army forces were injured and a US civilian contractor was killed.
Strategic Council Online: Measures such as ignoring international treaties, unilateral actions in support of Israel, or trade wars will ultimately weaken the US globally.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An American affairs expert, citing the resignation of Dan Coats, US National Intelligence Director and Trump’s tweet on his replacement, said Trump has no fears in dismissing those who stand in his way so the successor of Coats has to make the intelligence community more obedient to Mr Trump.
Strategic Council Online: After the announcement of a sudden decision by the US President Donald Trump on the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Syria, a shock wave was felt in the United States and the Middle East including Washington’s allies from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to Israel. The announcement sparked the concern that the United States might reduce its role in West Asia and that withdrawal from Syria was a prelude to pullout from the Middle East region.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: In commentaries, Americans seem to have finally accepted that the political establishment in Syria under the leadership of Bashar Assad cannot be changed; also the possibility of toppling Assad’s government and the US desired changes in Syria will not be realized; therefore, Europe and the United States will gradually but informally proceed towards recognizing the status quo.
Amir Ali AbolFatah, American Affairs expert
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
Strategic Council Online – Note: The initiative to revive the Hejaz Railway, beyond being a transportation project, constitutes an attempt to redefine geopolitics, the economy, and Turkey’s regional position; however, its realization appears to face significant financial, security, and institutional challenges.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Strait of Hormuz crisis is no longer merely the consequence of a military confrontation, but rather a sign of the transition from the US-centered maritime order to a new energy security structure involving the participation of emerging and influential powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Iran’s active deterrence strategy, while increasing the costs of US intervention, has increasingly exposed the hidden rifts between Washington’s interests and those of the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The escalation of verbal and strategic tensions between Turkey and the Israeli regime, although not increasing the likelihood of direct war, indicates the formation of a new order in West Asian geopolitical rivalries.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Recent developments in the political geography of West Asia, from rising tensions in the Persian Gulf to missile and drone activities in the Red Sea and the recent warning by Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, regarding the threat to freedom of navigation, indicate a key pattern shift; the US-Iran war has moved beyond the scope of a regional and local confrontation and has linked two vital passageways for the global economy: the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Ukraine war was not merely a European crisis, but rather the starting point for the rearrangement of the global balance of power and a shift in the strategic behavior of great powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Great power competition is now pursued more in trade, currency, technology, and global supply chains than on the battlefields of military confrontation.
Strategic Council Online: An analyst on US affairs said that with the outbreak of the corona crisis, everything that had been created by the Trump administration in the field of capital markets had disappeared. “Despite Trump’s declining chances, his election defeat is not certain,” he said.
Strategic Council Online: Republicans will keep threatening Iran as long as outbreak of war is unlikely. Democrats strongly condemn Trump’s order to assassinate Lt. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, but Republicans do not; however, they disagree on whether the assassination was necessary or not.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: The United States bombed five strongholds of Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) in al-Qa’im near the Iraqi-Syrian border on Sunday, December 29, 2019 which left 25 martyrs and more than 50 injured. The Americans claim the attack was in response to an attack on December 27 on an Iraqi military base where a group of US troops were also deployed. During the attack, several Americans and a number of Iraqi Army forces were injured and a US civilian contractor was killed.
Strategic Council Online: Measures such as ignoring international treaties, unilateral actions in support of Israel, or trade wars will ultimately weaken the US globally.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An American affairs expert, citing the resignation of Dan Coats, US National Intelligence Director and Trump’s tweet on his replacement, said Trump has no fears in dismissing those who stand in his way so the successor of Coats has to make the intelligence community more obedient to Mr Trump.
Strategic Council Online: After the announcement of a sudden decision by the US President Donald Trump on the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Syria, a shock wave was felt in the United States and the Middle East including Washington’s allies from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to Israel. The announcement sparked the concern that the United States might reduce its role in West Asia and that withdrawal from Syria was a prelude to pullout from the Middle East region.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: In commentaries, Americans seem to have finally accepted that the political establishment in Syria under the leadership of Bashar Assad cannot be changed; also the possibility of toppling Assad’s government and the US desired changes in Syria will not be realized; therefore, Europe and the United States will gradually but informally proceed towards recognizing the status quo.
Amir Ali AbolFatah, American Affairs expert
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
Strategic Council Online – Note: The initiative to revive the Hejaz Railway, beyond being a transportation project, constitutes an attempt to redefine geopolitics, the economy, and Turkey’s regional position; however, its realization appears to face significant financial, security, and institutional challenges.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Strait of Hormuz crisis is no longer merely the consequence of a military confrontation, but rather a sign of the transition from the US-centered maritime order to a new energy security structure involving the participation of emerging and influential powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Iran’s active deterrence strategy, while increasing the costs of US intervention, has increasingly exposed the hidden rifts between Washington’s interests and those of the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The escalation of verbal and strategic tensions between Turkey and the Israeli regime, although not increasing the likelihood of direct war, indicates the formation of a new order in West Asian geopolitical rivalries.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Recent developments in the political geography of West Asia, from rising tensions in the Persian Gulf to missile and drone activities in the Red Sea and the recent warning by Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, regarding the threat to freedom of navigation, indicate a key pattern shift; the US-Iran war has moved beyond the scope of a regional and local confrontation and has linked two vital passageways for the global economy: the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Ukraine war was not merely a European crisis, but rather the starting point for the rearrangement of the global balance of power and a shift in the strategic behavior of great powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Great power competition is now pursued more in trade, currency, technology, and global supply chains than on the battlefields of military confrontation.
Strategic Council Online: An analyst on US affairs said that with the outbreak of the corona crisis, everything that had been created by the Trump administration in the field of capital markets had disappeared. “Despite Trump’s declining chances, his election defeat is not certain,” he said.
Strategic Council Online: Republicans will keep threatening Iran as long as outbreak of war is unlikely. Democrats strongly condemn Trump’s order to assassinate Lt. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, but Republicans do not; however, they disagree on whether the assassination was necessary or not.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: The United States bombed five strongholds of Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) in al-Qa’im near the Iraqi-Syrian border on Sunday, December 29, 2019 which left 25 martyrs and more than 50 injured. The Americans claim the attack was in response to an attack on December 27 on an Iraqi military base where a group of US troops were also deployed. During the attack, several Americans and a number of Iraqi Army forces were injured and a US civilian contractor was killed.
Strategic Council Online: Measures such as ignoring international treaties, unilateral actions in support of Israel, or trade wars will ultimately weaken the US globally.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An American affairs expert, citing the resignation of Dan Coats, US National Intelligence Director and Trump’s tweet on his replacement, said Trump has no fears in dismissing those who stand in his way so the successor of Coats has to make the intelligence community more obedient to Mr Trump.
Strategic Council Online: After the announcement of a sudden decision by the US President Donald Trump on the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Syria, a shock wave was felt in the United States and the Middle East including Washington’s allies from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to Israel. The announcement sparked the concern that the United States might reduce its role in West Asia and that withdrawal from Syria was a prelude to pullout from the Middle East region.
Amir Ali Abolfatah – American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: In commentaries, Americans seem to have finally accepted that the political establishment in Syria under the leadership of Bashar Assad cannot be changed; also the possibility of toppling Assad’s government and the US desired changes in Syria will not be realized; therefore, Europe and the United States will gradually but informally proceed towards recognizing the status quo.
Amir Ali AbolFatah, American Affairs expert
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
Strategic Council Online – Note: The initiative to revive the Hejaz Railway, beyond being a transportation project, constitutes an attempt to redefine geopolitics, the economy, and Turkey’s regional position; however, its realization appears to face significant financial, security, and institutional challenges.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Strait of Hormuz crisis is no longer merely the consequence of a military confrontation, but rather a sign of the transition from the US-centered maritime order to a new energy security structure involving the participation of emerging and influential powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Iran’s active deterrence strategy, while increasing the costs of US intervention, has increasingly exposed the hidden rifts between Washington’s interests and those of the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The escalation of verbal and strategic tensions between Turkey and the Israeli regime, although not increasing the likelihood of direct war, indicates the formation of a new order in West Asian geopolitical rivalries.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Recent developments in the political geography of West Asia, from rising tensions in the Persian Gulf to missile and drone activities in the Red Sea and the recent warning by Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, regarding the threat to freedom of navigation, indicate a key pattern shift; the US-Iran war has moved beyond the scope of a regional and local confrontation and has linked two vital passageways for the global economy: the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Ukraine war was not merely a European crisis, but rather the starting point for the rearrangement of the global balance of power and a shift in the strategic behavior of great powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Great power competition is now pursued more in trade, currency, technology, and global supply chains than on the battlefields of military confrontation.