The recent thaw in Israeli-Saudi relations must be understood in the context of the lengthy Saudi Arabia-Iran cold war, and, more generally, the larger conflict between Sunnis and Shi’ites.
Within a relatively short period of time, a full load of sobering, even shattering, bad news has rained upon Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s head.
The Assad family has ruled Syria for 50 years, but Bashar’s war against the Syrian people has in many ways destroyed the country that he inherited from his late father, Hafez. Syria remains a tinderbox, with potential conflagrations that could affect all its neighbors. The Biden administration should consider a fresh approach to the Syria crisis as it weighs US engagement with the Middle East region.
Syria and Iran are entwined tighter than an intricately woven Persian carpet. Unless Syrian President Bashar Assad has a change of heart and decides to expel Iranian forces, his most treasured foreign guests are staying.
