Notions

A peace deal is an agreement between nations to stop fighting. Commercial, cultural, economic, and physical types of war should see an end after inking such a deal. In short: stop fighting. Therefore, one would be confused to hear that the UAE and Israel have normalised relations and are on the road to signing a peace deal. Were the relations strained? Were the two countries fighting? What peace deal are they talking about? The UAE and Israel have long been cooperating in the realms of business and research. Since the 9/11 attacks, Dubai in particular has been adamant about saving face and improving its cyber-security. A regional partner that is worthy of such cooperation is certainly not Yemen or any regional country engulfed in its own internal crises and commitment to its reputation as the third world. No. Israel proved to be a reliable partner than can deliver.   The cooperation has since grown, with investments taking place and companies established in the business hubs of...

Iran asked the Interpol to arrest Donald Trump at the backdrop of assassinating its top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on January 3, 2002, insisting that he and his aides should face "murder and terrorism charges”. Clearly, the Interpol burst into laughter. Now Iran knew that its ridiculous request will be snubbed, but it pressed on with it nonetheless. The timing is perfect. As the USA is struggling with the corona-virus pandemic, dire economic conditions, and a national revolt over the murder of an African American is an act of pure racism, topped with recent news about Donald Trump’s prior knowledge of Russia’s paid hitmen to eliminate US fighters in Afghanistan, Trump is not in his strongest presidency moments. A news article that calls for arresting a president by the top international enforcement authority – albeit being purely a political stunt - will not fall on deaf US ears. Trump’s bet that over 18 months of maximum pressure sanctions will make I...

“The fight isn't over until you win.” ― Robin Hobb, Royal Assassin Indeed. However, in Libya, both sides believe they have won, and the fight is still not over. General Khalifa Hifter launched a military offensive against the Government of National Accord (GNA) in April 2019, employing the rhetoric of freedom and empowerment of the people against neo-imperialist interests invested in the incumbent government. Everyone understands the fallaciousness of these claims, and that the fight is only but one for the control of oil, considering that Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa. Its land has long become a battleground for proxy wars that stretch across the European, Asian and African continents, whilst the USA is observing with much weary as it sees Russian influence slowly, but surely, extending to the southern Mediterranean. Meanwhile, the Libyans are still at war. Lives are lost, security is shattered, the economy is struggling, and th...

Who would have believed that a comedian would govern an extremely strategic country that lies at the heart of Russian versus power struggle? Or that a bawdy, brainless, boorish man would run the strongest and most influential country in the world? Now, for the comedian to be the reason behind ending the clown’s tenure would be the joke of the decade. On 4 October, Ukraine’s general prosecutor’s office announced that it will review past investigations into the owner of Burisma - a gas company linked to former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter-, raising the possibility of reopening the probes as per President Trump’s instructions. Donald Trump had insisted repeatedly that his invitation to Ukraine to re-launch investigations had nothing to do with his political aspirations or cheap strategies to bring down an opponent, but rather a commitment to fight corruption committed by US nationals. Irrespective of whether an indictment would emerge, the investigations t...

Darling, we need to talk.  Never a good sign, but at least it paves the way for an amicable, quasi-consensual agreement to part ways or to solve differences. Why can’t this approach be applied in politics? Iran – AKA the root of all evil and malice according to a certain camp in the Middle East the Western world – has been fighting a proxy war in Yemen throughout the past decade or so. The alleged ultimate goal of Iranian intervention in Yemen and other neighbouring Arab states is to bolster Iranian hegemony in the region, and the easiest route to follow is to employ agents that abide by the same theological and ideological beliefs. The most sensible course encountered to fend off such expansionism is the coalescence of like-minded regimes that share common self-serving interests and the subsequent employment of religious rhetoric and exaggerated security threats.   Since 2015, the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen  attempted – with the aide of lo...

A picture has been circulating on social media of Princess Haya bint Al Hussein with her brother Prince Ali bin Al Hussein. The siblings are the offspring of late King Hussein of Jordan, and their brother is King Abdullah of Jordan. Princess Haya is married to the Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – a prominent political and business figure. Owing to marital disputes, the princess left the United Arab Emirates and sought refuge in the United Kingdom to initiate divorce procedures. Clearly, she would not have been able to launch such procedures in the UAE or in any other neighbouring Arab country, mainly owing to political pressures, bias towards male spouses in most Arab civil case-law, and lengthy, complicated, flexible , and opaque procedures. The decision to leave the oil rich Emirati nation was brave, intelligent, and reflective of a high level of determination, integrity and self-respect. Nonetheless, that is what one expects of a princess. Afte...

It is virtually impossible to open a newspaper or read an online daily without coming across a headline that mourns – or announces – the death of the former Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi. Most headlines stated the obvious, leaving little room for interpretation. However, most headlines from Middle Eastern portals chose - as expected - a vaguer route, confusing the reader and leaving him/her to question the point behind the selection of the catchy titles. “The death of the only democratically elected President”… “after years of imprisonment Morsi meets his maker”…..”The death of a leader amidst a long trial”. What do these titles mean? Is he being mourned? Are people upset that he died? Is the complaint about how he died? The timing? The place? The lack of action from authorities to respond to his health deterioration – as claimed by the Turkish authorities? What are we mourning here? The fact is, Mohammad Morsi has been jailed for the past six years. He was no al...