There is no doubt that the US has immense influence in the Middle East. The pact between Iran and Russia seeks to change that. The idea is that the Gulf Arab countries also see Russia as offering more interesting ideas. The recent pact will ensure that: "The states in the Middle East should be more careful about following Western advice ," former R...
New Zealand PM bows out
Here's an article from The Economist which, while talking about John Key's resignation, states that NZ is "one of the most successful countries in the world. While this is debatable, there is no doubt that Key has had successes- namely international recognition- along with failures, housing, immigration and the environment. We have yet to see whether the new Prime Minister, John English, will have the same success.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum (70), Dubai's ruler, can no longer keep his domestic affairs quiet. Now it's Princess Haya of Jordan, half-sister of Jordan's current king, King Abdullah II who is seeking to divorce him and is seeking a protection order for one of her children in London now. She married him in 2004 and rumour has it that King ...
I read this article on the UAE's involvement in the Yemeni war (UAE flag pictured) with a great deal of interest- not least because I lived in the UAE and have spent time in Yemen as well. At that time, the Civil War had ended and the South had separated from the North. Although kidnappings were still normal- the group I was travelling with wa...
I've been wondering what it would be like being in the Middle East, given that I was in New Zealand for four years and I'm now living in Vietnam. I would probably find this mounting tension hard to deal with, although it happens all the time. While I was living in the UAE, I was used to it. With tension in the region increasing all the time, especi...
The Iranian crisis continues with both the Iranians and the US trading insults. It looks as if war between the parties could be any day, particularly if either side makes a mistake, but this time it might happen. However, a settlement concerning the dispute might just be negotiated. Republican Senator Rand Paul (pictured) has made overtures to the ...
One of the issues that continues to recur is what Turkey will do about Syria. Will it invade or not? I've often thought about and I assume that it will, someday, especially stop the Kurds. That assumption may not be correct. I know Kurds who live in New Zealand, having escaped from Iran and Iraq, and I know Kurds from the Middle East. All they want...
I've been thinking a lot recently about religion and how it affects relationships and society. Just recently I've been made to feel inferior to a "religious" person even though I have paid for all of life's essentials- accommodation, food and transport. Clearly, however he is more superior because he is "religious". Is it not much the same in Iran?...
An increasing number of Gazans are entering into Israel each day to work, 2000 in fact. This number has just been improved by the Israeli government despite the fact that it is an election year and the right-wing is desperate to keep the fact that Hamas, seemingly, is being rewarded, quiet. Moving from Palestine to Israel is difficult - I've done i...
New Zealand has been in the news a lot recently. Latterly, it was the International Cricket World Cup and before that the shootings at the Christchurch mosque, during which 51 people were killed. Now, I'll put in a media release about which there will not be a lot of media coverage. Joint statement from NZ Super Fund, Russell Group and Lockwood Pro...
The UAE has always had its best interests at heart when it negotiated trade deals. It has done deals with various countries and companies in Africa, in Asia, in Europe and the US as well as with Australia and NZ too. I wrote about all these deals during my time with Khaleej Times. So I was not surprised to learn that the UAE is getting closer to Ch...
The four-year war in Yemen continues, with no end in sight. The Houthis are increasingly attacking Saudi Arabia, although these attacks are not new. Is it something to do with Iran? A friend you lives in Jeddah says that such attacks have become commonplace, a fact that Saudi doesn't like to acknowledge. Maybe if the attacks become "normal" o...
The gloss is coming off Dubai, finally. It might appear to be a progressive city and a city of modernity but the royal family, led by the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is innately conservative. The gloss started to come off last year when the ruler's daughter, Princess Latifa, was returned to Dubai after being captured at s...
I've never been a fan of Saudi Arabia, even when I lived in the Gulf. Under the auspices of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, I am even less keen on the country. Saudi Arabia, like the UAE, is not all it appears and although both countries criticize the West they are desperate for its approval, from the US in particular. So. it was with great pleas...
In the Middle East, there seems to be double standards in play when it comes to Israel. Israel seems to act with immunity while other Arab countries, and Iran as well, are expected to adhere to greater standards, being called liers and worse if they do not. The latest is Israel airstrikes on military sites in Syria (a street in Damascas Syria, pict...
One of the issues that has been prioritized by the New Zealand Government is measuring if people are leading a better life. This has been done (30 May) by introducing a "Well Being Budget" instead of the traditional GDP-focused one. Is this the best way to measure the economic health of a nation? Certainly, Bhutan thinks so given that it was the fi...
Coping with developing countries and regions is not easy for someone from the West who is likely to be accustomed to things running more smoothly than in the country he/she may be in. I'm in Vietnam currently and although it is different from the Middle East there are similarities- both have centralized government and in both cases some things func...
The Middle East is a hotbed of news. There is Iran,1,000 more US troops being sent to the region, Syria, Palestine and, of course, Israel. It seems unlikely that Palestine and Israel will reach an agreement any time soon. On that score, I have been reading Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper to get the latest news from Israel. Here is what the publisher ...
Tensions are rising in the Middle East, especially between Iran and the US and the other Gulf countries. It's hard to know who to believe, what media to believe in particular, when you are not there to assess actions for yourself. I know that when I lived in the UAE a great deal of activity went on in the Strait of Hormuz that went unrecorded, or a...
There is much going on in the Middle East, from the Gulf countries, Iran, Yemen, Syria and Jordan. Jordan has been forgotten in the turmoil that is the Middle East, often seen as the haven of stability. How wrong is that analysis. A few years ago when I has working with someone in Jordan there was concern then that the government was corrupt, must ...
Saudi Arabia is good at summitry. It has hosted three summits in the last few days, with the main goal of confronting Iran. The results didn't necessarily go according to plan. Al Monitor's Bruce Riedel explains why. Saudi Arabia's King Salman hosted three summits last week in an impressive display of the kingdom's convening power. The Saudis ...