Canberra, 11 July 2016 Pakistan is a land of contrasts. The disparity between the haves and the have-nots in all aspects of normal life stands out as a prime example. However, the most starkly visible contrast is the two very different conceptual understanding within the nation of the role of religion in the State. […]
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Tag Archives: Iran
The Pilgrims Progress: Russia in the Middle-East
February 9, 2016 
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Canberra, 8 February 2016 For nearly four years of the Civil War, Russia was content with providing traditional support through the provision of arms and logistics to its client-state Syria, while the Assad regime battled for its very existence. Therefore, the direct military intervention in September 2015 can be considered a revolutionary act by […]
Continue readingSAUDI ARABIA AND IRAN: DRAWING THE BATTLE LINES
January 20, 2016 1 Comment
Canberra, 20 January 2016 Ever since King Salman came to power in early 2015 and brought about sweeping changes in the hierarchy within the monarchy, the administration has been pursuing a more vigorous foreign policy than the one followed by the previous regime of King Abdullah. The focused objective has been to limit to the […]
Continue readingThe Middle-East: An Open Pandora’s Box
December 12, 2015 1 Comment
Singapore, 12 December 2015 Even before the discovery of the vast oil reserves in the region, the Middle-East had been the stomping ground of the global powers of the time. The past century has seen the region embroiled in convoluted conflicts that have simmered and altered shape, but have never really been brought to […]
Continue readingTHE IMPROBABILITY OF PEACE IN SYRIA
August 25, 2015 1 Comment
Canberra, 25 August 2015 The regime of President Bashar al-Assad now effectively controls only about one-sixth of the territory of original Syria and its control is diminishing on a daily basis because it is losing territory to insurgents and facing a manpower shortage in the military. Till recently the regime continued to hold the core […]
Continue readingSAUDI ARABIA: CHARTING A COMPLEX COURSE
July 11, 2015 3 Comments
Canberra, 11 July 2015 From the very beginning of their rule of the Saudi kingdom, the al-Saud family has embraced the principles and practices of the Wahabi ideology, an extreme and strict version of Islam. The support for the extreme variety of Wahabi teachings increased in 1979 after Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in neighbouring […]
Continue readingYEMEN: WHO IS FIGHTING WHOM, AND WHY?
April 29, 2015 3 Comments
Canberra, 29 April 2015 All the nations of the Middle-East are now at war—against one another or against undefinable entities who are pursuing their own warped agenda—ruthlessly attempting to shore up lost prestige, struggling to retain power and influence, and to regain long lost command over the region. The rationale put forward is the necessity […]
Continue readingTHE WAR IN YEMEN: ANOTHER POWDER KEG BLOWS UP
April 4, 2015 4 Comments
Canberra, 4 April 2015 A ten-nation coalition led by Saudi Arabia that also comprises members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) launched airstrikes in Yemen on 25th March. The Saudi ambassador to the United States stated that the operation was aimed at preventing the radical Houthi movement from taking over Yemen. The airstrikes were conducted […]
Continue readingTHE KING IS DEAD-LONG LIVE THE KING – SAUDI ARABIA: A LEGACY OF FOREIGN POLICY BLUNDERS
February 11, 2015 2 Comments
Canberra, 11 February 2015 Much is being written about the ‘peaceful’ transition of power and the rapid administrative overhaul that has been undertaken by King Salman in the fortnight or so that he has been in power in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi newspapers are trumpeting the changes as heralding a new era within the kingdom. […]
Continue readingSAUDI ARABIA: ON THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA
December 30, 2014 1 Comment
Phuket, Thailand, 29 December 2014 The entire Arab world is situated within the region now called the Middle-East. However, the Middle-east is not exclusively Arab; there are numerous non-Arab minorities resident in the region and there are three major non-Arab nations that straddle it—Iran, Turkey, and Israel. Even so Saudi Arabia, the richest nation in […]
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Sanu Kainikara 
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