What the Kurdish debacle means for Turkey
Turkey welcomed almost with celebrations the debacle that the peshmerga suffered at the hands of the Iraqi government forces. Nonetheless, it now has to...
Flush with jobs and potential workers, Germany is stymied by this cultural quirk
There is no shortage of jokes about the German language. Mark Twain practically has the crowded market cornered, but Richard Porson, an 18th century...
To succeed, secession bids require recognition
Weeks on from their independence referendums, both the Catalans and Kurds are undoubtedly on the back foot. Neither leadership has yet declared independence, and...
At last, some order in Lebanon’s finances
Political settlement in Lebanon has been brought back to life. This is because the Lebanese parliament has passed its first budget since 2005, the...
Fundamental Saudi shifts and the change coming to the Middle East
What will happen now that the strategy of US President Donald Trump on Iran and its proxies has finally converged with Saudi strategy, which...
China tackles smog with help from the World Bank
China's capital has become notorious for its smog but the biggest contributors to local air pollution are industrial furnaces, district heating systems, residential fires...
Trump needs a foreign policy win
A poll this week revealed that only 36 percent of Americans trust US President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis. This...
Davos: With the Saudis absent, Zarif’s fairy tales prevailed
Iranian Foreign Minster Mohammad Javad Zarif certainly got a free ride at this year’s World Economic Forum. His views on the region went completely...
The poor will pay the biggest price for this pandemic
Daily media updates on the number of infections and deaths caused by the COVID-19 pandemic tend to focus on affluent countries.
Even when studies conclude...
Stein's law says oil prices will rise
"If something cannot go on forever, it will stop," according to Herbert Stein, former chief economist to U.S. President Richard Nixon ("What I think:...
