Terrorist attacks in Iran are evidence that, in the Middle East, there are far too many moving parts for US President Donald Trump’s recent trip to have changed much on the ground.
The ongoing diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia has isolated Qatar from the rest of the Middle East while also undermining the anti-Iran alliance among the Gulf countries.
Qatar has used its wealth to adopt policies sometimes rivaling Saudi Arabia’s. Think, for example, of the popular Al-Jazeera. Now the Saudis seem determined to limit Qatari influence as much as possible.
Emily L. Blout, American University School of Communication
President is not the most important leadership role in Iran. The election is not completely democratic. That said, there’s a pretty competitive contest happening.
Rouhani’s conservative rivals are exploiting growing pessimism about the economy, increasing the odds that someone more hostile to the West might become Iran’s next president.
To understand the complexities of the conflict in Syria and what might happen next, it helps to untangle the three layers of strife in the war-torn country.
New research from a multidisciplinary teams of scholars suggests military alliances tie nations together in ways that are not always immediately obvious.
Convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), and Deputy Director (International) at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University