The executions on the weekend are notable for the sheer number of people killed. However, they maintain a policy of political crackdown that was reinvigorated in Saudi Arabia during the Arab Spring.
By pursuing their strategic goals in the region, the UK, US and an Arab coalition are indirectly contributing to the destruction of Yemen’s cultural heritage.
Fears are growing that the Paris climate negotiators are making a hash of it.
EPA/Ian Langsdon
Saudi Arabia’s criminal justice system – if you can call it that – has suddenly started to attract increased international scrutiny. Reports of the crucifixion sentence for a teenage protester and the…
American consumers may welcome lower gas prices, but the drop in oil revenues could impact Arab Gulf states and Middle East security. A scholar examines the realities of decreased oil revenues.
Houthi followers in Sanaa rally against the Saudi offensive.
Reuters/Mohamed Al-Sayaghi
Capital punishment is unfairly imposed, innocent people are regularly condemned and it is patently ineffective in deterring crime. So why to states retain the death penalty?
Saudi Arabia has been careful not to appear overly oppressive of groups like Islamic State for fear of antagonising its own constituents.
Reuters
Saudi citizens supporting Islamic State are not the result of a coherent plan directed by its rulers, but the overflow of a long-standing system used to maintain its domestic legitimacy.
The West is preoccupied with a particular minority strand of Islam, which does not represent the Muslim majority - most of whom, including these Indonesians, are in Asia.
AAP/Newzulu/Gholib Sa
The Islam that causes alarm and protests in the West is not representative of the beliefs and practices of the world’s Muslims. Most are Asian and they are the ones more likely to migrate to the West.
Increased oil and gas revenues amid lifted sanctions are set to raise Iran’s economic fortunes, which ease Middle Eastern tensions.
EPA/Abedin Taherkenareh/AAP Image
Opponents of the Iran nuclear deal say it raises the nuclear weapons threat in the region. But Middle East tensions are actually likely to ease as Iran grows richer without being shackled by sanctions.
Faced with the catastrophe in Yemen, too many prefer to look away.
EPA/STR
Senior Research Fellow, Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at IUPUI and Journalist-fellow, Religion and Civic Culture Center, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences