Yemen
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Saudi involvement in Yemen
Not in our backyard
Saudi Arabia has drawn a lot of criticism lately for its leading role in the war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Some deride the Kingdom, the richest Arab state, for taking action against the poorest. Others have claimed that the fight against the Houthis is just one element in a broader war on the Shia that Saudi Arabia has supposedly been waging. Commentary by Ali Shihabi
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Military force and drone warfare
Post-truth victims
During the Obama era, the world witnessed what could be referred to as the 'dronification' of killing. Gone are combatant status, war goals and the option of negotiation. No prisoners are taken; people are just killed and anyone who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time just gets killed along with them. By Charlotte Wiedemann
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Non-fiction: ″The Age of Jihad ″ by Patrick Cockburn
A catalogue of blunders
″The Age of Jihad: The Islamic State and the Great War for the Middle East″ by journalist Patrick Cockburn traces not just the rise of Islamic State and other extremist groups who are striving for power in Muslim countries, but how American and British foreign policy in this century has contributed directly to their emergence. Richard Marcus read the book
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Ali Abdullah Saleh and the conflict in Yemen
The lure of power
During the Arab Spring President Saleh faced widespread armed protests and was forced to leave office. Thanks to some unscrupulous wheeling and dealing, however, Saleh may yet pull off his bid to return to power. By Neville Teller
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Saudi-Iranian rivalry
And the winner is...
A cold war is waging in one of the world′s hottest regions. A key component of the sectarian competition between Shia and Sunni Islam in the Middle East is geopolitical, with Iran facing off against Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies in a struggle for regional dominance. By Robert Harvey
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Interview with Hooria Mashhour
On the rebels′ blacklist
Fearing for her life in her home country, a former minister from Yemen applied to Germany for asylum. Now she′s working for the integration of refugees. Interview by Ali Almakhlafi
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Saudi-US relations
Chilly diplomacy
Relations between the US and its long-term ally Saudi Arabia are at an historically low ebb. President Barack Obama′s recent visit to Saudi Arabia did little to improve the situation. Bernard Haykel, professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, provides an analysis
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Reforming the Arab security sector
A plea for transparency
In many Arab countries, comprehensive democratisation and national reconciliation is needed if urgently needed security sector reforms are to have the desired effect, says Yezid Sayigh, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut
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House of healing
Doctors Without Borders' (MSF) hospital for reconstructive surgery in Amman is the final hope for many of those injured in conflicts in the Middle East. Tania Kramer reports from Jordan
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Saudi Arabia and Iran
Defeat Islamic State - or become it
The dawn of 2016 has brought a new round of doomsday predictions that Saudi Arabia’s ruling Al Saud family cannot sustain its autocratic grip on power. The kingdom, pessimists argue, is caught in a perfect storm with economic problems, social challenges and foreign policy crises all converging at the same time. By James M. Dorsey
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Saudi intervention in Yemen
Stoking the fires
Riyadh′s support for militants fighting the Houthis has greatly benefited al-Qaida and the Islamic State in Yemen. Reversing their advances is likely to prove difficult. By Nasser Arrabyee
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Sunni-Shia tension
Islam versus Islam
The religious element of the conflicts raging in the Middle East today is a major reason why they are proving so difficult to defuse. An essay by Shahid Javed Burki