In order to try and stop Israel from doing what it needs to do for survival by preventing Iran from obtaining nukes, the Obama administration announces new sanctions against Iranian financial institutions! The response to this brand of US foreign policy used as an attempt to combat an Islamist regime bent on the total destruction of Israel can be accomplished using these four article headlines: Al...

More bloodshed in Syria, protests in Egypt, and a ramping up of tensions between Israel and Iran. It would be hard to think of a more dangerous period in this the most contentious region on the planet, which given its location at the epicentre of the ongoing struggle over control of the planet’s natural resources

The rise of Qatar has been one of the most remarkable developments in the recent history of the Middle East. How this small, oil-rich Gulf state built Al Jazeera and parleyed the TV station's influence into a diplomatic role across the region is an insufficiently explored issue. The list of the monarchy's achievements is impressive, even putting aside how they secured the football World ...

Will the predictable results of the Arab Spring in Egypt be a major part of the State of the Union Speech? Unlikely! Isn't it funny how President Obama was so present during the so-called Arab Spring and the assumed move by the people of Egypt towards a democratic form of government? The leader of the free world was front and center demanding that Hosni Mubarak step down so that the free will...

The world was a less free place last year despite the toppling of dictators in the Middle East, which represented the "most significant challenge to authoritarian rule since the fall of Soviet Communism", according to a report.

Storm clouds are gathering over whether Iran should be invaded as a pre-emptive strike to prevent its manufacture of nuclear weapons. Already, Israel seems to be moving pro-actively, while the subject would have been discussed by Cameron during his trip to Saudi Arabia. The US has initiated the tightening of economic sanctions against Iran and

It's not well known, but the country we buy the biggest share of our imported oil from isn't in the Middle East,but our neighbor Canada. In order to process it cheaper and easier, Canada and US oil companies wanted to construct a pipeline between the drilling sites in Alberta, Canada and American refineries known as the Keystone Pipeline. Aside from providing thousands of construction jo...

David Cameron has warned Iran that "the whole world" is ready take action if it tries to close a crucial global trade route through the Middle East.

Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata, Italy's foreign minister, has re-affirmed his government's pro-EU orientation, saying in an exclusive interview with EurActiv Italy that "the single currency is irreversible". The former ambassador to Washington also pledged to work closely with the US on policy towards the Middle East and Islamist terrorism. More »

How come they lasted so long? We are so keen to analyse the revolutions that tore the Middle East's dictatorships apart this year that we have forgotten the record of endurance of these vicious men and their sheer, dogged, ruthless power to survive. European autocrats could sometimes manage a few decades: Hitler lasted only 12 years, Mussolini 21; Franco at 39 years, Salazar at 36 and Stalin ...