Four days after GCC foreign ministers pledged $20 billion over ten years to Oman and Bahrain and warned against foreign (read Iranian) interference in those countries, both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have sent forces to Manama. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Tehran has now issued a call 

The problem with being ideologically disposed towards democracy and having to deal in the real world of international politics is that you often have to say one thing but do another. The trick for public figures is to avoid having to do it too often or too close together in time. A good example is

I can't let Andrew Carr's comment that 'Australia's trade relationship with the Middle East is negligible save for our wheat industry' pass without comment.   Even a cursory view of the DFAT website reveals some issues about bilateral trade relations with the region at odds with his

The closer you are to events, the less principled and more pragmatic you become.  Hence, while Western governments advocate for the departure of President Mubarak, views from the region are somewhat different, even if the likelihood of the Tunisian contagion spreading beyond Egypt is

It appears Sana'a has found a new friend.  Yesterday's AUKMIN communique announced that 'Australia and the UK reaffirmed their commitment to continued international and regional engagement in working with Yemen to find solutions to Yemen's economic and political challenges'. And

Nearly six years after his father was assassinated by a car bomb in Beirut, Sa'ad Hariri has now seen his government fall at the hands of the very group whose members are likely to be accused of complicity in his father's death. The timing of the resignation of the Hizbullah ministers and their

The public has come to assume that Islamist groups are dedicated to the conduct of mass casualty attacks against Western interests to either exact revenge in response to perceptions of armed attack on the community of believers (umma) or to seek changes to Western states' foreign policies regarding

Gulf Arab states can be divided roughly into two camps — those that see Iran as a threat (be it existential, irredentist or ideological), and those that, for rather more pragmatic reasons, see Iran as a permanent geographic reality which needs to be engaged. Selected excerpts from the

Last weekend's foiled bombing attempt emanating from Yemen highlights again both the resilience and persistence of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the difficulties both the Yemeni and US governments face in addressing the threat. In many ways, AQAP is a more serious threat

In this case, VIP stands for Very Iranian Person, as President Mahmoud Ahmedenijad commences his two-day official visit to Lebanon.  The Lebanon visit fits perfectly with Ahmedenijad's vision of Iran as a leader of the Muslim world, and his view that Iranian political (as opposed to

Tourism Australia has certainly done a good job in securing Oprah Winfrey's Ultimate Australian Adventure in December; the return on government investment in the project is very likely to be substantial. But when you're selling iconic destinations such as the 'Oprah House', Great Barrier Reef and

The recent withdrawal of the last US combat forces from Iraq and the equally recent reminder from the Al Qaeda affiliates across the country that they remain operationally active has elicited little in the way of introspection from commentators in this country.  Australia left what seems

In light of the reasoned and rational debate we are having over the issue of 'asylum seekers', 'unauthorised arrivals', 'illegal immigrants', or whatever is currently the term, it is educational to find out what some obviously well-informed US politicians have seen happen when you relax border

Hizbullah, always keen to maintain its reputation as first and foremost a Lebanese nationalist resistance movement, is facing increasing difficulty in maintaining this fig leaf of respectability in the complex sectarian political terrain of Lebanon. The latest, and most serious challenge to this

The death of Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah last week brought out tens of thousands of people to his funeral in Beirut, giving an indication of his following in the country. Those who have since spoken well of him, such as the British ambassador to Lebanon and the CNN editor Octavia

One doesn't normally associate resource wars with the Levant (apart from concerns about water supplies). But tensions are emerging over something normally associated with the Persian Gulf: several large offshore gas fields have been discovered that promise significant economic advantage for

I always like reading Graeme Dobell's posts and I would like to add some comments to his latest on regional footballing diplomacy. But before I do, I must admit my sporting bias — I am an unabashed Rugby Union tragic. While there is no doubt that there are large numbers of players of Pacific

I've gritted my teeth for long enough as people who should know better mount an outrageous scare campaign on an issue they patently know little about and care even less to find out about, and which has virtually no relevance in this country because of the miniscule number of people it affects. This

It is something of an understatement to say that Arab voting patterns have tended to favour the incumbent in recent years. Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak gained 94% of the vote in 1999 (as the only candidate) but a constitutional amendment allowing for multi-candidate presidential elections saw

This report regarding a skirmish between Saudi and Emirati naval (or more likely coast guard) forces is interesting not just because of its rarity but because it sheds light on the potential flashpoints that the ill-defined maritime borders within the Persian Gulf present. The two countries have

Jim Molan's post raises some excellent questions about the nexus between military commitment and political influence in the broader Australian-US relationship. I agree with Jim's view that the national caveats that we have placed on our commitment in Afghanistan and that were in place for our

I'm sorry to be so critical lately of others' posts, but if I disagree with a post on the blog about which I think I know something, I feel the need to speak out (hence my silence on economics, climate change, Asia etc). And so it is with Nick Floyd's post about the motivations driving your

I don't think I have seen the words 'victory' and 'Iraq' used in the same sentence since President Bush declared in 2003 that the 'Battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror...' But having read Sam's link yesterday to a piece by Chris Kenny I was a bit taken aback to find out that the US