COUNTERFACTUALS 鈥� what if so and so had happened? 鈥� are always dicey. For example; would there have been a full-scale Vietnam war if President John F Kennedy had not been assassinated? There is no way to prove that hypothesis right or wrong. In the case of today鈥檚 Middle East, one could pose the counterfactual question about a forgotten 1919 report about...
The issue of academic research on the Middle East has become a political flashpoint in the United States, where critics of Israel allege a 鈥楶alestine exception鈥� exists when it comes to free speech rights.
OVER the past four decades, there have been at least three tectonic shifts in the geopolitics of the Middle East, often referred to as efforts at 鈥榗hanging the map鈥� of the Middle East.聽 In 1982, Israeli defense minister Ariel Sharon invaded Lebanon in order to destroy the threat of Yasir Arafat鈥檚 Palestine Liberation Organisation.聽 In 2003, the Bush administration created...
THE Middle East has once again come dangerously close to disaster. For twelve tense days, the world watched anxiously as Iran and Israel exchanged deadly attacks. Their actions have dragged both nations and their allies into a cycle of fear, destruction and high-risk brinkmanship. The damage went beyond lives lost and buildings destroyed. It shook the stability of the...
THE Middle East is teetering on the edge of a full-scale regional war after the US military, in coordination with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, launched strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordo on June 21. Iran鈥檚 swift retaliation, declaring US positions and citizens in the region as legitimate targets, culminated in an attack on a US...
At least 11 flights from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka to Sharjah and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Doha in Qatar and Kuwait were disrupted on Tuesday amid tension over the Iranian airstrikes on a United States airbase in Qatar...
Global airlines have suspended or reduced flights in the Middle East as the conflict between Israel and Iran rages and the United States joins the fight.
State Department issued a 鈥榳orldwide caution鈥� for Americans on Sunday, saying the conflict in the Middle East could put those traveling or living abroad at an increased security risk.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel was 鈥榗hanging the face of the world鈥� in its war with Iran, as he welcomed 鈥榓ll help鈥� in destroying the Islamic republic's nuclear sites.
THE Middle East stands once again at the edge of a dangerous precipice. In a recent and highly controversial move, Israel launched an unprovoked military strike on Iran, causing extensive damage to critical infrastructure and resulting in the loss of many lives, including senior officers of the Iranian armed forces. In swift retaliation, Iran responded with missile...
FOR nearly 30 years, Israel鈥檚 prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has driven the Middle East into war and destruction. The man is a powder keg of violence. Throughout all the wars that he has championed, Netanyahu has always dreamed of the big one: to defeat and overthrow the Iranian Government. His long-sought war, just launched, might just get us all killed in a...
ISRAEL has been called America鈥檚 unsinkable ship in the Middle East. Terrifyingly accurate Iranian missiles have been piercing its acclaimed Iron Dome to target the ship鈥檚 hull as it were. The war that began as a threat to Iran is looking like a threat to Israel. The Western world looks jolted by Iran鈥檚 furious response to Israel鈥檚 initial blitzkrieg on Thursday night despite...
Stocks rose and oil prices pulled back on Monday as fears of a wider Middle East conflict eased even as Israel and Iran pounded each other with missiles for a fourth day...
Bangladesh has opened hotlines to receive reports from its citizens living in Iran and their relatives in Dhaka to assess the situation before taking a final decision on whether to pull the expatriates from the Middle Eastern country.
Establishment Republicans have backed Israel鈥檚 strikes on Iran, but the crisis is forcing president Donald Trump to walk a political tightrope between the hawks in his base and the isolationists who helped sweep him to power.
Global airlines cancelled flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran and other Middle East destinations, or rerouted planes, on Friday after countries shut airspaces following Israeli strikes on Iran.
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump鈥檚 latest diplomatic foray into the Middle East 鈥� spanning Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi 鈥� unveiled a foreign policy philosophy that is neither grounded in idealism nor constrained by traditional strategic alliances. Instead, it champions a form of calculated pragmatism that is transactional to its core. The abandonment of long-cherished...
France鈥檚 foreign minister said on Wednesday that Iraq should not be pulled into conflicts in a turbulent Middle East during his first visit to the country, which has suffered from decades of instability...
IN RECENT months, the Israeli Defence Forces have been much taken by a term that augurs poorly for peaceful accord in the Middle East. 鈥楽ecurity zones鈥� are being seized in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria. Land is, for claimed reasons of self-defence, being appropriated with brazen assuredness. It is hard, however, to see this latest turn as anything other than a de...
Bangladesh will focus on strengthening economic and energy cooperation with Qatar during the visit of chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in the oil-rich Middle Eastern country, said chief adviser鈥檚 press secretary Shafiqul Alam in Dhaka on Monday.
THE Middle East has long served as a critical employment destination for migrant workers, especially those from South Asia. The region remains indispensable for Bangladesh, whose economy relies heavily on overseas labour markets. About 70 per cent of Bangladesh鈥檚 more than 15 million overseas workers are employed in Middle Eastern countries, contributing over..
IN ALL negotiations between Arab countries and Israel, 鈥榣and for peace鈥� was never a preferred option to the Zionist movement. Zionist extremist killed Yitzhak Rabin on November 4, 1995 for...
World oil prices jumped Monday on fresh moves by China to boost its聽economy聽and as traders tracked an uncertain future for Syria and the wider crude-rich Middle East...
THE collapse of the Baathist government of Syria in the north of the country, as the al-Qaeda affiliate HTS (Hay鈥檃t Tahrir al-Sham or the Levant Liberation Council) advanced into Aleppo and Hama, could reconfigure the Middle East. The rapidity of the advance and the Muslim fundamentalist leadership of the fighters remind me of the fall of the government of Ashraf Ghani before the Taliban advance...
IT IS too early to draw an outline of the Middle East policy of the incoming Trump administration. The cabinet and other senior positions are shaping up, while Democrats are doing their best to badger Arab-Americans for their vote against the Democratic Party...
G20 leaders on Tuesday were holding the final day of a summit that offered some impetus to stalled UN climate talks, diverged on wars in Ukraine and the Middle East 鈥� and foresaw global turbulence as Donald Trump readies to take over the US presidency...
THE recent escalation in the Middle East, associated with intensified Israeli military operations in Gaza, has drawn constant global attention. The war has made ripple effects on Lebanon, Yemen and Iran. The ongoing conflict has provoked responses from Iran, striking missiles directly on Israel, which is unprecedented, in response to the death of many...
Saudi Arabia鈥檚 de facto ruler on Monday called on Israel to respect Iran鈥檚 sovereignty and refrain from attacking Iranian soil, highlighting warming ties between the Middle East rivals.
The United States announced Friday the deployment of additional military assets to the Middle East, including ballistic missile defense destroyers and long-range B-52 bomber aircraft, serving as...
THE ongoing violence in Gaza has reached an alarming peak, with 93 more lives lost in the latest Israeli airstrikes on October 30. This brings the death toll past 43,000, a tragic number mostly comprising civilians and children, making it one of the deadliest periods in the region鈥檚 history. Each day, Gaza witnesses unimaginable destruction, and the...