In a few hours from now, by this evening per IST, it is expected that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will rule on the South African request for provisional measures to stop what it argues is Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. It is a poignant moment: an ex-apartheid country is censuring an …
Blinken’s window dressing tour of Arab capitals
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in AlUla, January 8, 2023 The expectation raised by the United States in allowing a UN Security Council resolution on Gaza pass through on December 22, 2023 without having to exercise its veto — albeit a watered-down one that stopped …
Continue reading “Blinken’s window dressing tour of Arab capitals”
India’s turnaround on Palestine has more than meets the eye
A Palestinian man carries his daughter’s body near Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza after she was killed by an Israeli airstrike Indian diplomacy is ending 2023 with a momentous turnaround. What began as a course correction necessitated by the torrential flow of events in West Asia is assuming strategic overtones. Truly, the aberration in India’s policies can …
Continue reading “India’s turnaround on Palestine has more than meets the eye”
US, Israel to open second front in Lebanon
A joint meeting of the US and five Arab foreign ministers took place in Amman on November 4, 2023 to discuss the Palestine question The announcement late Sunday night by the US Central Command [CENTCOM] headquartered in Doha about the arrival of a Ohio-class American nuclear submarine in its “area of responsibility” presages a significant …
Continue reading “US, Israel to open second front in Lebanon”
Hezbollah takes to the high ground
Israeli forces have met with fierce resistance in Gaza, including militants armed with anti-tank missiles The Palestine question, which Benjamin Netanyahu had thought he had all but resolved by incrementally assimilating “all of Israel” as a Zionist entity, has roared back to the centre stage of West Asian politics and international society, thanks to Hamas, …
Neocon regime change in Gaza will complicate ‘two-state solution’
President of Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak (L) at Cairo, October 20, 2023 The world-wide condemnation of Israel’s horrific violation of international humanitarian law is not deterring its military operations in Gaza. In remarks on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the calls for ceasefire, saying these “are calls for …
Continue reading “Neocon regime change in Gaza will complicate ‘two-state solution’”
India’s solidarity with Israel is untenable
The UN General Assembly held an extraordinary session to discuss the situation around Gaza Strip, New York, October 28, 2023 India’s muscular diplomacy, an attribute of the present government, has run into heavy weather. Body blows from multiple sources — spat with Canada; Maldives’ triumphalism about evicting Indian servicemen; China-Bhutan normalisation, etc. — testify to …
Continue reading “India’s solidarity with Israel is untenable”
US diplomacy lost traction in Middle East. Isolating Iran no longer possible.
Russia’s Dy Foreign Minister & Special Envoy Mikhail Bogdanov (C) held talks with Iran’s Dy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani and Hamas’ head of International Relations Mousa Marzouk, Moscow, Oct. 26, 2023 The US President Joe Biden is convinced that one of the reasons why Hamas launched the attack on Israel was because of the …
Continue reading “US diplomacy lost traction in Middle East. Isolating Iran no longer possible.”
Biden gives booster dose to the faltering Ukraine war
The prognosis of “war fatigue” on the part of the United States and its allies in the proxy war in Ukraine was greatly exaggerated. On the contrary, the war is acquiring a new swagger. The Biden Administration is riding a tiger and a dismount is fraught with the danger of being devoured by the beastly …
Continue reading “Biden gives booster dose to the faltering Ukraine war”
US faces defeat in geopolitical war in Gaza
China’s Special Envoy on Middle East Zhai Jun met the envoys of Arab states in Beijing at the latter’s request for a group meeting to discuss the grave situation in Gaza, Beijing, October 13, 2023 One hundred years after the Arab Revolt (1916-1918) against the ruling Ottoman Turks amidst the impending defeat of Germany and the …
Continue reading “US faces defeat in geopolitical war in Gaza”