Politics

“It’s not as if you have an Iranian alternative. And if you have no alternative, your best choice is to stop complaining about the Saudis.”

That’s a quote from a “senior Gulf Arab official” who spoke to The New York Times about Washington's position on the sectarian strife playing out across the Mid-East.

As a refresher, an already volatile situation took a decisive turn for the worst over the weekend when Saudi Arabia executed Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, sparking outrage across the Shiite community.

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,

This week I am addressing themes I see playing out in 2016.

A number of systemic, structural forces are intersecting in 2016. One is the hollowing out of democracy globally.

Democracy has three distinct states of being: formal, in actual practice and informal. Nations that claim the mantle of democracy typically mix features of all three varieties.

Following this weekend's escalation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, in which both sides managed to infuriate each other to a degree that brought diplomatic relations between the two to levels not seen since 1980, one thing was certain: the escalation has only just begun; after all, there is no point in severing diplomatic ties with Iran, and thus thrusting OPEC into complete chaos, if Iran does not at least curb its production on its own, one way or another.

Day 2 of Obama's gun sales push is going well...

It's been quite a year already...

A day after it joined Saudi Arabia in severing diplomatic ties with Iran, Bahrain has halted all flights to and from the Islamic republic. Bahrain’s transport ministry announced the move Tuesday in a statement carried by the official Bahrain News Agency. Kuwait also recalled its ambassador from Tehran on Tuesday amid a growing regional dispute surrounding Saudi Arabia’ execution of a Shiite cleric on Saturday.