opinion
FRIENDS IN NEED
Pakistan’s Imran Khan rushed to support Mohammed bin Salman as the Khashoggi murder case destroyed the kingdom’s credibility—and the move paid off.
Bruce Riedel is the Director of the Intelligence Project at the Brookings Institution. His new book, Kings and Presidents: Saudi Arabia and the United States Since FDR, will be published this fall.
THE WRATH OF KHAN
There is compelling evidence that the Pakistani army is supporting Imran Khan, intimidating his opponents and suppressing the press to get him into power.
opinion
SOLDIERS OF MISFORTUNE
We have listened to the siren call of war in the Middle East too often in the past. A ‘New Middle East!’ we are told. The results have been disastrous.
BARKING OR BITING?
Pakistan’s generals, who run the policy supporting terrorism, believe Trump is all bluster. And they may be correct, but there is much Washington can do if it is serious.
ABU SLAMMER
Major interest groups in the royal family have seen their power centers stripped away. Their fortunes are being seized by the state. The young prince is making a lot of enemies.
A GAME OF CHICKEN’S NECK
China has moved its troops into a position where it could cut India off from all of its provinces in the northeast. Soldiers from the two countries are now eyeball-to-eyeball.
WHO’S GOT THE NUKES?
The ouster of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif heightens instability in a nuclear-armed country plagued by terrorism.
THE SON ALSO RISES
The aging Saudi monarch and his ambitious, reckless 31-year-old heir may have taken the Trump summit as a green light to remove America’s best friend in the royal family.
General Confusion
Islamabad would love to keep its distance from Riyadh’s looming showdown with Tehran. But now, having backed away from Yemen, it’s sent a top general to take command.
SLIPPERY SLOPE
If the Republican candidate followed through on his frequent calls to take Iraq’s oil, we’d be looking at hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops back in the Middle East.