ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Despite Saudi Arabia coming under intensified international scrutiny after last year’s brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, a new study shows Riyadh has been on  a record-setting weapons buying spree over the past two years . And who supplies most of these arms? Of course the United States, which has by all indicators done nothing to curtail its perpetual arms pipeline to the Saudis; instead it has grown. According to a new 2019 study published in March from arms transfer monitoring group,  the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute  (SIPRI),  70 percent of the Saudi arsenal now comes from the United States . Prior file photo of Saudi officers take photos during a joint military exercise of 21 Muslim nations (in 2016). Image source: Getty Furthermore, the Saudis have hands down  led the world in global weapons purchases for the past two years , and there’s little sign this trend will let up a...

Click to see full-size image The US recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory is another sign of the ongoing collapse of the establsihed system of international relations. The UN Disengagement Observer Force’s (UNDOF) mandate was renewed  on December 21 st , 2018 to June 30 th , 2019. Thus, it’s peacekeeping operation in the Golan Heights continues despite the recent US move to recignize Israel’s sovereignty over this territory. The latest UNDOF report  was published on February 28 th , underlying that there are on-going issues of numerous violations of the Disengagement of Forces Agreement of 1974 and UNDOF’s ability to implement its mandate, including the deployment of appropriate technologies as recommended. “Given Syria’s reassertion of control over areas of separation and the reopening of the Qunaytirah crossing point, UNDOF may be getting close to an eventual full return to the Bravo side. The return of the situation to pre-2014 conditions m...