ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

It is reported that Saudi Arabia has sent a delegation to Moscow for the purpose of once again attempting to lure Russia away from its current interests in the Middle East, and into line behind Riyadh and its underwriters in Washington. However, vacillating in the past between toothless threats and absurd promises of lavish economic deals, the Saudis have accomplished only one thing in their recent string of diplomatic maneuvering, that is to telegraph immense weakness and desperation ahead of their next visit. Indeed, if on Earth there is one nation that needs Russia the most, it might be Saudi Arabia. Conversely, however, if ever there was a nation Russia would be wise enough never to do business with, it would also be Saudi Arabia. A client-state of the British and then American empire, it has of late allowed itself to be used as an intermediary in an increasingly dangerous proxy war involving Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and to a certain extent, Lebanon, Egypt, and even Libya. While u

By Tony Cartalucci Increasing tension in the Asia-Pacific between China and nations surrounding its territory, appears to be an unstoppable and inevitable lead-up to regional conflict and perhaps even global war. In reality, for those who have studied history, this is a familiar rerun. Change the characters and place current events in the context of the early 1900’s and we see the lead up to World War II and more specifically, the events that set the stage for the fighting in the Pacific. Some may believe this is a rerun of when Japan was the sole aggressor in the region, expanding beyond its means before finally meeting its match. Predicated on this misconception, these same people would believe that China has now traded places with Imperial Japan, and is expanding recklessly at the expense of regional and global peace and stability. However, this is indeed a misconception. World War II: Setting the Record Straight To make this clear, we must consider the words of a contemporary of th

President Vladimir Putin and Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the deputy crown prince and defense minister of Saudi Arabia, meeting in St.Petersburg, June 18, 2015 (RIA Novosti / Sergey Guneev) Download video (6.41 MB) A number of cooperation documents were signed by Russia and Saudi Arabia on Thursday, after President Putin met with Saudi Prince Mohammed in what was one of the most anticipated meetings at the international economic forum in St. Petersburg. The pair has signed six agreements in total, Al Arabiya News Channel reported. A cooperation agreement on a peaceful nuclear program was among the documents, the press service of Russia’s nuclear agency, Rosatom, said. According to Rosatom, the document is the first in the history of Russia-Saudi relations to create a legal framework for cooperation between the nations in the field of nuclear energy. Future joint projects might include construction of nuclear power reactors, provision of services in nuclear fuel cycling, including thos

The Waldorf Astoria at 301 Park Avenue in New York (Reuters / Brendan McDermid) After New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel was purchased by a Chinese company, the eavesdropping-wary US State Department reportedly decided to abandon it as a base of operations during UN General Assembly sessions. The decision would affect hundreds of American diplomats and staff members, who would be staying at the New York Palace nearby, AP reported. Waldorf has for decades been a base of operations for the State Department during UN General Assembly sessions each September. The diplomatic sources who told AP of the change gave no reason for the move, except to mention last year's sale of the Waldorf-Astoria by Hilton Worldwide to the Chinese Anbang Insurance Group. The $1.95 billion deal gave Hilton, which would continue to run the hotel for the next 100 years, the resources needed for a major renovation. At the time the deal was sealed in October, US officials said it would have implications for t

While most of the fighting over Tel Abyad, an important border town between Syria and Turkey, was wrapped up yesterday, several groups today confirmed that the town has entirely fallen under the control of Kurdish YPG forces, and are calling it the “ biggest setback ” ISIS has faced so far. Obviously, when we say “biggest setback” we’re only referring to losses since the group renamed itself ISIS, because al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) had several setbacks during the US occupation, and was getting downright puny and irrelevant in the period after the US left and before the Syria Civil War broke out. But Tel Abyad is important as the primary supply route from Turkey into the ISIS capital city of Raqqa. The YPG are presenting the ease of taking Tel Abyad as a shift in momentum, and are promising to move on and take Raqqa, but the sheer lack of resistance in Tel Abyad is surprising everyone, and might suggest the town isn’t nearly as important to ISIS as everyone seems to think. At any rate, t

By Robert Fisk No apologies for returning today to the strange case of the “moderate” Jabhat al-Nusra rebels, the throat-cutters and executioners who are playing the anti-Isis card to woo the US. Their leader, you may recall, told Qatar’s Al Jazeera channel that his al-Qaeda affiliated warriors will oppose both Isis and Bashar al-Assad – and even protect Syria’s Christian and Alawite minorities. The usual American nomenklatura are telling the world this is tosh. It’s the “conspiracy theorists” who are to blame, they say, for suggesting that the US might send barrel-loads of new weapons to such men. No. The US would never deal with those who are on its infamous, though pointless, “terrorist list”. Besides, Qatar would never promote these killers as moderates – would they? Well, first, let’s take another look at all these conspiracy theorists. By chance, that inestimable French journal Le Monde Diplomatique this month carries a wodge of articles under the title “Did you say conspiracy?”

By Roya Arab Daily the depth and breadth of conflict increases, people are killed and displaced, refugee camps expand as does an expressly archaic and yet perversely modern construct of Islam that the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) could surely have never foreseen. ISIS (known in the region as Da’ ish) sweeps its bloody cloak across the Syrian and Iraqi landscapes with swords and hammers obliterating people and artefacts that fall short of their exacting demands. ISIS is yet another child of Wahhabi based teachings, from an ultra-conservative Sunni school of Islam, nurtured in Saudi Arabia in the late 1800s, with children and cousins emerging all over the modern world, their ideas flying on wings of the world-wide-web, engaging and radicalising disenfranchised souls from all classes and creeds. East, West, North and South extremists proliferate, born out of corrupted unjust political structures that stumble from one lie to the next. Looking at Syria today, international military

Reuters / China Daily The US and China have signed a rare agreement to strengthen ties and develop a more productive military relationship. However, mistrust still remains, with Beijing saying progress can only be made if Washington respects China’s South China Sea ambitions. The understanding mainly concerns a deepening of cooperation between the two nations, following a meeting between Fan Changlong, the vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission and US Defense Secretary, Ashton Carter. Fan and US army Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno witnessed the signing of the dialogue understanding at the National Defense University in Washington, DC. Washington and Beijing will look to collaborate over issues such as disaster response, peacekeeping, and counter-piracy, while there was even talk of the two countries conducting drills together in the future. Guan Youfei, the director of foreign affairs from the Ministry of Defense mentioned that the two armies could hold joint land exercis