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James Dorsey

Dr. James M. Dorsey, a non-resident senior associate at the BESA Center, is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and co-director of the University of Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture.

Fears of a potential military conflict with Iran may have opened the door to a Saudi-Iranian dialogue against the backdrop of a rethink of U.S. military logistics.
Dahlan has lurked in the shadows of Palestinian politics for years; it’s possible he will soon emerge, in an attempt to pave the way for Trump’s much maligned Mideast peace plan.
The Middle East arms race is being accelerated by a U.S. policy that views the region through the dual prism of the need to stop Iran and as a lucrative market for the U.S. defense and nuclear industry.
A newly adopted Saudi law on public decency helps define Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s vague notion of “moderate Islam.”
A public apology by a prominent Salafi scholar sheds light on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s version of “moderate Islam,” which appears to be an effort to shape the Middle East and North Africa in his image and replace religion with hypernationalism.
The upcoming meeting of U.S., Russian and Israeli national security advisers in Israel has taken on added significance as once-concealed disagreements between Russia and Iran move out into the open.
Many observers suspect that Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s reforms are only skin-deep and may turn out to have more to do with public relations than with fundamental change.
Annual survey of Arab youth finds that some two-thirds feel religion plays too large a role, 79 percent believe religious institutions need to be reformed, and half believe religious values are holding the Arab world back.
The drivers of the popular revolts that swept the region in 2011 not only continue to exist, but can still upset the apple cart at any moment.
The Iranian revolt, however, toppled not only an icon of U.S. power in the Middle East and a monarch, but also created an alternative form of Islamic governance that included a degree of popular sovereignty.
Turkey has positioned itself as a cheerleader for Muslim causes such as Jerusalem and the Rohingya at a moment when Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Muslim nations are taking a step back.
Pakistan is stepping through a minefield as it concludes agreements on investment, balance of payments support and delayed payment oil deliveries with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates worth $13 billion.