Trump is doing whatever he can to make it impossible for his successor to resolve some of the world’s most intractable problems.
Trump’s Scorched-Earth Doctrine
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Bahrain
Nine Years After Bahrain’s Uprising, Its Human Rights Crisis Has Only Worsened
Despite well documented abuses in the kingdom, the spigot of aid and arms from the U.S. and U.K. remains open.
Trump: The Anti-Gorbachev
Like Mikhail Gorbachev, Trump helms a fading empire. But while the former Soviet leader supported democratization in his wake, Trump’s sowing the seeds of autocracy all over the globe.
The Tortured Politics Behind the Persian Gulf Crisis
Saudi Arabia’s puzzling effort to blacklist its tiny neighbor Qatar begs the question of who’s really isolated in the Gulf.
Adding Up the Costs of Hillary Clinton’s Wars
Clinton’s foreign policy is more polite than the “make the sands glow” atavism of the GOP. But in the end, it’s death and destruction in a different packaging.
Saudi Arabia Executed a Nonviolent Shiite Cleric. It’s Going to Cost Them Big.
By raising sectarian temperatures throughout the Middle East, the Saudis risk escalating the unaffordable proxy wars they’ve already bogged themselves down in.
While Saudi Arabia Goes to War Abroad, It’s Simmering at Home
To hear Saudi leaders tell it, the kingdom is under constant threat from Iran. But graver threats of their own making lurk at home.
Autocrats United Against Yemen
The Yemen war is a variation on an old theme, where despotic regimes in the Middle East call on the United States to do their dirty work.
Doubling Down on Dictatorship in the Middle East
Four years later, it’s clear that the Arab Spring didn’t stop U.S. support for friendly despots.
Kingdom of Slaves
In the smallest Gulf kingdoms, upwards of 90 percent of residents are immigrant laborers. Many face unspeakable abuse.