Between candidate Trump’s promises and President Trump’s policies (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/world/2016/11/13/Between-candidate-Trump-s-promises-and-President-Trump-s-policies.html

Will Hillary’s presidency rejuvenate America? (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/10/31/Will-Hillary-s-presidency-rejuvenate-America-.html

News by Al Arabiya

Syria will be the first task for Antonio Guterres (Raghida Dergham)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/10/09/Syria-will-be-the-first-task-for-Antonio-Guterres.html

Iranian trusteeship with Israel’s blessings (Eyad Abu Shakra)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/10/10/Iranian-Trusteeship-with-Israel-s-Blessings.html

Why Hillary Clinton is exactly what the Middle East needs (Azeem Ibrahim)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/10/10/Why-Hillary-Clinton-is-exactly-what-the-Middle-East-needs.html

Trump goes to the gutter in debate: It won’t save him (Joyce Karam)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/10/10/Trump-goes-to-the-gutter-in-debate-It-won-t-save-him.html

Erdogan’s falling out with the West makes him in need of Moscow (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

In whose interest is it for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to launch a crackdown on judicial, educational, and military institutions, impose a state of emergency, and vow to execute those behind the coup against his Islamist government?

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/07/25/Erdogan-s-falling-out-with-the-West-makes-him-in-need-of-Moscow.html

Egyptian national security at the heart of rapprochement with Israel (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

Egypt, finding itself beleaguered by tragedy, debt, unrest, and political isolation, and a demographic emergency, with a population of 90 million people, has decided that its interest requires restoring its regional role through the Palestinian-Israeli gateway, especially after the Turkish-Israeli reconciliation that gave Ankara a stronger say in Gaza via Hamas, directly on the border with Egypt. Thus the Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shukri flew to Jerusalem this week, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who invited him to dinner in his home. The sudden but significant visit drew a lot of criticism.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/07/18/Egyptian-national-security-at-the-heart-of-rapprochement-with-Israel.html

The US loses its moral high ground over Syria (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/06/27/The-US-loses-its-moral-high-ground-over-Syria.html

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump won’t walk in Obama’s footsteps (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/06/13/Hillary-Clinton-and-Donald-Trump-won-t-walk-in-Obama-s-footsteps.html

The Trump phenomenon and how Americans came to distrust their politicians (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/06/06/The-Trump-phenomenon-and-how-Americans-came-to-distrust-their-politicians.html

Modest objectives of the Gulf-Russia dialogue (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

The objectives of the strategic dialogue between Russia and the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are not complicated, but fulfilling them requires the Gulf states to take clear decisions on several issues. This week in Moscow, a new round of the strategic dialogue was held under Saudi’s rotating presidency, amid radical differences over Syria as both sides themselves admit

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/05/30/Modest-objectives-of-the-Gulf-Russia-dialogue.html

There is no Plan B in Yemen, or in Syria (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

Let the talk about a Plan B stop out of mercy for the victims of the policies of attrition and the patchwork strategies being pursued in the raging battlefields of Syria and Yemen. There is no Plan B in Syria, because the US administration will not agree to what it will be needed to bring about a qualitative shift in the military equation in Syria, because of the lack of confidence in the abilities of the moderate Syrian rebels, and because the priority for both Washington and Moscow remains the US-Russian accord and de-facto partnership in Syria

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/05/22/DNP-There-is-no-plan-B-in-Yemen-or-in-Syria.html

The ‘moderate’ Hassan Rowhani praises Qassem Soleimani’s ‘heroism’ (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

The remarks made by Iranian President Hassan Rowhani about the commander of the Qods Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, made it clear to those who had wagered on him where he really stands in the scale of internal Iranian differences and the prospects for him to rein in Iran’s regional ambitions. Rowhani praised the “heroism and courage” of Soleimani in Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and Palestine

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/05/16/The-moderate-Hassan-Rowhani-praises-Qassem-Soleimani-s-heroism-.html

Why the battle for Aleppo is critical for confronting Iran (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

Aleppo is at the crossroads which may very well determine Syria’s future. The battle for Aleppo has become fateful for both the regime and the opposition and has become a key geopolitical and military consideration for regional and international players. Regardless of whether the key players, led by Russia and the US, agree on a ceasefire, the axis comprising Russia, Iran, Damascus, and Hezbollah is determined to settle the battle militarily in its favor through the gateway of Aleppo.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/05/09/Why-the-battle-for-Aleppo-is-critical-for-confronting-Iran.html

Saudi Vision 2030: A quiet and pragmatic revolution (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

The Vision 2030 plan announced by Saudi Arabia this week is nothing short of astonishing. It is a renaissance project built on pragmatic and scientific foundations, and a collective workshop aiming to substitute nationalization, rentier, and top-down models with a liberal economic and social approach, a philosophy of rewarding creativity and excellence, and a policy based on citizenship and participation.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/05/02/Saudi-Vision-2030-A-quiet-and-pragmatic-revolution.html

New constants in traditional US-Gulf partnership (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

The main theme of the US-Gulf summit in Riyadh was pronounced by US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, after meeting with his Gulf counterparts, when he said that the nuclear deal with Iran does not impose any restrictions on the US. The US military “remains committed and capable of responding to Iranian malign and destabilizing activities and deterring aggression against our regional friends and allies," especially in the Gulf, he said.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/04/25/New-constants-in-traditional-US-Gulf-partnership.html

Obama’s visit: Cementing Gulf alliances and détente with Iran (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

President Barack Obama will not bring a new US policy with him to the summit with the Gulf nations next week in Riyadh, a policy that would otherwise depart from his doctrine in the Middle East and Gulf region. He will not force his successor in the White House to adhere to any new surprising policies either.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/04/18/Obama-s-visit-Cementing-Gulf-alliances-and-d-tente-with-Iran.html

Yemen: Between ending the conflict and a warrior’s break (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

The coming week is poised to see significant shifts in the Yemeni, Libya, and Syrian issues midwifed by the three UN envoys in charge of searching for political solutions to these conflicts, in which many local, regional, and international factors overlap and interact.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/04/11/Yemen-Between-ending-the-conflict-and-a-warrior-s-break.html

The Kerry-Lavrov remedies for solving crises (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

The fragility of breakthroughs in the many crises afflicting the Arab region does not necessarily mean the breakthroughs are transient. Rather, this fragility must invite more local, regional, and international resolve so that the available opportunities become plausible and serious policies and solutions.

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Raghida Dergham is Columnist, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent, and New York Bureau Chief for the London-based Al Hayat newspaper since 1989. She is dean of the international media at the United Nations. Dergham is Founder and Executive Chairman of Beirut Institute, an indigenous, independent, inter-generational think tank for the Arab region with a global reach. An authority on strategic international relations, Dergham is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and an Honorary Fellow at the Foreign Policy Association. She served on the International Media Council of the World Economic Forum, and is a member of the Development Advisory Committee of the IAP- the Global Network of Science Academies.

Strategic constants behind the Russian withdrawal (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/03/21/Strategic-constants-behind-the-Russian-withdrawal.html

Towards a strategic Arab-Russia dialogue (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

No sane person today expects the Arab countries to have consensus on the conflicts in the region with a unified position like that of Russia or the deliberately absent United States. The reputation for division and rivalry behind the scenes emerges – and is even part of the policies foreign ministers draft – ahead of any meeting among Arab leaders. The biggest problem, however, is when Arab diplomatic readings conflict with Russia’s positions, for example, leading to conflicting policies, as this only serves to continue the bleeding. This applies to the various readings of US policies in the Middle East as well as Russian policies.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/02/29/Towards-a-strategic-Arab-Russia-dialog.html

Moscow to the Arabs: Iran is our top ally (Raghida Dergham, Al Arabiya)

The Arab-Russian Forum will convene at the ministerial level in Moscow next week, in the midst of the battle for Syria amid growing Russian-Turkish tensions and increasing talk of Saudi and Gulf ground intervention in Syria. The Russian foreign minister will be very clear in drawing the strategic frameworks for Russian policies in the Middle East, and will insist on an agenda that Arab ministers are unlikely to find compatible with Arab priorities.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/02/22/Moscow-to-the-Arabs-Iran-is-our-top-ally.html