Archive
Kurdish nationalism has pursued self-determination and statehood for centuries. Casting that history as an Israeli or Western plot distorts a national movement into a convenient political straw man.
Kurds are repeatedly cast as instruments of larger powers in the war with Iran, yet their political struggle is better understood as driven above all by the determination to return home on their own terms.
Egypt’s refusal to join the Saudi-Turkish-Pakistani pact reflects a broader strategy to deepen regional security cooperation without accepting binding military alignments that constrain Cairo’s freedom of action.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are not building an alliance to ignite another regional conflict, but to prevent an increasingly dangerous imbalance from producing one.
Turkey and Saudi Arabia have reasons related to regional deterrence, while Pakistan aims to solidify its diplomatic resurgence in the region.
From Syria and Lebanon to Gaza and the sea, engineered instability is reshaping Turkey’s rivalry with Israel and the United States.
Ankara is reportedly negotiating the transfer of its Russian-made S-400 air-defence systems to the United Arab Emirates, a move that could remove the main obstacle to restoring Turkey’s access to the US F-35 programme.
A planned railway linking Saudi Arabia to Turkey through Jordan and Syria dreams of turning old war zones into trade corridors and giving the Gulf a new overland path to Europe.
Baghdad is seeking more oil export routes after the Hormuz shock, while Ankara is using the Kirkuk–Ceyhan pipeline to demand a new regional energy bargain.
The Iran war has forced Iraq to look west for an oil lifeline, while Syria is trying to recover its old role as a Mediterranean energy transit state.