The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer

By James M. Dorsey A podcast version of this story is available on Soundcloud, Itunes , Spotify , Stitcher , TuneIn , Spreaker , Pocket Casts , Tumblr , and Patreon , Podbean and Castbox . A recent ban on a militant, Iranian-backed Shiite group raised the spectre of the Saudi Iranian rivalry spilling onto Nigerian streets as security forces launched a manhunt to find the alleged Boko Haram operatives who killed 65 people attending a funeral. Nigeria, Africa’s foremost oil producer, banned the Iranian-backed Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) this weekend after demonstrations in the capital Abuja to free its leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky turned violent. At least six people were killed. “The Saudis watching the Iranians trying to break into northern Nigeria is almost like watching someone else try to befriend your best friend,” said Ini Dele-Adedeji, a Nigerian academic at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, referring to the region’...

By James M. Dorsey A podcast version of this story is available on Soundcloud, Itunes , Spotify , Stitcher , TuneIn , Spreaker , Pocket Casts , Tumblr , and Patreon , Podbean and Castbox . Thought that sectarianism was a pillar of the Saud Iranian rivalry? Think again, think Kashmir where the two countries’ geopolitical rivalry and Turkish ambitions cross sectarian lines. With Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey competing for Indian Kashmiri hearts and minds , Iran and Turkey’s embrace of Kashmiri nationalism is winning them sympathy among both Shiite and Sunni Muslims. The two countries’ perception of Kashmiri aspirations as nationalist rather than religious gives them a fighting chance to counter long-standing Saudi influence in the troubled South Asian region. The Kashmiri competition, like Kazakhstan where a Saudi-inspired apolitical and loyalist strand of ultra-conservative Islam has gained popularity, suggests that crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has not...

By James M. Dorsey A podcast version of this story is available on Soundcloud, Itunes , Spotify , Stitcher , TuneIn , Spreaker , Pocket Casts , Tumblr , and Patreon , Podbean and Castbox . China and Russia are as much allies as they are rivals. A joint Tajik-Chinese military exercise in a Tajik region bordering on China’s troubled north-western region of Xinjiang suggests that increased Chinese-Russian military cooperation has not eroded gradually mounting rivalry in Central Asia, long viewed by Moscow as its backyard. The exercise, the second in three years, coupled with the building by China of border guard posts and a training centre as well as the creation of a Chinese security facility along the 1,300 kilometre long Tajik Afghan Border, Chinese dominance of the Tajik economy, and the hand over of   Tajik territory almost two decades ago, challenges Russian-Chinese arrangements in the region. The informal arrangement involved a division of lab...

By James M. Dorsey A podcast version of this story is available on Soundcloud, Itunes , Spotify , Stitcher , TuneIn , Spreaker , Pocket Casts , Tumblr , and Patreon , Podbean and Castbox . China’s infrastructure and energy driven US$1 trillion Belt and Road initiative involves risky bets across a swath of land populated by often illiberal or autocratic governments exercising power without independent checks and balances. Seeking to reduce risk, China is bumping up against the limits of its own long-standing foreign and defence policy principles, foremost among which its insistence on non-interference in the domestic affairs of others, the equivalent of the United States’ preference for stability rather than political change. If popular revolts in Algeria and Sudan as well as smaller, issues-oriented protests elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa are anything to go by, China appears to be betting against the odds. Anti-corruption sentiment fue...

By James M. Dorsey A podcast version of this story is available on Soundcloud, Itunes , Spotify , Stitcher , TuneIn , Spreaker , Pocket Casts , Tumblr , and Patreon , Podbean and Castbox . Climate change, much like war, could prove to be a geopolitical and commercial gold mine. At least, that is the take of DP World, Dubai’s global port operator, and Russia’s sovereign wealth fund. DP World is partnering with the fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to create an all-year round maritime sea route from Europe to Asia through the Arctic. “Time is money in business and the route could cut travel time substantially more than traditional trade arteries for cargo owners in the Far East wanting to connect with Europe, coupled with benefits to the Russian economy,” DP World chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem told the Arab News. In partnering with DP World, RFID brings to the table Rosatom, Russia’s atomic energy agency, which operates nuclear-pow...