Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label The Biden Administration

IN A MATTER OF MONTHS: A BRIEF MIDDLE EAST UPDATE

    What a difference a few months can make. In the first half of 2021, there has been changes of government in the United States and Israel, and Iran has a new president. This part of the world, once dominated by great empires, then slumbering as a quiet backwater, has come front and centre in international attention. IRAN: Let’s take a moment and focus on Iran, the world’s leading Shia Muslim country (the Shia represent 15% of global Islam and Sunnis 85%). This proud ancient nation has hegemonic ambitions in the region. Its means of gaining power is to make a ‘Shia crescent’ from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. In one sense, it has already succeeded: four countries, to various decrees, are under Iranian oversight, including Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. The latter two countries are on the Mediterranean. Ultimately, Iran wants to export their revolution to the Sunni Arab nations. Ebrahim Raisi is the newly-inaugurated president of Iran. His critics call him a ...