For decades, Kuwait has charted a neutral course in many of the Middle East’s intractable conflicts. But the death of its longtime ruler leaves his successor with a dilemma: whether or not to normalize ties with Israel without statehood for the Palestinians. Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, who died Tuesday, was a veteran diplomat who … Read more
Kuwait’s ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, a veteran diplomat who positioned the small Arab Gulf state as a regional peacemaker and forged a U.S. alliance that deepened after the country was invaded by Iraq in 1990, has died. He was 91 years old. Sheikh Sabah, who suffered a debilitating stroke in 2019, had traveled … Read more
An argument is raging behind palace doors in Saudi Arabia: Now that the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have forged ties with Israel, should the kingdom follow suit? Saudi Arabia’s monarch, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, has been at odds with his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, over embracing the Jewish state. The king is … Read more
Political turmoil isn’t new in Thailand, which has been rocked by coups and periods of unrest for decades. But a new generation of Thais has taken to the streets in recent months against a system they see as dictatorial and out-of-place in the 21st century, with some questioning the very foundation of what it means … Read more
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—A Saudi court reduced the death sentences of five men convicted in the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi to 20-year prison terms and handed shorter sentences to three other nationals, in a case that drove a wedge between Saudi Arabia’s heir-apparent and the West. The public prosecutor declared the case closed nearly … Read more
Spain’s former King Juan Carlos I surprised his country this month when he said he was going into exile amid escalating judicial investigations of his finances. His choice of new home has raised Spaniards’ eyebrows further: the United Arab Emirates, in the Gulf region where his business dealings triggered the scandals that are battering his … Read more