If you're interested in the real politics of the Middle East (as we are), this thoughtful 17-minute podcast from the New Yorker deserves your time. Dexter Filkins wrote a typically long and detailed piece in last week's New Yorker about Qasssem Suleimani, the Commander of the Quds Force within the Republican Guard (picture below). The discussion … [Read more...] about Where do Iran and the West have shared interests in #Syria? What can’t be discussed in polite conversation
Saudi Arabia
MERS: two surgeons call for checks on Hajj travellers, thoughtful writing on bugs jumping species
Anything in India's Open magazine is guaranteed to be well-written and probably to take an unusual angle of the news. Open has become a new kind of magazine: somewhere between a news weekly and a review of intellectual trends. Two surgeons write in the current edition about how man's pressure on the environment is causing "our recurring … [Read more...] about MERS: two surgeons call for checks on Hajj travellers, thoughtful writing on bugs jumping species
What happens to the Gulf if the US doesn’t need its oil?
We've noticed a trend over the past few months: customers and stakeholders are starting to think about how American shale oil and gas will change the dynamics of international relations. Even a leading US environmentalist activist told us recently that the shale gas revolution might have an upside if the US shifted from its dependency on coal. … [Read more...] about What happens to the Gulf if the US doesn’t need its oil?