Opinion & Analysis
Opinion articles and political analysis by Dr. Salem Alketbi on Gulf, Arab, Iranian and international affairs.
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Iran
Iran’s Baloch uprising: A rising lever or a strategic illusion?
Has the Baloch insurgency in Iran become a genuine pressure lever for Washington, now that its options with the Kurds…
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Iran
Why Iran’s threat keeps haunting the Middle East – and how to finally break the cycle
For nearly 50 years, the world has dealt with Iran under a straightforward premise: the sole source of danger is…
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Iran
Iran between contiguous geography and fragmented polity
On the map, Iran may look like a cohesive state. Inside, however, it is a patchwork of ethnic groups, religious…
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Iran
Putin’s and Iran’s Caspian Sea plans have backfired. Here’s how
Iranians awoke last Saturday morning to the news that a sailor had been killed and another injured on an Iranian…
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Iran
Iran’s revenge campaign could put Trump in its crosshairs
Today, Iran does not see US President Donald Trump as merely a political rival. It views him as a personal…
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Iran
Mourning Khamenei: More than a funeral, far from closure
Not all funerals mark the end of a man; some announce the end of an entire era. The funeral of…
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Gulf security
Drying up Hormuz: How weaponized geography backfires
There are two ways to read what is unfolding around the Strait of Hormuz today. The first is familiar: the…
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Iran
Iran’s missile arsenal, not Gulf deterrence, is the Middle East’s real problem
The debate over Iran's missile arsenal has resurfaced following an argument that it is unfair to ask Iran to give…
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Iran
The most dangerous component of Iran’s arsenal
There is a well-established principle in security logic that says the most dangerous threat is not the loudest but the…
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Iran
The next Iran war is already brewing
An Israeli colleague who visited me in Dubai recently asked for reassurance about the US-Iran agreement that may or may…
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