Latest Articles

In Saudi-Canada standoff, Riyadh should stand down

August 10, 2018  •  New York Post

The last time Canada undertook an act of aggression was in 1999, when it declared war on the United States — in the comedic universe of "South Park," that is. But few were laughing Monday when Saudi Arabia shockingly cut ties with Canada and enacted severe punitive measures against Ottawa.

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Expose the Palestinian 'Refugee' Scam

July 6, 2018  •  Wall Street Journal

If President Trump wants to promote peace in the Middle East, his first step should be to declassify a key State Department report that would end the myth of Palestinian "refugees."

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency is singularly devoted to the Palestinian refugee issue. Unrwa labels more than five million Palestinians "refugees"—an impossible figure. The first Arab-Israeli war, in 1948, yielded roughly 800,000 Palestinian Arab refugees. Perhaps 30,000 remain alive today, but Unrwa has kept the refugee issue alive by labeling their descendants—in some cases great-great-grandchildren—as "refugees," who insist on the "right of return" to their ancestors' homes. Israel categorically rejects this demand.

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Kuwait and Oman Are Stuck in Arab No Man's Land

June 14, 2018  •  Foreign Policy

Just over a year ago, four of America's Arab allies — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt — severed relations with Qatar, another key U.S. ally. They enacted a land, sea, and air blockade to punish the tiny emirate for what they claimed was Doha's "embrace of various terrorist" entities. Observers widely thought the diplomatic spat would be patched up within a few months. After all, this was hardly the first time Qatar and its Gulf neighbors had squabbled.

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Oman's Dangerous Double Game

June 11, 2018  •  Wall Street Journal

The Obama administration sought to help Iran cash in on the 2015 nuclear deal, a Republican-led Senate investigation revealed last week. The report also raises questions about the role played by Oman, a strategically located if little-known sultanate.

During the run-up to the deal, administration officials promised that Iran would never get access to the U.S. financial system. But Team Obama was desperate to ensure that Iran, a pariah in the banking community, saw some material benefits from the deal. Among other things, they sought to convert $5.7 billion of Iranian-held Omani rials, a decidedly illiquid currency, into euros.

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Mike Pompeo just gave the Iran speech Kerry should have given

May 21, 2018  •  New York Post

In his first major speech as secretary of state — a searing 20-minute stemwinder — Mike Pompeo on Monday laid out the new US strategy toward Iran, following President Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Pompeo unveiled Washington's plan to deploy intense economic warfare against the Islamic Republic until it halts a wide range of nuclear and non-nuclear activity. But the speech was more than just that; it was the one Pompeo's predecessor, John Kerry, should have delivered in 2013.

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Books by Jonathan Schanzer