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These days, it's the clash of the Arabian Gulf cash in Washington

June 23, 2017  •  The Hill

A nasty internecine conflict has erupted in the Arabian Gulf. Led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a gaggle of Arab states have singled out the tiny emirate of Qatar for backing a wide range of terrorist groups and fomenting regional unrest through its sponsorship of the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar's opponents have severed diplomatic ties and neighboring states even took the extraordinary measure of cutting off air, land and maritime routes to Qatar.

Both sides have now lawyered-up, and they're taking their battle to Washington. It's the clash of the Gulf cash.

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There's No Such Thing as the 'Arab Street'

May 16, 2017  •  Wall Street Journal

Washington has stopped trying to figure out the "Arab Street." From what I can tell it happened somewhere around Nov. 9, 2016. America is probably better off for it.

I'm not saying we should ignore public opinion in the Arab world. Nor should we ignore its politics. The Middle East, and what happens there, is of crucial concern to American policy makers and interests.

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By Hosting Hamas, Qatar is Whitewashing Terror

May 11, 2017  •  Newsweek

After getting booted from their first two hotels in Qatar over concerns of violating U.S. terror finance sanctions laws, Hamas leaders held a press conference last week at the Sheraton Grand Doha hotel to announce the release of a new political document. The document, promoted as a more moderate version of the group's founding charter, is neither a new charter nor is it moderate. Hamas remains committed to violence as a strategy. But the entire episode serves to highlight an ongoing problem: Qatar, nominally an American ally, regularly aids in the whitewashing of terrorist organizations.

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Russia Risks a Showdown With Israel over Hezbollah in Syria

April 29, 2017  •  Newsweek

Back in 1967, Moscow shrugged when Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran, cutting shipping routes to the Israeli port of Eilat—Israel's only one in the Red Sea. Egyptian and Syrian troop movements on the Israeli border — coupled with Nasser's fiery rhetoric threatening mass slaughter — paved the way for war. All the while, Moscow fed the Egyptians and Syrians erroneous information about Israeli troop movements.

The Israelis put an end to all of it with a blitzkrieg that neutralized Russia's Arab clients in six days, and in the process seized the West Bank, Gaza, Sinai, and much of the Golan Heights.

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Time for the US to Stop Qatar's Support for Terror

April 21, 2017  •  New York Post

Secretary of Defense James Mattis is on a Mideast tour to "continue efforts to strengthen regional security architectures." While his meetings in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel are likely to attract most of the press coverage, his discussions in Qatar Saturday could be the most consequential.

Since August 2014, US-backed coalition aircraft have flown tens of thousands of sorties to bomb ISIS. Almost all of them are commanded out of the sprawling, high-tech al-Udeid air base in Qatar. In other words, the base is crucial to our war efforts.

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Books by Jonathan Schanzer