James M Dorsey
Commentator
James M Dorsey is an award-winning journalist and commentator on foreign affairs who has covered ethnic and religious conflict and terrorism across the globe for more than three decades.
The battle for Libya: UAE calls the shots
Stepping up involvement in Libya risks Egypt becoming embroiled in two conflicts at the same time.
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US-Iran conflict: A high-stakes bet on who blinks first
The government in Tehran is on the backfoot as a result of the downing of the Ukrainian airliner
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US backs off support to regime change in Iran
The US has ordered its diplomats to limit contacts with militant Iranian exile and opposition groups that support either regime change or greater rights for ethnic groups like Kurds and Arabs.
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Why did Iran and US step back from all-out war
Iran was careful to demonstrate its capability while not causing the further US and Iraqi casualties that almost certainly would have provoked a harsh US response.
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Qasem Soleimani’s death opens a door to alternative security arrangements in the Gulf
The killing of Soleimani, rather than strategically pleasing Gulf leaders, may have reinforced concerns that they no longer can fully rely on the United States as their sole security guarantor.…
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Does the killing of Qasem Soleimani violate international law?
The Trump administration has asserted that killing Soleimani was necessary to avert an imminent attack on US targets
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The killing of Qasem Soleimani will lead to the strengthening of Iranian hardliners
Trump administration has walked into a trap in which spiralling tension between the United States and Iran is likely to be played out on Iranian rather than US terms
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US military strikes in Iraq stir regional hornet’s nest
Pro-Iranian militias are counting on the fact that they are Iraqis with close ties to the Iraqi security establishment
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Last year was marked by defiance & dissent, 2020 is likely to be no different
Fragile protest outcomes are likely to co-shape the Middle East and North Africa in the coming decade.
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China-Russia partnership is driven by short-term interests
Russia-China alliance has, so far, worked by focussing on immediate interests while carefully managing significant differences
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Sports has emerged as battlefield for freedom of expression
The re-emergence of sports as a battleground is not limited to the plight of Xinjiang. Hong Kong fans recently took their struggle for greater democracy to a match in South Korea.
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Gulf security: Here's why China wants the US to remain the key military player
Despite favouring a continued US lead, China sees a broadening of security arrangements that would embed rather than replace the US defence umbrella in the Gulf as a way to reduce regional…
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China struggles to fend off allegations of debt trap diplomacy
China’s approach to Belt and Road-related development could turn out to be a threat to its broader geopolitical ambitions and regional security policy
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Natural gas frames future Gulf relations
Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani suggested that secret Saudi-Qatari talks in recent weeks had “moved from a deadlock in the Gulf crisis to talks about a future…
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Protests in Iran seen as a consipiracy to destabilise current political regime
In many ways, the protests in Iran fit a global pattern; a specific issue sparks anti-government demonstrations that quickly evolve into a mass movement demanding a complete overhaul of a…
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