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PODCAST

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer

James M. Dorsey

Dr. James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and co-host of the New Books in Middle Eastern Studies podcast. James is the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog, a book with the same title as well as Comparative Political Transitions between Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, co-authored with Dr. Teresita Cruz-Del Rosario and Shifting Sands,

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All Episodes

00:07:38

Palestine Plays Regional Power Politics with Proposed...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/07/15

A Palestinian move to secure Palestine’s energy needs by tying them to high-stakes Turkish regional gambits constitutes an effort to reduce Palestinian dependence on Israel at a time when the Jewish state is looking at annexing parts of the occupied West Bank

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00:10:25

On the Front Lines-Middle Eastern Rivals Take Their...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/07/08

Already at the core of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Jerusalem is emerging as yet another frontline in the struggle for regional hegemony in the Middle East. With its annexationist policies, Israel is backing Saudi and UAE efforts to counter Turkish activity in the city and weaken Jordan’s position as the custodian of Islam’s third most holy site.

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00:21:00

Turning Gulf Security Upside Down

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/07/06

Resolving the tug of war in the Middle East will require a backing away from approaches that treat conflicts as zero-sum games, and engagement by all regional and external players. To achieve that, players would have to recognise that in many ways, perceptions on both sides of the Gulf divide are mirror images of one another: all parties see each other as existential threats.

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00:08:56

Economic Crisis Does Little to Dampen Mohammed bin...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/07/01

The hiring by Saudi Arabia of an international public relations firm to counter doubts about Mohammed bin Salman’s $500 billion USD dream of a futuristic city on the Red Sea suggests that the kingdom’s economic and financial crisis has not dampened his penchant for big ticket, high-profile projects.

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00:08:21

Gulf states beware. Chinese policy towards Sri Lanka...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/06/27

China was quick to aid coronavirus-stricken Sri Lanka. Chinese magnanimity and speed in responding to the Indian Ocean island’s request contrasted starkly with Beijing’s more measured response to Africa’s needs, widely expected to be the pandemic’s next hotspot.Geography was but one reason why China favoured the strategic island that straddles one of the Indian Ocean’s busiest shipping routes.

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00:08:19

US-China Rivalry-Gulf States Struggle to Hedge Their...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/06/24

The Trump administration’s quest to curb relationships between its allies in the Middle East and China offers a preview of how big power rivalry in the region is likely to unfold. It also suggests the limits on the United States’ ability to reduce its commitment to regional security.

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00:09:18

Hedging Bets-Turkey positions itself as supply chain...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/06/22

A Turkish-US business council is projecting Turkey as a trading alternative to China with the help of influential US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close associate of President Donald J. Trump. The Turkish effort comes two weeks after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan heralded a new era in long-strained relations with Washington.

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00:08:00

Fragile big power relationships add to Middle Eastern...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/06/19

A web of relationships between Turkey, Russia, Iran, and China have to a significant degree shaped Middle Eastern and North African geopolitics. The fragility of those relationships, however, begs the question whether fluidity in regional geopolitics rather than paradigm shifts is, at least for now, the name of the game.

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00:09:22

UAE Targets Turkey and Qatar in the Mediterranean

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/06/14

Europe is progressively being sucked into the Middle East and North Africa’s myriad conflicts. As if wars on its doorstep in Libya and Syria were not enough, UAE support for an Eastern Mediterranean pipeline that could hurt Qatar economically — combined with Greek, Cypriot and French opposition to Turkish moves — leaves Europe with few, if any, options but to get involved.

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00:18:53

Syria lures but will China bite

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/06/12

China looms large as a potentially key player alongside Russia and Iran in President Bashas al-Assad’s post-war Syria. With Russia and Iran lacking the financial muscle and the United States and Europe refusing to engage with the Al-Assad regime, China is from Syria’s perspective the shining knight on a white horse. Syria could become a key node in China’s infrastructure, telecommunications and energy-driven Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Syria could also bring it closer to being sucked into the

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00:09:42

Confronting a Pandemic of Crises Few Middle Eastern...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/06/10

The Middle East is at a crossroads. The coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout confronts regional leaders with a stark choice: dial down tensions to open the door toward cooperation in tackling existential challenges or risk ever more aggravated political and economic threats enhanced by a potential wave of social protest.

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00:08:01

Iranian naval activity shines light on Caspian Sea...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/06/06

Iranian naval activity in the Gulf and Turkish maritime expansion in the Eastern Mediterranean have hogged the limelight, but Russian and Gulf policymakers are also watching with Argus eyes moves by the Islamic Republic in the Caspian Sea.

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00:09:30

Gulf Sands Shift as Anchors of Regional Security Loosen

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/06/03

Rejiggering security arrangements in the Gulf may be a more pressing issue than meets the eye. That is not good news for the Gulf states. It is also bad news for China, which could see the rug pulled out from under its studious effort to remain on the sidelines of the Middle East’s myriad conflicts.

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00:08:31

Israel-China Relations: Staring Into the Abyss of...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/05/31

Israel knew the drill even before US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo boarded his flight to Tel Aviv earlier this month four days after the death of his father. It was Mr. Pompeo’s first and only overseas trip since March.Echoing a US warning two decades ago that Israeli dealings with China jeopardized the country’s relationship with the United States, Mr. Pompeo’s trip solidified Israel’s position at the cusp of the widening US-Chinese divide.

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00:10:35

Will Gulf States Learn From Their Success in Handling...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/05/28

By and large, Gulf states garnered public trust with degrees of transparency in their handling of the pandemic and its associated economic crisis. Retaining that trust going forward will depend on Gulf rulers’ willingness to embrace transparency when it comes to policies designed to spark economic recovery and govern structural reform.

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00:10:26

What do Donald Trump and ultra-conservative Pakistani...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/05/26

US President Donald J. Trump and ultra-conservative Pakistani religious scholars may have more in common than either would want to admit: a belief that congregation is an essential pillar of prayer irrespective of public health concerns.

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00:07:30

UAE-Turkish Rivalry Wreaks Regional Havoc in Libya...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/05/23

The United Arab Emirates and Turkey are locked into a regional power struggle that has fuelled conflict in Libya and could spark renewed fighting in Syria. It is a struggle, like that between Saudi Arabia and Iran, that threatens to keep the Middle East and North Africa on edge.

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00:07:31

Israel Shines in the Gulf Where Big Powers Falter,...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/05/19

Israel is proving to Gulf states that it is a more reliable partner in some respects than big powers like the United States, China, or Russia. But the limits of cooperation with Israel could come to the forefront at a time of economic crisis in which Gulf states are likely to have to renegotiate long-standing social contracts.

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00:08:24

The potential dark side of the militarization of Gulf...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/05/18

The coronavirus pandemic’s economic fallout calls into question Gulf states’ ability to fund a brewing, costly regional arms race. That in turn could not only reshape their geopolitical posture but also efforts to make the military a pillar of a new national identity at a time that they are forced to renegotiate outdated social contracts.

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00:08:06

US military drawdown in Saudi Arabia threatens to...

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer ·

2020/05/13

One thing is certain: the recent US military pullback from Saudi Arabia will fuel a brewing arms race in the Middle East at a time that the region, struggling with the public health and devastating economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, can least afford it.

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317 results

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