By James M. Dorsey The contrast could hardly be starker. A soccer star-turned-protest leader-turned-jihadist encourages peaceful anti-Bashir al-Assad protests in Syrian rebel-held territory. Nearby, in Islamic State (IS)-controlled territory young boys play soccer with decapitated heads. The contrast is rife with symbolism. It potentially offers alternative ways of understanding the parameters within which at least … [Read more…]
Lecture at the Institute of South Asian Studies, 2 March 2016 by James M. Dorsey There has long been debate about the longevity of the Saudi ruling family. My initial conclusion when I first visited Saudi Arabia exactly 40 years ago was: this can’t last. I would still maintain it cannot last even if my … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey An edited version of this article appeared online in the American Behavioral Scientist on 2 March 2016 (Doi:10.1177/0002764216632846) and will be published in the journal in hard copy this summer. Abstract Stadia have re-emerged as a preferred jihadist target. The Islamic State (IS) targeted a friendly between France and Germany in … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey Lecture at the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy, 3 March 2016 No free lunches What the dramatic and bloody developments in the Middle East and North Africa demonstrate is that there are no free lunches. These developments are the product of short sighted policies of on the one hand … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey Stadia have re-emerged as a preferred jihadist target in the wake of last weekend’s Islamic State (IS) bombing of the Stade de France stadium, a shootout five days later with jihadist militants in a Paris suburb adjacent to the stadium, a reportedly foiled plot against a stadium in the German city … [Read more…]
By James M Dorsey Zouhair, a security guard of immigrant background, was one of several security officers, who on Friday prevented three of the Paris suicide bombers from entering the city’s Stade de France stadium. The bombers were forced to blow themselves up outside the stadium and at nearby McDonald’s. Little is publicly known about … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey Embattled World Cup host Qatar is sending contradictory messages as it struggles with demands to improve migrant labour conditions and mounting questions about the integrity of its successful FIFA bid, confronts the fall-out of dropping energy prices, and seeks to project itself as both a key Western ally and a useful … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey Khaldoon Al-Mubarak, chairman of Manchester City, one of Britain’s most popular soccer clubs and a close business associate of UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, has warned the UK that his country would block multi-billion dollar arms deals, halt investment in Britain and suspend intelligence cooperation if … [Read more…]
Despite civil war, Syria’s tightly-controlled national team remains on course to qualify for its first ever World Cup October 9, 2015 10:16AM ET by James M. Dorsey @mideastsoccer Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s political fortunes are looking up on more than one battlefield. Even as Russian military intervention appears to have given Assad’s government a new lease on life, … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey The 2022 Qatar World Cup may be sparking social change in the Gulf, just not (yet) in Qatar. Qatar’s winning of the hosting rights for the World Cup gave human rights and trade union activists the leverage they needed to more effectively pressure the Gulf state for reform, if not abolition, … [Read more…]