US President Joe Biden potentially made a strategic mistake when he framed the struggle for Ukraine as a battle between democracy and autocracy. In doing so, he did America’s main rival, China, an unintended favour.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hit all the right cords when he spoke virtually with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan, at a meeting of the China-Saudi Arabia High-Level Joint Committee last month.

Mr. Wang's praise of the kingdom came amid Saudi reports, yet to be confirmed by China, of a pending visit by President Xi Jinping to the kingdom before the end of the year.

The Saudi reports did not mention the Chinese leader stopping in other countries, particularly Iran.

The reports' focus on the kingdom and Mr. Wang's remarks boosted Saudi hopes that Beijing may abandon its balancing act between Saudi Arabia and the Islamic republic.

Religious leaders gather in Bali this week for their first Religion Forum 20 summit (R20) under the auspices of the Group of 20 or G-20 that brings together the world's largest economies.
The religious leaders are meeting two weeks before the G-20's political leaders are scheduled to gather in Indonesia, the group's current chair, for what potentially promises to be an acrimonious get-together attended by the presidents of the United States, Russia, and China.
The religious summit is likely to find it easier to agree on a common language than their political leaders, but that may be where the easy part ends.
I'll be discussing with acclaimed political scientist Ahmet Kuru the issues that undergird the gathering.

The threats to Israel’s existence as a democratic Jewish state have multiplied and could weaken or undermine a pillar of Israeli national security: unquestioned US support.

Rising anti-Semitism among Christian nationalists, together with Evangelicals, the mainstay of US grassroots support for Israel, threatens to drive a wedge between the community and Israel.

To ensure that Qatar was relevant to the international community and had the necessary public empathy to support intervention on the Gulf state's behalf in a time of need, Qatari rulers concluded that Qatar's defence strategy would have to focus on soft rather than hard power.

It's a good time to take a step back and evaluate where we stand as we enter the final weeks before the World Cup in Qatar, the most controversial in the history of world soccer body FIFA.

Joining me today to take a stab at evaluating the often fierce debate about the Qatar World Cup that has sparked deep seated emotions on both sides of the divide, and to look at what the debate has produced in terms of change in Qatar and lessons learned by human rights groups, trade unions, and other activists and NGOs, as well as what happens to these issues once the World Cup is over, is renowned sports journalist and historian James Corbett.

The final run-up to the 2022 World Cup and the tournament's management is make-it-or-break-it time for Qatar.

Both will determine Qatar’s ultimate soft power benefit from the World Cup. How Qatar manages the tournament, and potential flare and hick-ups will shape how the 2022 World Cup is perceived and remembered.

Nahdlatul Ulama, arguably the world’s only Muslim mass movement propagating a genuinely moderate and pluralistic form of Islam, has forged an unlikely, albeit temporary, alliance with the Saudi-controlled Muslim World League.

The glass should have been more than half full rather than half empty. But ‘with a little help from its friends,’ Qatar has proven to be its own worst enemy in the court of public opinion.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has blown new life into Turkey’s vision of a Turkic world that stretches from Anatolia to Xinjiang in north-western China.