Today marks the anniversary of the day that the Fourth Crusade, fourth of a series of pan-Christian military expeditions meant to drive Muslims out of the eastern Mediterranean and bring its holy sites under Christian control while also providing breathing room for the hard pressed Byzantine Empire, captured Constantinople and sent the Byzantine Emperor Alexios … Continue reading Today in History: July 17 odds and ends

Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that risks losing ground as the fallout from the Iran deal settles, as more Iranian oil hits the market and as Iran gets more money to put toward the two countries' regional rivalry. Plus, let's not forget, Saudi King Salman has been on the job for only about … Continue reading Saudi-watching in the wake of the nuclear deal

With the nuclear deal in pocket, it's understandable that people are talking about the future of the US-Iran relationship. It's especially understandable when Iranian and US interests in the Middle East overlap on so many issues: ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the stability of the Iraqi government in general, dealing with Syria's civil war, Hezbollah-Israel, … Continue reading The place to start working with Iran

Forces loyal to Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi have reportedly retaken control of the southern Yemen port city of Aden, according to VP-in-exile Khaled Bahah. The Houthis are denying that they've lost the city, but it seems pretty clear that no more than about 10% of the city, max, is still in Houthi hands. Some top … Continue reading Major victory for Hadi’s forces in Yemen

Wilayat Sinai, the ISIS affiliate that is currently engaged in an armed conflict with the Egyptian armed forces in the Sinai and has started lobbing rockets into southern Israel to escalate things further, attacked an Egyptian coastguard vessel in the Mediterranean today and set it on fire. How it set that ship on fire is … Continue reading Your periodic Sinai upda-HOLY CRAP WHAT THE HELL?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel essentially made a Palestinian teenager cry on German TV today by compassionately explaining to her that Germany is about to deport her and her family back to, well, wherever, I guess, on account of "politics is hard sometimes." Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL214wjxI6Q There are lots of refugees out there, and if Germany accepts … Continue reading Next up, Chancellor Merkel will kick a puppy

John McCain, speaking here on Serious Republican Contender Donald Trump: Over the weekend, Donald Trump held a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, that attracted several thousand people. He shared the stage with the father of a man who was killed by an undocumented immigrant—and Trump continued his rant against illegal immigration that began when he launched his campaign and … Continue reading Yeah, we sure do hate to fire up the crazies

A single gunman (so far as is known right now) named Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, a native of Kuwait and naturalized US citizen, attacked two military facilities (a recruitment center and a Naval reserve center) in Chattanooga, Tennessee, earlier today, killing four Marines and wounding a Marine recruiter and a police officer before either being killed … Continue reading Chattanooga shooting: what is known so far

Sorry it's been quiet around here today, but at the risk of revealing how the sausage gets made, these hot takes don't just make themselves, you know? Sometimes you have to listen to other people's takes to get the juices going, so I spent most of the day attending talks on the brave new post-Iran … Continue reading What’s “trust” got to do with anything? My newest piece at LobeLog

Pakistan is spending the next three months instituting Urdu as its official language of government, though I think it might be more appropriate to say that it's phasing out the official usage of its other official language, English. Though Urdu is the "national language" of the country, it has shared official status with English since … Continue reading Pakistan has some fun with languages