Opinion: Barack Obama and the West Have Abandoned Their Ally Saudi Arabia – But They Will Regret It

By Rob L. Wagner International Business Times 29 March 2016 Saudis have recently taken to describing President Barack Obama using an Arabic phrase “tarajala unn faras addiblumasiah” which, roughly translated, means: “He (who) alights from the horse of diplomacy”. Or to be blunt: he who has forgotten what it means to be president and is instead

OP-ED: If Bush Got a Second Chance, Why not Obama?

By Rob L. Wagner Arab News 5 November 2012 IN 2004, naïve little me firmly believed that John Kerry would be elected president of the United States. I had such confidence that Americans would turn out a US president responsible for a two-front war that yielded little results, particularly failing to find weapons of mass

OP-ED: US Worries over Ikhwan are Misplaced

By Rob L. Wagner Arab News 2 July 2012 Mohamed Morsi’s victory as president of Egypt poses significant challenges for President Obama, who must now balance the election of a candidate viewed less than desirable to US interests with allaying the fears of a jittery Israel. Obama did nothing during the revolution but anger Egyptians

Op-Ed: Romney’s Foreign Policy Team Should Alarm Middle East

By Rob L. Wagner Arab News/Eurasia Review 18 June 2010 THE US government may have a penchant for adventures on foreign soil and blind loyalty to Israel, but the American people generally have isolationist tendencies. The Republican Party pretty much feels the same way, offering little in a coherent foreign policy or even understanding the

Will Saudi Arabia Send the Troops?

With Iran threatening its oil exports, some experts say the kingdom will help defend shipments By Rob L. Wagner The Media Line 25 January 2012 JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Iran’s relationship with Saudi Arabia – once seen as improving following President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s 2007 visit to Riyadh – has deteriorated to the point that the