Saudi Arabia
Crude tactics: Russia and Saudi Arabia are at war over oil prices
Russia and Saudi Arabia have chosen this moment to go to war over oil prices
Crude tactics: Russia and Saudi Arabia are at war over oil prices
It all started at what everyone thought would be a routine meeting between Opec and non-Opec nations in Vienna. There…
Andy Khawaja: ‘The whistleblower’
This article is in The Spectator’s March 2020 US edition. Subscribe here. It’s after 2 a.m. in Club 38, a nightspot in…
Donald Trump has just blown up his goal of isolating Iran
A blood-red flag was raised over the Jamkaran mosque in the Iranian holy city of Qom last week, one normally…
Portrait of the week: Bercow steps down, Hoyle steps up and an election begins
Home Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Labour MP for Chorley and deputy Speaker since 2010, was elected Speaker by the Commons.…
Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination was one of the century’s blackest farces
The story of Jamal Khashoggi’s death is well known. A prominent Saudi journalist, he walked into his nation’s consulate in…
Portrait of the week: A Supreme Court ruling, Labour’s messy conference and Donald Trump’s ‘impeachment’
Home Eleven justices of the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that in advising the Queen to prorogue parliament ‘the Prime Minister’s…
The alliance between America and Saudi Arabia is over
The oil-for-security alliance between the US and Saudi Arabia, forged in 1945 when Franklin D. Roosevelt met King Abdul Aziz…
An oil price spike doesn’t mean a recession is on the way
An oil price surge from $60 to $72 per barrel, as happened after the drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq…
Why I prefer cows to humans
Gstaad The cows are coming down, the cows are coming down, and I’m off to the Bagel. My Swiss…
Robert C. O’Brien, Trump’s good soldier
With the appointment of Robert C. O’Brien to serve as national security adviser, Donald Trump will once more disappoint his…
How America’s Iran policy is shaped in Riyadh and Jerusalem
Iran’s seizure of a British-owned oil tanker transiting the Persian Gulf has let loose a fresh round of media war…
Vice vs vice: Cheney barbecues Pence in Georgia
It was no cakewalk for Vice President Mike Pence. He had showed up in Sea Island, Ga., reckoning that he…
Why I have fallen out of love with Donald Trump
Here we are, 41 years down the road, and I’m once again writing for The Spectator’s Christmas issue. This is…
Turkey vs Saudi: the real story behind Khashoggi’s murder
Istanbul In another time, in another place, we might never have known about the death of Jamal Khashoggi. In a…
Why I’m a Muslim
When Muslims make headlines, it’s invariably for the wrong reasons. The fuss over Boris Johnson’s burka joke is a case…
For Pester of TSB, like Patterson of BT, the only way is exit
Should he stay or should he go — or will he already have gone by the time you read this?…
Mohammad bin Salman is not a revolutionary. He’s the prince of PR
This week, Mohammad bin Salman, also known as MBS, is on his not-quite-state visit to Britain. A parade down the…
Forget the naysayers. Saudi’s crown prince is the real deal
In an interview this week, Mohammad bin Salman offered an extraordinarily frank assessment of how to combat terrorism. It means…
Why I am hanging up my crystal ball
Gstaad I caught a whiff of it as it rolled in from the east, the smell of hypocrisy being different…
This time last year I was radiating optimism; what a difference a year makes
As the song almost says, what a difference a year makes: 2017 is not over yet, but it’s been a…
Sexual misconduct claims leave government in crisis
Home An air of crisis hung over the government. Priti Patel, the International Development Secretary, was told to fly back…
Saudi Arabia has united with Israel against Iran – and a desert storm is brewing
Until last weekend, the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh’s exclusive Diplomatic Quarter was colloquially known as the Princes’ Hotel. It was a…
How Britain fell for Saudi Arabia’s reforming Crown Prince
There are two ways of seeing the extraordinary rise of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince: the blood-stained debut of a new…