Browse Blanche, Ed

1-227 out of 227 article(s)

Title	Type	Date	Words
Shades of Saddam: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, flying in the face of the Arab Spring revolution for greater democracy in a region long notorious for its dictators, seeks to become an old-style Arab strongman by eliminating his political rivals.		Apr 1, 2012	2369
Sidestepping the strait: the UAE races to finish a pipeline to bypass the Strait of Hormuz that Iran has threatened to close in its confrontation with the West, while the Gulf monarchies scramble to open new land routes for oil exports.		Apr 1, 2012	1645
Israel seeks new friends: adrift after the political convulsions of the Arab Spring and the messy rift with its former ally Turkey, Israel's leaders have been forced to rethink the country's strategic options and are looking for new alliances to help them ride out the storm.		Mar 1, 2012	2134
Switching on the sun: it's 'all systems go' for the world's most ambitious solar project. Situated in the Moroccan desert, the $549 billion, sun-driven supergrid could one day electrify much of Europe as well as the Middle East.		Mar 1, 2012	1632
Gulf security: Obama's Plan B: after failing to keep troops in Iraq, the Americans switch to beefing up their forces in the Gulf states in a transparent attempt to reassure Saudi Arabia and its partners, and to deter Iran. But it's a plan that could go wrong.	Essay	Jan 1, 2012	2230
Israel's day of reckoning: Israel braces for a 'complete break' with peace partner Egypt after three decades as the wave of turbulence sweeping the Arab nation thrusts the Muslim Brotherhood into prominence.	Essay	Jan 1, 2012	1603
US attempts annihilating Al Qaeda: the Americans are cutting down the jihadist movement's leaders in a savage and largely secret campaign of counter-terror that is redefining how future wars will be fought.		Dec 1, 2011	1802
Can oil restore Libya's fortunes: Libya's new rulers struggle to rebuild an oil industry battered by the civil war that ended Muammar Gaddafi's 32-year rule, but the threat of further violence could sabotage these efforts and with them any prospect of an early national recovery.		Dec 1, 2011	2346
Iraq steps on the gas: Baghdad's drive to achieve energy supremacy switches focus from oil to natural gas, but the country's deep-rooted sectarian rivalries and the perennial security problem undermine efforts to secure an economic future.	Cover story	Nov 1, 2011	2016
Arab Spring and the Mukhabarat moment: the fight back against repressive Arab regimes whose intelligence services and secret police once seemed invincible is well under way, but the 'democratic dawn' is not going down too well with western agencies fighting terrorism.		Nov 1, 2011	1679
The disclosure that US President Barack Obama approved the sale of 5,000-pound bunker-buster bombs to Israel, for a possible attack on Iran's nuclear installations, has sent ripples of alarm across the Middle East, including Israel itself.		Nov 1, 2011	642
Iran: the enemies within: while the Islamic Republic seeks to expand its power across the Middle East, it is having to battle a series of insurgencies on its periphery that Tehran claims are supported by the United States, Britain and Israel.		Oct 1, 2011	1638
Netanyahu battles his generals; Binyamin Netanyahu is locked in a confrontation with Israel's generals, past and present, over his obsession with launching pre-emptive military attacks on Iran and its nuclear programme.		Oct 1, 2011	1978
In the space of a week in September, Israel's relations with two countries that not so long ago were key strategic allies crumbled alarmingly, cementing a harsh and dangerous new reality for the Jewish state as it braced itself for yet another crisis over the Palestinians' determination to declare statehood in a changing Arab world.		Oct 1, 2011	647
Obama's new secret war: the US unleashes a Pakistan-style campaign from the sky against Al Qaeda jihadists in Yemen, as that impoverished country teeters on the brink of civil war.	Cover story	Aug 1, 2011	2612
A club of kings: the GCC plan to recruit Jordan and Morocco and unite all the Arab monarchies is seen as a stratagem to counter the growing pressure for democratic reform in the Arab world--and an expansionist Iran.		Aug 1, 2011	1670
Assad's hope of survival: Tehran reportedly has sent seasoned covert operators to prop up the Damascus regime and prevent the collapse of a key ally in Iran's expansionist strategy.		Aug 1, 2011	1555
Last word.		Aug 1, 2011	704
The struggle for supremacy: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unleashes a political firestorm by challenging supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.	Cover story	Jul 1, 2011	1980
Iraqi oil: output soars but is it enough? Efficient exploitation of its vast oil reserves is key to the pace of Iraq's recovery, but with Baghdad forced to sharply scale back ambitious plans to boost production--and the imminent withdrawal of US forces--the future is looking precarious.	Report	Jul 1, 2011	1692
Two bad seasons from disaster? High food prices were a key factor in triggering unprecedented political unrest around the Arab world but now a major global food crisis is looming that could destabilise the region even further.	Cover story	Jun 1, 2011	1873
After Bin Laden: the jihadist movement faces major challenges after US commandos assassinated Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, especially in the Arab world, where pro-democracy uprisings have shown how Al Qaeda's violent ideology has failed.		Jun 1, 2011	1787
The perils of piracy: shipping companies say Somali marauders, expanding their operations deep into the Indian Ocean, are moving in on tanker lanes from the Gulf and threatening global oil supplies.		Jun 1, 2011	1035
Last Word: Much of Beirut's rich architectural heritage--the product of the Ottoman and French colonial eras--in the historic business and financial district around Martyrs' Square, was turned to rubble in the 1975-90 civil war.		Jun 1, 2011	683
The insatiable dragon: energy-hungry China, one of the world's few expanding economies, has secured a major stake in the Middle East's oil and gas sectors, and is steadily increasing its geostrategic reach.	Cover story	May 1, 2011	2308
Beirut reaches for the sky: construction frenzy convulses the Lebanese capital despite upheaval in the Middle East, forever changing the face of Beirut and sending property prices soaring.		May 1, 2011	1405
Treasure of the tyrants: amid the avalanche of anger that is starting to sweep away the old order in the Arab world, the hunt is on to recover the billions of dollars dictators and their cronies have plundered from their people.	Cover story	Apr 1, 2011	2092
For Israel, a nightmare scenario: amid fears that with Hosni Mubarak gone, the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt is in jeopardy, Israelis brace themselves for confrontation with the neighbours.		Apr 1, 2011	1318
A farewell to arms? The frenzy of fury sweeping the Arab world that has already dislodged two US allies from power and threatens others could have a major impact on the multi-billion-dollar arms market in the Middle East.		Apr 1, 2011	1545
Back to the abyss? Lebanon faces a serious risk of violent upheaval if Hizbullah operatives are indicted for the 2005 assassination of Rafiq Hariri by an international tribunal, while Israel is alarmed by Hizbullah's political coup.		Mar 1, 2011	1598
Gulf Rail Network: the dream becomes reality: the Gulf Cooperation Council plan to build a rail network to cover the Arabian Peninsula that would link the region to the rest of the Arab world and beyond, is finally taking real shape. The scheme could transform the political and economic outlook of the region.		Feb 1, 2011	2229
Iraqi oil ambitions stir up a Hornet's nest: Iraq is making an all-out drive to quadruple its oil production over the next decade to outstrip Iran and eventually perhaps challenge the dominance of Saudi Arabia, but the rivalry could get ugly, warns Ed Blanche.		Jan 1, 2011	2249
Mystery death of the 'perfect spy'.		Dec 1, 2010	2048
Yemen's southern discomfort: South Yemen, once a Soviet-backed socialist state, is up in arms seeking secession amid rising Al Qaeda violence and other woes that threaten the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.		Nov 1, 2010	1904
Israeli gas finds could prove a game changer: sparks fly over Israel's discovery of vast gas fields under the eastern Mediterranean, threatening to ignite new hostilities with Lebanon and Syria.	Essay	Nov 1, 2010	1869
Sarkozy's war against Al Qaeda: France, the former colonial power in North Africa, goes after Al Qaeda for beheading a French hostage, joining Maghreb states, who are also stepping up the hunt for jihadist marauders. But while there may be an element of justice seeking in the new French initiative, Paris also has commercial interests in its sights.		Oct 1, 2010	1729
Apocalypse soon? Tensions are rising so rapidly across the Middle East that the region is on the cusp of a major conflict involving, undoubtedly, Iran and Israel. Ed Blanche provides an anatomy of what an Israeli assault on Iran's nuclear facilities might look like.		Aug 1, 2010	2637
Is Israel becoming a police state? Critics say democratic principles are being steadily eroded as Israel becomes increasingly isolated and 'slips down the slope towards McCarthyism and fascism'.		Jul 1, 2010	2323
Al Qaeda's new weapon: 'clean skins'.		Jul 1, 2010	2080
Middle East water wars: Increasingly, water is becoming a catalyst for confrontation across the Middle East region; a focus of national security, foreign policy and domestic stability.		Jun 1, 2010	2247
Israel and the nuclear option: a US think-tank has suggested Israel could use tactical missiles using against Iran's nuclear facilities rather than launch a high-risk air assault.		Jun 1, 2010	1266
Iran tightens its grip on the 'new' Iraq: according to the Americans, the Islamic Republic suffered a 'stunning defeat' in Iraq's dead-heat parliamentary elections in March, but Tehran's 'invisible general' may well prove them wrong.		May 1, 2010	2518
All fall down: the five-year hunt by UN investigators for the assassins of Rafiq Hariri seems to have run out of steam and political will, but a new focus on Hizbullah is whipping up tensions in Lebanon.		May 1, 2010	1557
Challenging Mubarak: Mohammed ElBaradei, former head of the UN's nuclear watchdog agency, has become Egypt's champion of the people to run against President Hosni Mubarak and lead the fight for political reform.		May 1, 2010	1906
Iran draws a line in the sand: the face-off between Iran and Israel grows increasingly rancorous; as the tension rises, the possibility grows that the region is hovering on the brink of a new conflict that could bring an all-out missile war.		Apr 1, 2010	2134
Hunting Bin Laden: time may be running out for the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his Egyptian deputy, as the Americans step up their decade-long manhunt with killer drones and big bucks.		Mar 1, 2010	2324
Iran's global arms network: the Islamic Republic, bracing for a possible war with Israel, has cranked up its clandestine arms procurement network--and its deliveries of arms--to Hizbullah and Hamas, who will help it fight Israel.		Mar 1, 2010	1990
Saudis lead the charge against Al Qaeda: the US is confronting Al Qaeda in Yemen after the failed suicide bombing of an airliner over Detroit, but it's Saudi Arabia that is taking the fight to the jihadists.		Feb 1, 2010	2446
Iran's missile might: the Islamic Republic builds up its strategic missile forces and moves towards an intercontinental ballistic weapon, as it braces for a possible pre-emptive Israeli strike against its nuclear programme.		Feb 1, 2010	1671
The beleaguered brotherhood: president Hosni Mubarak cracks down on the Muslim Brotherhood yet again, as hardliners exert their influence on the movement and Salafist influence swells.		Feb 1, 2010	1277
Maliki takes control: Iraq's prime minister takes control of the country's security and intelligence services in a pre-election power grab that many fear will ensure his political supremacy.		Jan 1, 2010	1752
Moscow muscles in: Russia's new arms drive in the Middle East shakes up the geopolitical intrigues in bizarre ways.		Jan 1, 2010	1773
A strategic alliance crumbles: Turkey's government draws closer to its Muslim neighbours to restore its influence in the region as Ankara sheds its unique alliance with Israel.		Dec 1, 2009	1871
Iran's vanishing scientists: the mysterious disappearance and death of several Iranian nuclear scientists point to a new Cold War in the Middle East.		Dec 1, 2009	1749
Iraq: the fire next time: the US troop withdrawal triggers a new surge of violence and a political shake-up that threaten the survival of the strife-torn country as the region teeters on the abyss of major conflict.		Nov 1, 2009	1785
The last word.		Nov 1, 2009	663
The enemy within: religious fanatics have infiltrated the Israeli army with the purpose of inciting and spreading racism against the Arabs. At a time when Israel is under increasing criticism from the international community over its treatment of the Palestinians, such actions serve to raise the spectre of civil war in the Holy Land, setting Jew against Jew.		Oct 1, 2009	2347
Flashpoint Hormuz: US and allies brace for trouble in the choke-point Strait of Hormuz, gateway to the gulf, as regional tension escalates.	Cover story	Aug 1, 2009	2264
Israel's Indian alliance: the Jewish state has become one of Hindu India's most important strategic allies, providing arms and intelligence in their common war against militant Islam.		Aug 1, 2009	1544
Iran's political earthquake: Ahmadinejad's surprise re-election as president amid allegations of foul play and dirty tricks could torpedo Barack Obama's Grand Design for a new Middle East.		Jul 1, 2009	1497
Moment of truth: the surprise victory of the pro-western March 14 Alliance in Lebanon's parliamentary elections signals a triumph for moderation over extremism in the Middle East. But the country remains in peril.		Jul 1, 2009	1655
Iran-Israel covert war: the Mossad is said to wage a clandestine campaign of assassination and sabotage against Iran's nuclear programme, but this could backfire on President Obama's efforts to negotiate with Tehran.		Jul 1, 2009	2405
Playing a strategic game: Obama's administration and Netanyahu's hawkish government appear to be heading for a showdown over the peace process and Iran.	Cover story	Jun 1, 2009	2453
A pilgrim's progress: Pope Benedict's journey through the Holy Land stirs religious passions in a region where a Christian exodus is under way.		Jun 1, 2009	1645
An uncertain future: Iraq's Shi'ite-dominated government wants to expel Iranian rebels of the Mujahedin-e Khalq, who were backed by Saddam Hussein, but the Americans may have a use for them.		Jun 1, 2009	2163
Weaving a new silk road: "power is moving from West to East," says a top Gulf investor as the Arab world, distrustful of the US, builds wide-ranging commercial links with Asia.	Cover story	May 1, 2009	2569
Unfinished business: Hizbullah grapples with internal rifts and digs in for a new combat war against Israel with a military force that is better trained and better armed than some Arab militaries.		May 1, 2009	2065
Enter the tiger and the dragon: India and China move into the Arabian Sea to protect their energy lifelines to the Middle East.		Apr 1, 2009	2520
Iran's great leap: the February launch of an experimental satellite moves the Islamic Republic closer to developing intercontinental ballistic missiles.		Apr 1, 2009	1641
Sarkozy's Middle East stratagem: with Gallic flourish and a soupcon of intrigue, President Nicolas Sarkozy is going all out to rebuild France's influence in the Middle East and win big military and nuclear contracts.		Apr 1, 2009	2208
An unholy row: Arab anger at what they see as Iran's 'imperialism' grows while, closer to home, neighbouring Gulf states mull over the prospect of reaching an accommodation with the Islamic Republic.		Mar 1, 2009	2290
On deadly ground: a ground-breaking UN tribunal opens in the Netherlands to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri. Ed Blanche anticipates heavy political fallout.		Mar 1, 2009	2466
Give us this day our daily bread: some Gulf states are seeking vast tracts of farmland in Africa and Asia to feed their swelling populations. Proponents describe such moves as sound economic planning that might also offer an opportunity to bring modern technology to failing agricultural regions, others see it as a 'neo-colonial' food grab.		Feb 1, 2009	1976
Jailhouse jihadis: prisons in Europe and the US have become recruiting grounds and universities of terror for Islamist militants. Several major plots have been hatched behind bars under the noses of the security services.		Feb 1, 2009	2174
Hunting Bin Laden: the Al Qaeda leader has been in the US crosshairs several times, but always survived. Now the Americans seem to be going after him again.		Jan 1, 2009	3010
Maliki's makeover: with a little help from his friends in Tehran, Iraq's prime minister stands up to Washington and becomes his own man, much to Washington's chagrin. SOFA so good.		Jan 1, 2009	2348
Lockerbie Mystery: Libyan agent's legal appeal could identify the real masterminds of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 two decades ago.		Jan 1, 2009	2454
The Russians are coming.		Dec 1, 2008	2089
Reshuffling the cards: King Abdullah of Jordan and old adversary Hamas seek rapprochement as Fatah's power ebbs away.		Dec 1, 2008	1452
Playing by jungle rules: rampaging right-wing West Bank settlers turn on the army and liberal opponents, raising serious fears of civil strife in the Jewish state.		Dec 1, 2008	2199
The Al Qaeda enigma: as the US election looms, American leaders boast that the jihadists have been defeated, but, intelligence analysts warn, they are far from beaten and remain 'the most serious terrorist threat to the United States'.		Nov 1, 2008	2341
Running out of time: fifteen years after Oslo, hopes of a peace deal predicated on a two-state formula are evaporating and the Palestinians are scrambling for other options.		Nov 1, 2008	1865
Oil's troubled waters: The Middle East examines some of the trouble spots threatening the global oil supply.		Nov 1, 2008	2565
Pipeline politics: Washington seems determined to wreck Iran's plan to build a gas link to India and Pakistan.		Oct 1, 2008	1933
Islam's secret army? Hizb-ut Tahrir, the transnational party whose declared goal is to establish an Islamic superstate, is causing growing concern in capital cities around the world, as Ed Blanche reports from Beirut.	Organization overview	Aug 1, 2008	1860
Gunning for the gunrunners: the arrest of three men who are allegedly the world's most notorious arms dealers may shed some light on their murky demi-monde in the Middle East.		Aug 1, 2008	1781
Lebanon at the crossroads: the Doha Accord halts political feuding, but it remains to be seen whether it's a new beginning or just the calm before the storm. Ed Blanche reports from Beirut.		Jul 1, 2008	1895
Crumbling coalitions: George W. Bush's 'coalitions of the willing' in Iraq and Afghanistan are crumbling as casualties and global opposition to his war on terror escalates.		Jun 1, 2008	2127
West Bank land grab: Israel forges ahead with settlement expansion and dooms any prospect of peace accord.		Jun 1, 2008	1704
The Al Qaeda weapons race continues: Osama Bin Laden's infamous 'sorcerer', Midhat Mursi Al Sayyid Umar, comes back from the dead and rekindles new fears that jihadists are pursuing chemical, biological and radiological weapons.		May 1, 2008	2496
Pakistan: a major stepping stone in Al Qaeda's global strategy: Pakistan has become the main battleground for Osama bin Laden's jihad amid a swelling insurgency that could ultimately endanger the Middle East.		Apr 1, 2008	2128
Behold, the humble Qassem. A sharp escalation of violence in Gaza saw more than 50 Palestinian dead in February alone. Tel Aviv described the attacks as a punishment for relentless Qassem attacks on Israeli border towns and villages. The primitive rockets of Hamas have become a strategic threat to Israel, which now fears missile attacks from all sides.		Apr 1, 2008	2458
Death in Damascus: the high-profile assassination of the notorious Imad Mughniyeh jolts the anti-US, anti-Israel alliance of Hizbullah, Syria and Iran and threatens a new cycle of violence in the Middle East and beyond. Ed Blanche reports from Beirut.		Apr 1, 2008	2037
An Al Qaeda rolodex: a vast treasure trove of captured documents and records provides a unique insight into the foreign jihadis fighting in Iraq, prompting the US military to reassess how it views Al Qaeda.		Mar 1, 2008	1949
Climate conflicts: oil, money, land--the opportunities for argument in the volatile Middle East region are myriad. But it is water and the results of global warming that present the region with its greatest potential hazard over the coming decades.		Feb 1, 2008	2206
Spy fever: a shadowy multi-faceted intelligence war intensifies in a region where intrigue and espionage have long been part of the everyday political fabric. Ed Blanche reports from Beirut.		Jan 1, 2008	1955
Shifting sands.		Jan 1, 2008	965
Salafist splits: Al Qaeda plans to establish a new network across the Maghreb are threatened by growing fracture within Algerian core group.		Jan 1, 2008	2033
Kurdish powder keg: Turkish and Iranian military moves against Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq threaten to ignite a wider conflict in the Middle East.		Jan 1, 2008	2092
Turning the tables: the United States has recruited 50,000 Iraqi Sunnis who quit the insurgency to fight Al Qaeda, but the strategy could backfire.		Dec 1, 2007	2757