Epstein Secrets

ip. Despite significant pressure from the Obama administration to remain on the sidelines, Saudi leaders sent troops into Manama in March to defend Bahrain's monarchy and quell the unrest that has shaken that country since February. For more than 60 years, Saudi Arabia has been bound by an unwritten b

ominate the country's political life. Regarding the widespread upheaval in Syria, the Saudis will work to ensure that any potential transition to a post-Assad era is as peaceful and as free of Iranian meddling as possible. Regarding Israel, Riyadh is adamant that a just settlement, based on King Abdullah'

which will give n=w impetus to solidify and unify the opposition. Yemen is equally unpredictable. Jordan and Kuwait are shaky and face uncert=inty. Bahrain seems slowly to cope adequately with its issues. Lebanon is =haking under the spill-over of the conflict in Syria, brought to a peak th=ough the as

equen=es to Kazakhstan's oil and gas interests in the Caspian. The opposition and the rebels are so diverse and split that a likely scenar=o for the post-Assad era with high likelihood will produce a second civil =ar. The geostratigic importance of Syria can not be underestimated. The lo=s of Syria for Iran

la and it could be used again by agents of internal opposition groups. Moreover, the recent pro-democracy upheavals in Egypt, Syria, and above all Bahrain are bound to influence U.S.-Saudi relations over time in ways that are hard to predict. For the time being, these risks have been at least temporar

yrian National Council and the Free Syrian Army, Ankara hopes to have gained the leverage to influence the behavior of the future leadership in the post-Assad era. But now harder choices await Turkish policy makers. To create the right conditions for the emergence of a political process of reconciliation

ledge, strategy and will to secure these? Second, post Assad Syria is going to be a mess. It will require a se

S Policy on Arab Revolutions TJP summary: Plenty of different opinions on what was done right and wrong. No consensus. Indyk: syria will spill into Bahrain and KSA (Saudi). We should have moved earlier. KSA is a BFD. Feaver (ex Bush): BO's obsession w anti Bush (especially wrt Iraq) has unnecessarily li

ship. Despite significant pressure from the Obama administration to remain on the sidelines, Saudi leaders sent troops into Manama in March to defend Bahrain's monarchy and quell the unrest that has shaken that country since February. For more than 60 years, Saudi Arabia has been bound by an unwritten barg

dominate the country's political life. Regarding the widespread upheaval in Syria, the Saudis will work to ensure that any potential transition to a post-Assad era is as peaceful and as free of Iranian meddling as possible. Regarding Israel, Riyadh is adamant that a just settlement, based on King Abdullah's

ng, Erdogan and his foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, who have long harboured regional leadership ambitions, seem to be positioning themselves for a post-Assad future. In this push towards the Syrian endgame they plainly have the enthusiastic backing of the US, for whom they are effectively acting as a local

ervention in Libya, and supporting stricter sanctions against Syria. The president has been less outspoken about other Persian Gulf allies, including Bahrain, which hosts a key U.S. naval base. Obama has urged Egypt and Tunisia to "set a strong example through free and fair elections, a vibrant civil socie