Epstein Secrets

is today China's largest trading partner in the Middle East. The kingdom's closest ties remain with Pakistan. The Pakistani press has reported that Riyadh provided a $1.5 billion loan to Islamabad to help Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's effort to get Pakistan's economy out of its slump. The Saudis have

l. In a rare break with Russia on the U.N. Security Council, China refused to condone Russia's moves in Crimea. Moscow's annexation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia was recognized by Nicaragm, Venezuela and two island nations in the South Pacific. That might be as many as will recognize the annexa

hat the Saudis are most concerned about — Syria, Iraq or Yemen. And it will not have escaped Tehran's notice that the CSS-2 ballistic missiles that Riyadh paraded for the first time last week can easily reach any part of Iran. Certainly, a message of strength was being telegraphed to the region. But t

rd-headed realists have argued that even if Ukraine shrinks with the loss of several autonomous republics (as Georgia did in 2008 when Abkhazia and South Ossetia seceded), the impact on American interests would be limited. They also argue that since it is now clear that no one (other than Russia) is prepared

weapon. As for the Sunni-Shiite arms race, the critical reaction to an international agreement would be not in Washington but in Cairo, Ankara and Riyadh. Even if the Western powers express confidence in Iran's commitment and pledge a vigorous economic and military response to any Iranian violation,

de by that promise is unclear. In 2008, he sent Russian forces into neighboring Georgia, ostensibly to protect the secessionist Georgian enclave of South Ossetia; the real goal was to weaken the pro-Western government in Tbilisi. Russia and the West both have legitimate interests in Ukraine and its future.