IVOS 2: ΚΕΙΜΕΝΑ,ΕΙΚΟΝΕΣ

While there are both material conditions and political causes of the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, there are also ideational conditions and religious causes, which give this rivalry its own peculiar character stemming from the mentalities and religious identities of the parties. The Middle East is a region where any political movement appears as rivalry, a place where no one is without a rival, and where there are those who cannot be without a rival. There are two forms of competition: competition against one or more people, like chess, or competition with one or more people over something, like the 100 meters hurdle race. Competition in the Middle East is generally of the second form, and the two states which the struggle for influence in the Middle East has had them confront each other are the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Relatively good relations between the two states turned into an effective rivalry during the Iran-Ira...

 Will direct military involvement in Syria by Turkey and Saudi Arabia spark a NATO-Russia confrontation? Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (then prime minister), meeting in Istanbul on December 3, 2012. (Image source:kremlin.ru)   Dutch Washington should think more than twice about allowing Turkey and Saudi Arabia, its Sunni allies, militarily to engage their Shiite enemies in Syria. Allowing Sunni supremacists into a deeper sectarian war is not a rational way to block Russian expansion in the eastern Mediterranean. And it certainly will not serve America's interests. Turkey and Saudi Arabia are too weak militarily to damage Russia's interests. It is a Russian trap -- and precisely what the Russians are hoping their enemies will fall into. ------------------------------------------ After Russia's increasingly bold military engagement in war-torn Syria in favor of President Bashar al-Assad an...

  (...) Saudi Arabia has probably the highest number of child marriages in the Middle East  and yet there has been almost no international outrage or objection directed at the practice.  (...) Καταδικάστηκε σε μικρής διάρκειας φυλάκιση  και χρηματικό πρόστιμο Ποινή-χάδι επέβαλε δικαστήριο της Σαουδικής Αραβίας σε πατέρα που διέπραξε ένα αποτρόπαιο έγκλημα:  ομολόγησε ότι βίασε και σκότωσε την 5χρονη κόρη του.  Ο Σαουδάραβας καταδικάστηκε σε φυλάκιση ίση με το διάστημα κατά το οποίο παρέμεινε προφυλακισμένος και σε μικρό πρόστιμο όπως υποστηρίζουν τρεις ακτιβίστριες των ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων από τη Σαουδική Αραβία. Σύμφωνα με την ανακοίνωση που εξέδωσαν οι γυναίκες, η μικρή Λάμα εισήχθη στο νοσοκομείο στις 25 Δεκεμβρίου 2011. Είχε κατάγματα στα πλευρά και στο κρανίο, σημάδια από καψίματα και της είχαν ξεριζώσει ένα νύχι. Το παιδί υπέκυψε στις 22 Οκτωβρίου. Μια κοινωνική λειτουργός και η μητέρα της 5χρονης, η οποία είναι διαζευγμ...

Militiamen loyal to the government of Yemeni President Abd Rabboh Mansour Hadi sit on top of tanks in the southern city of Aden. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) Summary While the al-Houthi movement struggles to manage multiple regional challenges to its north, its rise to power in Yemen is a setback for Saudi Arabia on its southern flank. After the fall of the Yemeni government, Riyadh will have to capitalize on the al-Houthis' need for political and financial support to re-establish its influence in the country. But because Iran is trying to fill that support gap, too, Yemen has become another battleground where the two sectarian rivals will struggle against one another. Analysis After being driven from the capital of Sanaa in September  , Yemen's government is at war with itself. President Abd Rabboh Mansour Hadi issued a statement March 19 denouncing the airstrikes on his compound in the southern port city of Aden as an attempted military coup by forces loyal...