Shahriman Lockman @raylockman

How the UAE, an absolute monarchy, came to win over Washington is seen by friends and foes alike as the ultimate case study in how to run a government public relations campaign in DC. ft.trib.al/xPYwQ4Y

Egypt was invited to join the new Saudi-Turkish-Pakistani defence pact. It declined. A revealing Mada Masr report helps explain why. The important point is less whether Cairo’s calculation is right or wrong than what it tells us about the emerging regional order. • Egypt was not excluded. Pakistan offered Cairo the opportunity to join, while Turkish FM Hakan Fidan said Erdogan wanted Egypt eventually to become part of the alliance. • Cairo appears to see the pact as political as much as military. The concern is that joining would place Egypt inside a Saudi-led alignment, rather than simply expanding its security cooperation. • The distinction Egypt makes is between regional security cooperation and a binding commitment to defend Saudi Arabia. Cairo is comfortable with the former; it is much more cautious about the latter. • That helps explain the difference with the Red Sea maritime coalition, where Egypt has direct strategic interests and cooperation is primarily about information-sharing and consultation. • The NATO comparison also needs qualification. Fidan has described the pact as analogous to NATO’s Article 5, but Turkish officials quoted by Mada Masr stress that any military response would still require political decision-making. The immediate practical emphasis may be intelligence-sharing, radar integration and deterrence. • One of the more striking assessments in the piece is that the pact is, in practice, more about Saudi Arabia’s security than Turkey’s or Pakistan’s. It is difficult to imagine either Ankara or Islamabad becoming the principal military guarantor of Saudi Arabia in a major regional conflict. • And that exposes the pact’s larger limitation: the US remains the indispensable security actor for the Gulf. Regional states can diversify their partnerships, but they are not realistically replacing Washington. • Egypt also has reasons not to become embedded in the bloc politics now emerging across the region. It needs Saudi Arabia politically, while maintaining important economic relations with the UAE. It has been improving relations with Turkey while maintaining strategic relationships with Greece and Cyprus. • Pakistan and India create another complication. Egypt is seeking deeper economic relations with India while Pakistan is itself part of the new security arrangement. • The pact therefore sits within a much larger rearrangement involving Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Greece, Cyprus and Israel, as well as competing visions of regional economic connectivity. • There is also the Saudi-UAE competition. Cairo has so far avoided taking a clear side in that contest. Joining a Saudi-led military arrangement would inevitably have political implications beyond the formal text of the agreement. • The broader lesson is that Egypt’s absence tells us something about the limits of the new regional security architecture. States may cooperate extensively, but they remain reluctant to accept commitments that could constrain their relationships elsewhere. The Mecca pact may therefore be significant less because it creates a Middle Eastern NATO than because it demonstrates how regional powers are experimenting with new forms of alignment — while other states, including Egypt, remain wary of choosing sides. ⁠@MadaMasr — “Why Cairo didn’t turn up for the Quad defense pact party” storage.googleapis.com/madamasr/en/20…

Good article by the Malaysian CG in Dubai. khaleejtimes.com/business/asean…

Joint Statement: The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression, and stipulates that any armed attack against Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, or Pakistan shall be regarded as an attack against them all. It further provides for the enhancement of all aspects of defense cooperation among the three states #SPAGOV

MORE - (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia expects imminent coordinated attacks from the north and south by Iraqi militias and Yemen's Houthis under the supervision of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a senior Saudi official said on Thursday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said intelligence reports from Saudi Arabia, the United States and other regional countries indicated civilian and economic sites could be targeted, including energy infrastructure, ports and airports. Saudi Arabia had also observed drones and missiles being moved, suggesting coordinated operations from both directions, the official said.

Phil Stewart @phildstewart

4 days ago

Saudi Arabia expects imminent attacks from north and south, senior official says

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Debsirin is a prestigious network of Thai schools founded in 1885. Tunku Abdul Rahman was a student there in Bangkok in 1913-15.

Thenationthailand @Thenationth

3 days ago

Two teachers have been killed and at least 15 people injured in a tragic school shooting at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Thailand. The teenage student suspect was found dead at the scene. A teenage student who opened fire at a prominent secondary school in Nonthaburi province

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Must-read article for anyone whose job involves *thinking* nytimes.com/2026/08/04/opi… "The problem with writing with A.I. is that it’s mentally enfeebling... What, uniquely, does writing do? ... It compels thinking in ways that silent contemplation or spoken language rarely can."

Malaysia has launched an anti-dumping investigation into certain coated steel imports from China, Chinese Taipei and Vietnam, alongside an expiry review of existing duties on prepainted steel coil imports from China and Vietnam. #NSTBusinessTimes nst.com.my/business/econo…

Exclusive: At a Cabinet meeting at Camp David on last week, President Trump demanded answers from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on why he had apparently been misled on extreme munitions shortages that now threaten to limit military options with Iran. wapo.st/4z6jxUq

Thailand in damage-control mode after deadly attacks threaten to derail the peace process prachataienglish.com/node/12007

Trump’s tariffs haven’t dampened global trade because of strong US economic growth, AI-driven demand and swift adaptation by businesses. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/…

We have a standing meeting about this word twice a week, every two weeks.

Boyan Slat @BoyanSlat

2 weeks ago

This is objectively the worst word in the English language

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September South peace talks are off following recent Narathiwat violence world.thaipbs.or.th/detail/septemb…

Three of the five rangers had royally-bestowed Buddhist bathing rites. The other two were likely Muslims: Sakeereeya Jehna and Solahuding Pi (their first names being local transliterations of Zakaria and Salahuddin). x.com/isoc_pr_team/s…

ทีมโฆษก กอ.รมน. @ISOC_PR_TEAM

3 weeks ago

ทุกหยดเหงื่อเพื่อแผ่นดิน... วันนี้ทั้งชาติส่งวีรชนกลับบ้าน ___ พระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว ทรงพระกรุณาโปรดเกล้าฯ พระราชทานน้ำหลวงอาบศพแก่ทหารพรานผู้กล้า 3 นาย ผู้สละชีพจากการปฏิบัติหน้าที่ปกป้องประชาชนในพื้นที่อำเภอระแงะ จังหวัดนราธิวาส นับเป็นพระมหากรุณาธิคุณอันหาที่สุดมิได้

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Martial law in Narathiwat province. x.com/thaiexaminer/s…

Thai Examiner @ThaiExaminer

2 weeks ago

Bangkok gets tough and orders military to ‘hunt down’ terrorists who murdered five soldiers on Wednesday thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-fore…

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That reference to “any nation” is a dog whistle for Malaysia. Thais would understand it as nothing else. The Thai army predictably points south whenever its own failure to negotiate in good faith with the insurgents comes due.

Thai PBS World @ThaiPBSWorld

3 weeks ago

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Chaiyapruek Duangprapat has ordered a relentless hunt for the insurgents responsible for a deadly attack on a Narathiwat checkpoint, as he visited the scene on yesterday to honour five paramilitary rangers killed in the line of duty and pledge full

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Remember, “when Minister is talking to you, you better stand up.”

Mothership @MothershipSG

3 weeks ago

Ng Chee Meng to be appointed Minister in PMO, will return to Cabinet bit.ly/4yFjBdA

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Harris is currently CDA in Iraq: iq.usembassy.gov/joshua-josh-ha…

Bio. state.gov/biographies/jo…

For the next US Ambassador to Malaysia, Trump has picked Joshua Harris, formerly Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for North Africa. This would be Harris’s first posting in the region. whitehouse.gov/presidential-a…