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The Arab world’s poorest and most misunderstood country has been facing multiple crises for years: a shortage of oil and water, a rapidly growing population, hunger, dictatorship, corruption, an international terrorist presence and deep internal regional and political differences. Now escalating regional rivalry between neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Iran has sparked a wider war that threatens chaos and possible collapse.

War in the Middle East: Not exactly earth-shattering news in a region which always had more than its fair share of bloodshed.

It was a desperate and chilling scene in central Baghdad on Saturday, fathers and mothers holding up pictures of their missing sons, demanding answers and searching for their boys.

After years of wrangling, a nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers would not dramatically change Iran’s relationship with the United States–but it would make substantial changes: A deal that lifts sanctions, even gradually, would boost Iran’s economy, and Tehran would gain access to its substantial assets currently frozen in foreign banks. Iranian oil exports, almost halved by sanctions, would rise again.

In the new edition of its magazine, ISIS floats the idea of a truce. Is the group flagging—or is this just another tactic?

Many complicated factors contribute to the global price of a barrel of oil, but two of the leading components are supply and risk—and both have the potential to escalate in the days ahead.

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) explained about his invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress:

Iraqi officials insisted for weeks that Islamic State fighters had been all but exterminated in Tikrit, confined to a few pockets in the city center. Yet on Sunday, military officials in the city were reluctant to allow journalists to head back to Baghdad by road — even though the highway skirts Tikrit well to the west.

There is an old saying that you don’t negotiate with your friends; you negotiate with your enemies. It is very unfortunate that the United States and Iran are enemies, but they are and have been since 1979. As such, it is imperative that we negotiate with them. Former Vice President Dick Cheney famously said that we “don’t negotiate with evil, we defeat it.” Such statements are political slogans, not useful strategies to resolve differences between nations.

Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (DERASAT) Board of Trustees’ Chairman Khalid Ibrahim Al-Fadhala attended the 20th annual conference which opened today under the patronage of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, UAE Armed Forces Deputy Supreme Commander General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.