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Wall Street Journal
Middle East correspondent for the Wall Street Journal
PROFILE
Margaret Coker
Guest
FROM Margaret Coker
To the Point
American Embassies Become Targets of Muslim Mobs The scene turned violent after Friday prayers today and angry protesters attacked US outposts from the Middle East and Africa to Afghanistan and Pakistan, apparently inflamed by the crude insults to their religion in the video, The Innocence of Muslims. In Yemen, the American embassy was breached by an unarmed mob reportedly allowed in by local security forces; US Marines have been sent to the scene. Do the attacks result from the "Arab Spring?" Are US facilities adequately protected against a new wave of anti-Americanism?
Which Way, L.A.?
Middle East Democracy versus the 'Club of Kings' Over the weekend, Egypt opened the Rafah crossing on Gaza's southern border, a sign that the current military regime may be more responsive to its people than the Mubarak government was. The US is playing it down, but it's another sign of changing priorities in the Middle East. Last week's G-8 Summit promised $20- to $40 billion to help Egypt and Tunisia turn the so-called "Arab Spring" into peaceful democracy. At the same time, US ally Saudi Arabia is conducting a worldwide campaign to keep kingdoms and other autocracies just as they are. Segment image: A Yemeni soldier who joined sides with anti-regime protesters hold a rifle bearing the slogan "leave" during a demonstration calling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa on May 27, 2011. Photo: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
To the Point
Saudi Arabia and the 'Club of Kings' Over the weekend, Egypt opened the Rafah crossing on Gaza's southern border, a sign that the current military regime may be more responsive to its people than the Mubarak government was. The United States is playing it down, but it's another sign of changing priorities in the Middle East. Last week's G8 Summit promised $20- to $40 billion to help Egypt and Tunisia turn the "Arab Spring" into peaceful democracy. At the same time, US ally Saudi Arabia is doing its best to keep autocratic regimes in place in Bahrain, Yemen, Oman, and even Morocco and Jordan. Does the US agree that the "Arab Spring" has reached its limit or are US and Saudi interests diverging after decades of trading oil for protection? Are the Saudis more worried about Iran or an "Arab Spring" in their own country? What about Israel and the world's oil supply?
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To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.