Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell

Iran's attack on Israel was not a surprise, nor did it inflict significant damage. It was nonetheless a paradigm shift.

In places like Saudi Arabia, the Soviet Union, Syria, and Eastern Europe we promoted democracy, freedom of conscience, and legal reform.

They are concerned about the status of women in the kingdom, but two sports icons are stuck with a vision of a Saudi Arabia that no longer exists.

It is now abundantly clear that Russia has defeated the Western sanctions regime that was intended to cripple its economy and force its withdrawal from Ukraine.

Why do we want to damage Russia? Russia is not the Soviet Union: geographically, ideologically, economically, or militarily.

In March 2022 the Ukrainian Security Council suspended 11 political parties that were considered pro-Russian.

African leaders currently out of favor in Washington are being serially seduced by Moscow with arms sales, mercenary muscle, and political support.

As the dominos begin to fall, their impact on major regional players like Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia will be dramatic.

Economic problems caused by the war in Ukraine have had very substantial political consequences. Over the past 18 months, more than a third of European Union governments have fallen.

Our opinions regarding Ukraine are based on a dozen easily verifiable facts about that conflict.

As the permanent partition of Ukraine becomes ever more likely, the question before us becomes whether NATO will go to war with Russia to prevent that outcome.

Saudis never made up the majority of al-Qaeda's leadership or membership. Below Osama bin Ladin, al-Qaeda's leadership was primarily Egyptian.

For more than two years, the United States has had no ambassador in Saudi Arabia. During that hiatus, a once robust and cooperative Saudi-American relationship withered.

Right now, what the Ukrainian people need is peace, security, and economic reconstruction.

There is nothing patriotic about an American flying a Ukrainian flag. Nor is there anything treasonous about an American questioning unlimited support for a foreign nation in a foreign war.

If you were looking for proof that some of our own politicians and pundits are pushing us ever closer towards a war with Russia, you found it last week when the destruction of an American drone and an arrest warrant issued for Russia's president were both presented as irrefutable grounds for increasing military assistance to Ukraine.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to reopen their respective embassies. This news is neither unusual nor surprising as even hostile neighbors normally maintain diplomatic relations. The United States was aware of and did not object to these discussions, but it was China that brought them to a conclusion.

Like the earth's surface, nations can be split by fault lines that lead to earthquakes. Once-unified nations like Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia have dissolved along their political fault lines. Ukraine is yet another nation sharply divided by religious, linguistic, and political fissures.

Public support for NATO's proxy war in Ukraine rests upon three frequently repeated assumptions: Russia's invasion was unexpected and unprovoked, Ukraine is a unified, democratic state, and Ukraine will win the war. Based on widely available public information, it is increasingly self-evident that all three of these assumptions are flawed.

Oil has been priced in dollars and sold on a global market for decades. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the United States effectively stopped the use of the dollar in Russian oil sales and partitioned the oil market.

Iran has been shaken by repeated bouts of popular unrest ever since its Islamic Revolution overthrew Shah Reza Pahlavi in 1979. Unfortunately, none of its periodic outbursts of instability have led to permanent political change in Iran. Fortified by its cohesive clerical elite and the coercive muscle of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the regime has been able to repeatedly suppress its disorganized opposition. Could this time be any different?

This past Christmas in Riyadh was unrecognizable to anyone who knew the city five years ago. Hitherto, openly celebrating non-Muslim holidays had been regarded as blasphemy.

During the early years of America's Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln sought a limited conflict against people he still regarded as fellow countrymen and with whom he sought reconciliation. Only after three years of stalemate did he turn to "Unconditional Surrender Grant," who in turn unleashed General William Tecumseh Sherman to "make Georgia howl" and help bring the war to its decisively violent conclusion.

The economic and territorial concessions wrung from the humiliated Chinese emperor were not forgotten. Now, taking a page from Britain's playbook, China has turned the tables and is fostering an opioid epidemic in the United States.

Last month, President Joe Biden warned that mankind was closer to nuclear Armageddon than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis. We should take him seriously.

The withdrawal of Russian forces, Ukrainian neutrality, an end to economic sanctions and most importantly a cease fire and legitimate U.N.-monitored plebiscite are all negotiable, though you would hardly know it from the rhetoric of Russia or the West.

In 2022, numerous senior American and European officials asked the Saudis to help blunt the oil price rise following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This time the Saudis said no. What changed? As with most historical processes, the altered relationship between Saudi Arabia, the West has numerous causes.

Last week's promotion of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to the role of prime minister makes it more likely that this track record of stable succession will continue.

Our familiar system of global political and economic alliances is shifting, and nothing has made this change clearer than the varied reactions to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The United States needs an economically strong, politically aligned, and socially united Europe. Instead, we now face both a divergence of interests with our European allies and a divergence of interests among the Europeans themselves.