A short 🧵 on today's (not so) breaking news: Saudi Arabia's cabinet has approved the MoU to become a dialogue partner of the #SCO.

A bit of context, first. 1/10

reuters.com/world/riyadh-j… The SCO is a strange-yet-fascinating beast: A China-led international organisation that does all and nothing, which spans from East Asia to South Asia, from Central Asia to West Asia, including old-time rivals (India and Pakistan) and Eurasian giants (Russia). 2/10

[Short thread] I see a lot of hype brewing around the #ChinaIran 25y agreement. Frankly, I do understand why, but, folks, it's not a signed document that will change the dynamics of Sino-Iranian relations, which have been quite consistent since 1979. [1/9]

https://twitter.com/naderalihashemi/status/1280834099842703366

The document under scrutiny is the formalisation of the 2016 CSP. Rouhani and Xi basically agreed on everything that is now on the proposal back then. Very little has been realised in the last 4 years, esp. in key sectors such as oil, infrastructures, etc. Why? [2/9]

I spent some time thinking about why Soleimani was the (almost) perfect target for a US retaliation. Here are my ideas. Premise one: I still believe this was an extremely problematic operation & the consequences will be huge and dangerous for many people in the region (1/12) Premise two: I’ve absolutely no sympathy for Qassem Soleimani. However, my job is not about sympathy or antipathy. It’s about trying to understand reality, overcoming bias as much as possible. (2/12)