Sample Newsletters
Find out what gets our members talking. Click on the links below to read recent articles which have sparked discussion.

Tunisia: a referendum and a generation gap
Summary: today’s referendum vote appears destined to cement Kais Saied’s grip on power but as the country veers back toward dictatorship young Tunisians refuse to abandon the dreams and promise of the 2011 revolution.

The cost of living crisis, Yemen style
Summary: the truce has stopped the fighting but the situation for the vast majority of Yemenis after more than seven years of war continues to worsen.

Arab Digest 2022 summer read (part 2)
Today we are pleased to bring you part 2 of our Arab Digest summer reading list, with all the books written by our newsletter and podcast contributors. From deep dive geopolitical analyses, to personal essays and reflections, from fiction to a delightful children’s book, it is a MENA festival of good reads. Enjoy!

Arab Digest 2022 summer read
Arab Digest is pleased to bring you our summer reading list, with all the books written by our newsletter and podcast contributors. From deep dive geopolitical analyses, to personal essays and reflections, from fiction to a delightful children’s book, it is a MENA festival of good reads. Today we feature seven books and tomorrow we will feature seven more. Enjoy!

Sheikh Jarrah and the Goethe Institute
Summary: the Goethe Institute’s decision to remove the young Sheikh Jarrah poet of resistance Mohammed el-Kurd from a panel discussion raises further questions about free speech and the ways it is silenced.

Yemen: a solution in sight for the environmental threat of the FSO Safer
Summary: with time running out and autumn storms ahead action is finally happening to offload more than 1 million barrels of crude from a derelict ship moored in the Red Sea but big oil needs to step up and use their recent massive windfall profits to cover a donor shortfall.

Qatari princess in custody row dies in Marbella
Summary: a Qatari princess who publicly criticised a senior member of the Qatari royal family died on Sunday in Marbella in unexplained circumstances.

Ukraine and the ongoing food crisis in Yemen
Summary: while the Yemen truce has largely held and there is hope it will be renewed, the war in Ukraine has exacerbated food insecurity with prices soaring for wheat and other commodities even as ordinary Yemenis, hit hard by rampant inflation, are already lacking the money to buy food.

UK-Saudi relations: the warming trend continues
Summary: following the prime minister’s meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh in March, a Saudi Shura Council delegation visits Westminster and meets with the business minister Kwasi Kwarteng to the horror of the Saudi opposition.

The murder of a journalist
Summary: the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh cannot be left to the Israeli authorities to investigate. Only an independent body can establish the truth of her death.

An academic goes missing in MbS’s kingdom of fear
Summary: Mohammed bin Salman wins kudos for reforming the Saudi economy and opening the kingdom to Western values but a fair and transparent judicial system is not among those values.

Can Algeria raise its gas game with Europe?
Summary: the war in Ukraine presents Algeria with a unique opportunity to exploit its gas reserves as Europe scrambles to ease its dependency on Russian hydrocarbons.