Sample Newsletters
Find out what gets our members talking. Click on the links below to read recent articles which have sparked discussion.
COVID situation underlines fragmentation of Yemen
Summary: Monday’s attack on Abu Dhabi has once again brought attention to the war in Yemen but the country’s COVID pandemic has escaped virtually all international scrutiny and coverage.
Gaza, Hamas and the IDF
Summary: Hamas uses civilians as a shield, the Israelis respond with disproportionate force and innocent people, many of them children are killed and wounded.
Saudi Arabia: arrests continue
Summary: waves of Saudi officials are arrested on corruption charges; a second businessman comes forward saying MbS’s “anti-corruption” crackdown means he has not been paid.
Omicron and the Arab states
Summary: while scientists around the world rush to assess the impact of the emerging Omicron variant, much of the Middle East is at a worrying threat threshold.
OPEC+: Chewing the Covid Cud
Summary: while all around are rattled by the emergence of the Omicron variant, OPEC+ was absolutely right to stick to its established plan last week.
Egyptology
Summary: Egyptology is the gift that keeps on giving for Sisi’s regime both politically and economically.
MbS and the domestic front
Summary: Mohammed bin Salman has experienced both rebuffs and successes on the foreign front but it is how well he manages domestic issues that will determine his future and the future of the kingdom.
Saudi economy steps up a gear
As COVID recedes from the kingdom and oil prices stay steady at US$80, Saudi Arabia’s economy is responding with strong signs of positive growth.
Newcastle United and Saudi Arabia – Beyond ‘Sportswashing’
Summary: the Saudi takeover of a struggling premiership football club is proof of how a wealthy gulf state can use its purchase to gain a lasting economic and societal stake in one of the UK’s poorer regions.
Kuwait’s wave of femicides
Summary: the murder of women in Kuwait in so-called honour killings exposes a political system and a society that remains largely indifferent to gender-based violence.
Bahrain: price rises, prisoners and a punt in Vegas
Summary: Bahrain’s economy continues to face significant challenges; a Bahraini company takes a stake in Las Vegas real estate; and a bipartisan appeal from US senators urges the Secretary of State to call the regime to account for human rights abuses.
Ozymandias
Summary: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi like the ancient pharaoh made infamous in Shelley’s poem, has pretensions to greatness that are driving his country down a ruinous road.