Annelle Sheline from the Washington-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft joins Arab Digest editor William Law for a conversation about US foreign policy in the Middle East. Two years into the Biden presidency perceptions about America and its role have shifted dramatically in the region but the president and his advisors seem locked in a belief that little has changed.
Summary: the decision by UNGA was hailed as a significant breakthrough for the cause of Palestinian rights, even as Netanyahu inaugurates the most extreme government in Israel’s history.
Arab Digest editor William Law’s guest this week is Gulf State Analytics CEO Giorgio Cafiero. With relations between the US and key GCC players fraying, China has upped its game seizing both economic and diplomatic advantage. But with Washington remaining the Gulf’s security guarantor, the GCC will need to tread a balanced line.
Summary: a recent court case highlights the failure of a UK government programme that was aimed at bringing meaningful judicial and police reform to the Gulf state kingdom.
Summary: after quadrupling their debt burden since 2014, the Gulf states are pausing new borrowing, thanks to reforms and the oil windfall. Oman and Qatar are even actively deleveraging. However, Bahrain and Sharjah remain in precarious positions.
Summary: with the protest movement virtually silenced, the opposition either in jail or in exile, Bahrain’s ruling family is moving forward, building on higher oil prices and financial support from its GCC neighbours to meet at least some of the concerns of its citizens.
Summary: the recent visit has less to do with commercial arrangements than with Abu Dhabi’s desire to shore up support for the Abraham Accords and find a way out of the Yemen quagmire using Oman as an interlocutor.
Summary: Sheikh al-Qaradawi has died leaving behind a complex and controversial legacy.
The Arab Digest podcast conversation this week takes a hard look at US foreign policy in the Middle East under President Joe Biden. Digest editor William Law’s guest is Jon Hoffman, a geopolitical analyst and commentator. Hoffman sees Biden’s approach as a continuation of decades of failed policies that have served neither the US nor the people of the region well.
Summary: there was a flurry of suggestions that the Saudi crown prince would come to London for the Queen’s funeral but in the end he didn’t show up while other senior Gulf dignitaries did.
