Summary: COP28, scheduled to take place in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December, has invited the Syrian president to attend as the Arab world continues its rehabilitation of a leader once reviled as a pariah.
Summary: talks need to resume to achieve a Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone in the Middle East, and build on the recent thawing of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Summary: Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, like their fellow GCC members, are showing their determination to kick expats out but their strategies are creating complications, conundrums and contradictions.
Summary: the Syrian president who has conducted a ruthless and bloody war now appears poised to be welcomed back into the Arab fold by fellow dictators and authoritarian ruling families.
Summary: as is generally the case with surprises, markets have almost certainly overreacted to the latest OPEC+ cuts in oil output, the timing of which probably owes more to Saudi/US tensions than it does to global economic prospects. They will almost certainly be more than reversed in 2H2023.
Summary: roughly a quarter of countries in the Arab League, including currently suspended member Syria, are suffering from currency depreciation, a US dollar shortage and rising debt levels. Issues are being compounded by surging inflation, while in some countries (in)formal capital controls and sanctions are impacting trade and debt repayments.
Summary: the UK has the opportunity to deepen trade relations with the GCC states who, even though China beckons, will need a strong counter-balance with the West to fully realise the goal of diversifying their economies away from hydrocarbons dependency.
Summary: the UK has the opportunity to deepen trade relations with the GCC states who, even though China beckons, will need a strong counter-balance with the West to fully realise the goal of diversifying their economies away from hydrocarbons dependency.
Summary: 2023 promises to be a very difficult year for many MENA countries with only the Gulf states escaping the long shadow of a deep economic slowdown.
Summary: a new examination of the environmental efforts of Gulf hydrocarbons producers shows that behind the talk of a green agenda there is little of substance to stand up their claims to be onside with the struggle to save the world from environmental destruction.
