Summary: as the online information war rages on, dissidents inside Salman’s Electronic Army counter its “counter extremism” by leaking information about its activities to the Saudi opposition.
Summary: a string of lawsuits in the UK and USA allege the global law firm Dechert LLP and former top lawyers were involved in serious criminal activity in the United Arab Emirates.
Summary: an end to the blockade of Qatar last year has, on the surface, eased tensions between Abu Dhabi and Doha but look a little deeper and the animosity remains.
Summary: the FBI raid on Trump’s Florida home has the potential to do reputational and political damage to Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman and the UAE’s Mohammed bin Zayed.
Summary: a brewing conflict between generals is proving useful to Abu Dhabi’s goals to fortify its growing power in Sudan and do Moscow a good turn as it seeks to position itself as the Middle East’s key power player.
Summary: Tahnoon, part consigliere part strategic driver, is seen as a unique player within the UAE and the GCC. Avoiding the limelight, the prince has been able to get on with his job of taking care of family business.
Summary: MbS paying Jared Kushner US$2 billion and the UAE hacking the UK Prime Minister’s office attracts little comment from Western policymakers.
Summary: under the umbrella of the Abraham Accords Israel and its new friends in the Middle East are wasting no time in deepening security, economic and diplomatic relations.
Summary: a new report on organised crime around the world indicates Arab countries are amongst the world’s biggest offenders, with states in conflict or post-conflict at the bottom of the list.
Summary: after a season of disputes that culminated with MBS and MBZ, the two most powerful leaders in the Arab world, refusing to take each others’ phone calls, all is well again and warm relations are resumed, at least for now.
