Summary: child abuse is a huge problem but social taboos and government indifference means little action is taken; in war zones such as Syria physical and sexual abuse is a deliberate regime weapon; breaking the taboos, providing sanctuary and support for survivors and arresting, convicting and jailing perpetrators is urgently required.
Summary: with Saudi Arabia’s announcement of a massive purchase of Boeing’s Dreamliner 787s, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman beckons to Washington that fraying diplomatic relations aside, it’s business as usual.
Summary: the renewal of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran is a win that takes down the temperature in the region and one that represents a setback for Netanyahu and a message for Biden.
Summary: there have been many dark days in the Middle East and North Africa but events in Tunisia and the Occupied West Bank over the weekend have cast a long and frightening shadow across the region.
Summary: with the JCPOA talks going nowhere and the Biden administration seemingly dismissive of the threat Iran poses to Middle East security whilst focussing on China and the war in Ukraine, the West may be sleepwalking towards a potentially disastrous conflagration in the region.
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: Israel is positioning itself well when it comes to exploiting natural resources in the Middle East.
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: 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.
Summary: the war and the humanitarian disaster it has caused have received intermittent coverage but the story of Yemen’s 4.3 million IDPs has been virtually ignored.
