Summary: if it is the case that yet another parliamentary election produces more bickering and gridlock between the ruling family and MPs then once again Kuwaiti women will be the biggest losers.
Summary: Sheikh al-Qaradawi has died leaving behind a complex and controversial legacy.
Summary: previously seen as a model of stability and solid economic growth, Morocco is struggling with an economy battered by COVID and the fallout from the war in Ukraine; to further complicate matters the king is in failing health and a succession battle looms.
Summary: the IMF has made a new loan to Egypt contingent upon fiscal and structural reforms. The problem is those reforms are likely to serve only to drive more and more Egyptians into absolute poverty while further enriching the military elite.
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.
Summary: Iraq has still to form a government nearly a year after parliamentary elections. The impasse is indicative of a far bigger malaise: a dysfunctional state whose sovereignty is held hostage to armed groups and sectarian interests.
Summary: After a tumultuous week which saw the death of Queen Elizabeth and the rout of the Russian army in Ukraine, the Middle East analyst and author Kristian Coates Ulrichsen returns to the podcast to discuss in detail his recent tweets with Arab Digest editor William Law.
Summary: with the Egyptian president’s visit to Doha today, after the Qatari Emir’s June visit to Cairo, old animosities are seemingly buried but Sisi will have to tread carefully lest he annoy Abu Dhabi by wooing Doha too energetically.
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.
