The COVID-19 pandemic has sent shockwaves through energy markets. Since March 2020, lockdowns around the world have led adults to work remotely and children to learn virtually. Last year, according to estimates, global energy demand and investment fell by 5% and 18%, respectively. Yet as...
In Gulf Cooperation Council states, governments, companies and societies must adapt to new models as the world transforms and further digitizes.
The concept of the Gulf Cooperation Council as a necessary sub-regional institution is coming into question.
All over the world, COVID-19 has challenged governments to address the pandemic in manners that earn them the confidence of their citizens. In the Arab region, where authoritarian governance is the norm, many statesmen are looking to China as a model for coping with the disease.
The hardening of Middle Eastern fault lines is likely to make it difficult for China to remain aloof. Subtle shifts in Chinese energy imports suggest that Beijing may be able to exert influence in the Middle East in alternative ways that do not involve military or overt economic pressure. The...
The FIFA World Cup is not the only problem when it comes to the Qatar crisis. The Gulf crisis is the least of Qatar’s problems when it comes to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Beyond the fact that other Gulf states have sought to discredit Qatar as a host long before the diplomatic and boycott was...
The Qatar crisis has showed that size is no longer the only factor that determines a state’s ability to chart an independent course. Food security has taken on a new dimension in the Qatar crisis. The standoff pits an Emirati-Saudi alliance against Qatar, and there appears to be no end in...
The social effects of the Qatar crisis make it increasingly difficult to resolve. While the political dimensions of the four-month-old Qatar crisis have been analyzed at length — and largely echo those of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) 2014 rift — there has been less scrutiny of the...
The examples of Qatar and Nepal show a true reflection of the struggle between small countries and big powers. The Qatar crisis raises two issues in the field of international relations today. The first is to disprove the mainstream Cold War-era view that small states cannot play a significant...
Today, Kuwaiti officials face a very different regional landscape than they did earlier this year. In July, Kuwait expelled 15 Iranian diplomats and submitted a formal letter of protest to the Lebanese government as the fallout from the “Abdali affair” reverberates around the state. Fourteen...
