The linkage between economic growth and environmental degradation is a well-known topic. The burning question has become whether there is a trade-off between sustaining economic activities and maintaining the conditions of natural resources, or whether economic growth can go in harmony along with...
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...
The Gulf Cooperation Council's al-Ula summit in January was a historic moment in relations between Gulf Arab states. Antonino Occhiuto of Gulf State Analytics discusses the factors that led to the lifting of the blockade on Qatar and geopolitical implications for the wider region.
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 fallout from the September attack on Saudi Arabia’s Aramco oil facilities is continuing to reverberate throughout the Middle East, sidelining old enmities — sometimes for new ones — and re-drawing traditional alliances. While Turkey’s recent invasion of northern Syria is...
Recent developments in Indian-administered Kashmir have made global headlines. Yet the Gulf Cooperation Council states have reacted to the latest events with silence if not outright support for New Delhi.
Amid public pressure, ties between Israel and Gulf monarchies will have to be limited to informal meetings, public denials, middlemen and foreign subsidiary companies. In 1967, when asked “what sequence of events you would like to see now in the Middle East?” Saudi King Faisal bin Abdulaziz...
Make no mistake about it, John Bolton wants regime change in Iran. Donald Trump’s foreign policy approach to the Middle East, such as it is, is a wild zigzag of a ride that is now being driven largely by his national security adviser, John Bolton. Bolton’s grand idée fixe is to effect...
Structural imbalances within the Saudi economy mean the country’s new strategy is only likely to partially achieve its aims. The announcement of the new diversification strategy comes amid growing evidence of the severity of the economic crisis affecting Saudi Arabia. Official data from...
What is the UAE doing to combat its growing obesity epidemic? How can health education develop a public health infrastructure based on prevention? In 2011, Forbes ranked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) number 18 on a list of countries with the highest obesity rates, estimating that 68.3% of the...
Qatar has embraced a Look East approach, taking stock of the global shift in economic prosperity from North America and Europe to the Far East. In May, at the China-Arab Cooperation Forum in Doha, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi postulated that Qatar should take part in the realization of...
As ties continue to grow, the GCC is likely to be under intense pressure to delve deeper in China’s Silk Road Initiatives. Since their announcement in late 2013 during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Indonesia and Kazakhstan, the New Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century...
To many in the Gulf, labor reform is a Pandora’s Box—particularly with much-needed economic reforms ahead of a post-oil age. The 2022 FIFA World Cup may be sparking social change in the Gulf, but not (yet) in Qatar. Qatar’s winning of the hosting rights for the World Cup gave human rights...
