By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi Arabia under the hyper-active crown prince Muhammad Bin Salman is undertaking rapid changes in society and international diplomacy. But the kingdom’s conviction that it is ready to host international events has been demonstrated to be premature by a debacle over a chess tournament. A chess […]
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Qatar
What Causes Mideast Extremism? It’s the Dictatorships, Stupid!
Middle East Monitor | – – The Foreign Minister of Qatar said on Thursday that extremism in the Middle East is the result of authoritarianism, the Qatari News Agency has reported. Mohamed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani expressed his sadness that the region has become a region of instability instead of peace and coexistence. “People are suffering […]
Saudi failures, from Qatar to Yemen, bode ill for its Success in Lebanon
By Beverly Milton-Edwards | ( OpenDemocracy.net ) | – – Domestic politics in the Middle East especially in a country like Saudi Arabia never stays that way for long. Recent events in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, demonstrate the contagion effect not only on the politics in the Middle East but internationally too. On November 3, […]
Saudi Arabia: Is the Prince fighting on too many Fronts?
Carool Kersten | (OpenDemocracy.net) | – – The Saudi crown prince moves towards concentrating absolute power in his own hands, while escalating tensions on several fronts. If Machiavelli were alive today, he might have modeled his political treatise ‘The Prince’ on Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MBS). Events on the first Saturday of November […]
Top 7 ways Saudi could learn from Qatar about Moderate Islam
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi Crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman has announced that he wants to take his kingdom toward a more moderate Islam. The state religion of Saudi Arabia is what outsiders call Wahhabism, a puritanical and strident interpretation of the religion. Only about 40% of Saudis are thought […]
Kuwait, Terrified of Gulf Depression, Frantically Mediating Saudi-Qatar Crisis
Nicolai Due-Gundersen | (The Conversation) | – – A blockade against Qatar by its Gulf neighbours is now in its fifth month. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates severed socio-economic ties with Qatar as punishment for its alleged support of terrorism and interference in their affairs. As well as hurting Qatar’s economy, […]
Saudi Arabia wants to improve Image; Here’s How
They have to stop intervening, fighting wars and fomenting radicalism; an image touch-up won’t help
Qatar: New Law Gives Domestic Workers Labor Rights
Human Rights Watch | – – (Beirut) – Qatar’s adoption of a new law on domestic workers provides labor rights for domestic workers for the first time, Human Rights Watch said today. Qatari authorities should enact strong enforcement policies and close loopholes that place domestic workers at risk of exploitation. On August 22, 2017, the […]
What impact will Saudi-Qatar Struggle have on Palestinians?
By Israa Khater | ( OpenDemocracy.org ) | – – No conflict in the Middle East spares the Palestinians, and the recent crisis in the GCC is no exception. Following the escalation of the GCC crisis and the deteriorating relationship between Qatar and the Gulf Triad (Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain), along with Egypt, […]
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