( Middle East Monitor ) – 21 May marked UNESCO’s World Day for Cultural Diversity and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a heavy contributor of UNESCO, released a beautifully shot and edited one-minute video that concluded with the words: “Saudi Arabia’s diversity is a rich and evolving story.” The following day, Saudi media outlets released […]
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Saudi Arabia
Did Trump fire State Dept. Inspector to Protect Shady Arms Deal with Saudi Arabia?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The mystery deepens. Late last Friday, Trump summarily fired the State Department Inspector General, Steve Linick. While in US law as it now stands, the president has the power to fire pretty much anyone in the executive, if he fired Linick as an act of retaliation for one of Linick’s […]
How the Justice Department Accidentally Released the Name of Saudi Official Suspected of Helping the 9/11 Hijackers
By Tim Golden and Sebastian Rotella | – (ProPublica) – After an extraordinary, two-year battle to keep secret the name of a Saudi diplomat suspected of ties to the 9/11 plot, the Justice Department accidentally disclosed the man’s name in a court filing. The revelation of the Saudi official’s identity, in a federal court filing […]
In Age of Pandemic, is Mismanagement driving Saudi Arabia toward Bankruptcy?
By Motasem A Dalloul | @abujomaaGaza | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – On 6 March, the OPEC+ cartel failed to agree on a cut in oil production in the light of reduced demand due to the coronavirus pandemic affecting almost every country in the world. All of this came in the middle of […]
Trump threatened to pull US Security Umbrella from Saudi if it didn’t raise Oil Prices to Help US Frackers
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On April 2, the Republican Party more or less joined the Organization of Petroleum Exporting States Plus (OPEC+). That is the upshot of reporting by Timothy Gardner, Steve Holland, Dmitry Zhdannikov, and Rania El Gamal for Reuters that Trump threatened de facto Saudi ruler crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman with […]
Trump Narrative of Iran Meddling in Yemen dashed by Secession of Emirates-Backed Southerners in Aden
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al-Jazeera reports that the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in the Arabian Sea port of Aden has declared independence. Aden is a little more populous than Philadelphia inside city limits, at about 1.7 million, which makes it about 5 percent of Yemen’s 28 million population. The STC maintains that the Riyadh […]
Trump’s Buddies in Saudi Arabia abolish Flogging, but Dissidents are Still Dying in its Jails and Journalists being Threatened
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Middle East Online reports that Saudi Arabia has abolished flogging as a punishment. Henceforward, offenders will be fined or jailed instead. It had been one of some 29 countries that still apply corporal punishment. Most of these countries are formerly British colonies that have retained older British penal laws from […]
With Oil Cratering and Saudis facing Mountain of Debt, what Future for Arab World with Coronavirus?
( Middle East Monitor ) – Oil prices have hit zero. Yes, oil was “sold” this week with producers only asking buyers to pay for transporting it to its final destination. This is the worst collapse in oil markets in history; it is unprecedented for oil to lose 94 per cent of its value in […]
Trump is Using Saudi Arabia to Prop up his Big Oil Donors, and that should Worry Us
( Middle East Monitor ) – When Saudi Arabia approached members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its affiliates recently to cut oil production in an attempt to cushion the impact of the falling oil prices as a result of Covid-19, Russia rejected the proposal. The subsequent spat between Moscow and Riyadh […]