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  • Al-Assaf, Al-Rabiah Headline Important Private Sector Initiative in Riyadh
     

    The high-level meeting, an ambitious private sector initiative, addressed joint Arab action agendas, with 21 proposals of developmental projects discussed. Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf and Commerce Minister Tawfig Al Rabiah headlined this important event in Riyadh, which was widely discussed on Social Media sites and in the general media.

     
  • Nitaqat: Towards a Saudi “New Deal?”
     

    Editor’s Note: ‘Saudization’ is a topic that has garnered a great deal of front-page ink in Saudi Arabia of late.  The Nitaqat (“Ranges”) Program introduced in 2011 has staunch advocates and detractors and the ongoing argument between members of the private sector and the Ministry of Labor over recent fee hikes for foreign employees has been […]

     
  • Are Members of Royalty “Foreign Officials” Under the FCPA?
     

    For U.S. companies conducting business abroad, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is a constant companion.  The FCPA, “applies to any person who has a certain degree of connection to the United States and engages in foreign corrupt practices. The Act also applies to any act by U.S. businesses, foreign corporations trading securities in the […]

     
  • Commentary: Saudi Arbitration Court in the UK?
     

    In a recent Financial Times article Caroline Binham and Helen Warrell reported that, “Saudi Arabia will lobby the UK government as early as November to set up a confidential court in London that would settle multimillion pound commercial disputes arising from the Middle Eastern kingdom. The Saudis hope that a London-based arbitration centre would help counter investor […]

     
  • What’s the foreign policy agenda for the next four years?
     

    Is it too early to talk about the foreign policy and national security agenda that will face the next president? No matter who wins on November 6, the feature that is going to dominate U.S. national security planning over the next four years is constraint. Even if we avoid going off the sequestration cliff, there […]

     
  • Major natural gas find by Saudis. A shift ahead?
     

    Saudi Arabia has announced that they made a major new find in natural gas in the Red Sea. The Saudis are already ranked 5th in the world for their reserves of natural gas, but they are only ranked 9th in terms of production of the commodity. They account for about 3 percent of world natural gas production. Compared […]

     
  • Anne Habiby: Entrepreneurship and Job Creation in the Arab World
     

    In addition to featured speakers such as President Bill Clinton and Mr. Abdullah Alireza  the recent C3 Summit in New York City presented a number of compelling panel discussions addressing commercial and trade issues related to doing business in the MENA region. SUSTG has featured the remarks at this event of Abdullah Alireza (Global Economic […]

     
  • Randa Hudome: How do I get my business over to the Middle East?
     

    In addition to featured speakers such as President Bill Clinton and Mr. Abdullah Alireza the recent C3 Summit in New York City presented a number of compelling panel discussions addressing commercial and trade issues related to doing business in the MENA region.

     
  • Public policy considerations in Saudi Arabia’s new Arbitration Law
     

    We see plenty of coverage these days of Saudi Arabia’s growing economy; and justifiably so.  Expansionary government spending, elevated oil prices, a strong banking system, a maturing private-sector, increasing diversification, growing foreign investment and other factors contribute to an exciting period for Saudi Arabia. While elevated oil prices have fueled Saudi Arabia’s impressive recent growth, […]

     
  • Saudi eases access to long-hidden ancient ruins
     

    “Spectacular… wonderful… breathtaking,” she says. “But where are the tourists? If we had a site like this in my country, we would have millions of tourists!” Dating back to the second century BC, the Nabataean archaeological site, also known as Madain Saleh, has long been hidden from foreign visitors in this ultra-conservative kingdom that rarely […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Is Iran’s new drone swarm Shahed-136 tech a gamechanger? – analysis

    Over the last several days, images of a new Iranian drone launcher have appeared online and in Iranian media. The drones, dubbed Shahed 136, were combined with missiles in a drill that Iran says took place last week. Iran has called these types of drones a “suicide drone” or kamikaze drone. This means that they fly directly into a target and self-destruct.

  • Do They Know It’s Christmas Time in Saudi Arabia? Increasingly, Yes

    Artificial fir trees have sold out at LuLu Hypermarket here in the capital of a kingdom that until recently enforced a ban on public expressions of any religion besides Islam. Now, families can be found sifting through colored ornaments and decorative lights at LuLu beside a pyramid of Italian panettone fruitcakes and Cadbury chocolate yule logs.

  • Why is the UAE shortening its working week?

    The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is stepping into 2022 with a new 4.5-day working week. The adjustment will see the UAE align more closely with Western standards, with weekends now comprising Friday afternoons, Saturdays and Sundays, instead of just the whole of a Friday to Saturday (which is common in the majority of Muslim countries).

  • Gulf-Asia Energy and Trade Ties: A challenge to the west?

    The Gulf states are now major exporters of downstream products to all the countries of Asia. These include refined products from oil, fertilizers as well as basic and advanced chemicals. In return, the Gulf countries are importing not just consumer goods, but also technical products and services from Asia

  • Opinion: Are Arab militias losing their usefulness for Iran?

    “The overall picture is that Iran’s expansion peaked in 2018 and has since entered a new phase, in which Tehran has not suffered any strategic military set­backs but is hitting a wall. Iran’s biggest fundamental problem is that a majority of its allies … frequently succeed in armed confrontations. Yet they are subsequently incapable of ensuring political and economic stability,” said Middle East scholar Guido Steinberg.

  • Who is Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael A. Grinston?

    What his official biography won’t tell you is that he has seen the very worst of combat through six combat deployments, earning him five Bronze stars — two with valor devices that are still difficult for him to talk about, that he would give back in a second in return for the soldiers he’s lost. It doesn’t tell you that most of the time, you’ll find him wearing the 1st Infantry Division combat patch in remembrance of those soldiers he lost on his first deployment to Iraq.

  • Libya’s elections are on December 24. But should they be postponed?

    The 2011 Arab Uprisings, which began in neighboring Tunisia, led to the ousting of longtime Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, plummeting the country into chaos and widespread violence. Since then, Libya, after a NATO intervention in 2011, underwent major civil strife and witnessed polarizing divisions between the east and west of the country that rendered it a de facto failed state.

  • Can’t go to Mecca? Saudi Arabia brings hajj to the metaverse with ‘VR Black Stone’ experience

    The "Virtual Black Stone Initiative" allows Muslims to "experience the Hajr Aswad virtually prior to the pilgrimage to Makkah [Mecca]", according to the official Haramain Facebook account.

  • Opinion: What Does U.S. “Withdrawal” from the Middle East Mean?

    The debate on U.S. policy in the Middle East needs to move away from abstractions like “commitment” versus “withdrawal” and engage with the real questions of just what interests in the Middle East justify the presence of U.S. military force and what threats justify its use.

  • Without a Nuclear Deal, How Close Is Iran to a Bomb?

    Iran has accumulated enough enriched uranium to construct several bombs should its leaders choose to purify the heavy metal to the 90% level typically used in weapons. Moreover, it has not only returned to enriching to 20% but has for the first time gone to 60%, a level of purity the International Atomic Energy Agency says is technically indistinguishable from weapons-grade fuel.