SUSTG.com / Research

Discover stories, topics, and more about Saudi Arebia faster.

Recent stories from sustg

MUST-READS

  • U.S. ambassador: America is top foreign policy actor in Middle East

    Asked by CNBC’s Dan Murphy whether the U.S. remained the most important foreign policy actor in the region, Strong replied, “Absolutely. I have no doubt about it. Our leadership is really unquestioned and apparent in every, I would say, region of the world — and this is no different.” Strong said the U.S. is “working very closely together with the UAE and with our other partners here in the region on our core national security priorities as well as our national economic priorities.”

  • Chart: U.S. Dollar Defends Role as Global Currency

    Looking at trade and transaction data for the U.S. dollar in the past ten years, the currency has so far defended the major role it plays in international markets. The U.S. share of global GDP stands at around one quarter while the country's share in global trade in commodities and commercial services is lower, at around 10 percent. In this light, the U.S. dollar's outsized role in global trade, reserves and currency exchange that extends far past its country of its origin becomes apparent. Due to the United States' importance in global capital markets and international debt, the dollar continues to play a significant role internationally, Reuters reports.

  • Opinion: Confusion and uncertainty shape debate about U.S. Gulf policy

    Said Mr. Saab: “I would like to understand from the Gulf states whether what we are selling, they are actually buying. What we are selling is…a very real partnership. No longer guardianship, but actual partnership. I don’t know where individual countries stand on these proposals… Until we get common ground on this, there is nothing in the Middle East that we do that is really going to work.”

  • U.S. and Iran trade detainees after Qatar deal unfreezes $6 billion

    Five U.S. detainees flew out of Iran on Monday in a swap for five Iranians held in the U.S. in a rare deal between the arch enemies that also unfroze $6 billion of Tehran's funds. A plane sent by mediator Qatar flew the five U.S. citizens and two of their relatives out of Tehran soon after both sides received confirmation the funds had been transferred to accounts in Doha, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters.

  • Iran Taking Steps to Avoid Crisis Over its Nuclear Program, Agrees to Prisoner Swap with U.S.

    Since 2019, one year after the United States exited the 2015 multilateral Iran nuclear agreement that limited Iran’s nuclear program, Iran has been steadily expanding its enrichment of uranium and its nuclear program infrastructure. Constrained by politics in both the United States and Iran, the two sides were unable, in 18 months of negotiations, to restore full Iranian and U.S. participation in the 2015 nuclear deal. Since the formal talks were suspended in September 2022, diplomats and mediators, including several Arab Gulf states, have been unable to overcome a range of obstacles to revive the formal talks.

  • U.S., Saudi Arabia in Talks to Secure Metals for EVs

    The effort would jump-start plans by Saudi Arabia, long the world’s dominant oil power, to delve into the world of mining, digging for its own minerals and metals at home and buying up stakes in projects around the world. It is part of an economic diversification effort that involves building its own EV industry, creating massive solar farms and setting up high-tech industries such as artificial intelligence.

  • U.S., Saudi Arabia in Talks to Secure Metals for EVs

    Under the ideas being discussed with the Biden administration, a state-backed Saudi venture would buy stakes in mining assets in African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea and Namibia, some of the people said. U.S. companies would then have rights to buy some of the production from those Saudi-owned stakes, the people said, though the details are still being hashed out.

  • U.S., Saudi, India, UAE hope to ink railway deal to connect Middle East at G20

    President Biden and the leaders of India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates hope to announce a major joint infrastructure deal on Saturday that will connect Gulf and Arab countries via a network of railways, two sources with direct knowledge of the plan told Axios. It will also connect to India through shipping lanes from ports in the region,

  • U.S. denies blocking chip sales to Middle East

    The Biden administration "has not blocked chip sales to the Middle East," a U.S. Department of Commerce spokesperson said on Thursday, after disclosures that Washington had expanded export license requirements for Nvidia (NVDA.O) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) artificial-intelligence chips. Nvidia revealed the new rules in a regulatory filing earlier this week. A person familiar with the matter confirmed on Wednesday that AMD is affected by the change.

  • Israel’s Defense Minister Asks U.S. for Clarifications on Saudi Nuclear Program Amid Normalization Talks

    In a meeting in New York, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant questioned senior Biden administration officials on Riyadh's demands to Washington as part of the normalization talks, and stressed that Israel will need guarantees on the future of its military edge in the region.