“Every democratic attempt in the Arab world has turned ideological or tribal, so I’m not sure it is something we can work out successfully.”
-Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE President, told the World Government Summit. He sees the issues between democracy and authoritarianism as not binary, but ones of governance and the solution being “something in the middle of both.” [CNBC]
“The march of democracy should play an important but not primary role in U.S. foreign policy. To believe in the End of History is to believe that the experience of the West has more purchase in places like the Middle East and Africa than the local experiences, histories and traditions of those places themselves. And that is a conceit.”
Robert D. Kaplan, To Save Democracy, We Need a Few Good Dictators [Bloomberg]
“The best laboratory for a rebuke to Francis Fukuyama’s 1989 “End of History” thesis — basically, that the arc of history bends toward democracy — may not be some weakly governed, coup-ridden country in Africa, but Saudi Arabia, where I recently spent several weeks… It isn’t that they are opposed to democracy per se. It is simply that personal freedoms — protecting minorities, freedom to travel or to order any book from abroad, etc. — and efficient governance matter more to them than the ability to vote every few years. This may seem strange to Western elites who take mundane personal freedoms for granted, and thus are consumed with politics — and therefore assume everyone else should be, too.”
-Robert D. Kaplan’s opinion piece, To Save Democracy, We Need a Few Good Dictators [Bloomberg]
“The energy transition will be more mineral- and metal-intensive than the current system is, [and] not from the same kind of things that are mined. So not from coal, but from cobalt, and nickel and steel, and aluminum, and silver, and all these things. It’s just a new economic and security paradigm that hasn’t been the center stage before.”
-Morgan Bazilian, an energy expert and director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines. Record-high steel prices could hamper renewable rollout in near-term. [Emerging Tech Brew]
“We plan that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be a global aviation hub with investments of $100 billion by the year 2030 and for the establishment of a new mega airport in Riyadh, in addition to eight other airports distributed in the regions throughout the Kingdom. This includes four airports in partnership with the private sector, and the launch of a new national flag carrier to enhance the movement of air transport, while GACA’s National Aviation Sector Strategy vision aims to double the capacity and reach 330 million passengers, from more than 250 destinations worldwide, and for air cargo to reach 4.5 million tons of goods.”
-Eng. Saleh Bin Nasser Al-Jasser, Minister of Transport and Logistics Services and Chairman of the Board of Directors of GACA, speaking at the announcement of the Future Aviation Forum, to be held May 9-11, 2022 in Riyadh. [Saudi Gazette]
“We have developed and delivered our side of the story. People, others, need to deliver their own side of the commitment. Otherwise, the very pillar of energy security will be disturbed, to say the least.”
–Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, in comments referring to the kingdom’s position on the link between its national security and global energy market stability. [AP]
“At the Doha Forum, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, said his nation stands ‘with the millions of innocent and refugees’ from Ukraine. But he added that he wanted ‘to remind’ the international community of Palestinians, Syrians and Afghans who have similarly suffered and whom he said the international community has failed to do justice.”
“The market, which was already shunning Russian oil supplies, has another thing to worry about with Houthi attacks potentially impacting Saudi Arabia’s production.”
-Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston, noting that the Houthi attacks were becoming more frequent. [Reuters]
“BloombergNEF said that the technology for producing carbon-free hydrogen on a large scale is still uncertain. But, if manufacturers could cut down the cost, we could have the market hitting over $700 billion annually by 2050.”
Saudi Arabia Announces construction of Neom’s $5 Billion Green Hydrogen Plant [Pipeline Journal]
“This rally would have been illegal five years ago in that country, illegal, What I learned is there’s such a change. And it’s happening very fast. It is not just being able to drive to work. It’s also the fusion of automotive and competition and support for women, it’s more than getting a driver’s license.”
American rally organizer Emily Miller discussing the Jameel Rally, the first all-women’s car event in the Arab world. [Autoweek]
