Bahrain

Manama (Special to Informed Comment) – Change is coming, I promise. Even as the pace of modernization in the Arab world shows some signs of acceleration, we all must recognize that deep-rooted cultural norms around women’s roles and rights are slow to evolve. Guess who is going to change that? The women of Generation Z. […]

Arab World

How Lebanon became the latest Battlefield in the Cold War between Saudi Arabia and Iran

Middle East Monitor

By Amira Abo el-Fetouh | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Lebanon is plagued by crises, with a new one added almost daily. The people are suffering from power cuts and fuel shortages, and queue for hours at petrol stations and bakeries. Daily life has become unbearable. There is also the conflict between the […]

Bahrain

Israel-Palestine conflict: why Gulf leaders are staying quiet – for now

The Conversation

By Simon Mabon | – It’s generally reckoned to be one of Donald Trump’s few major foreign policy achievements. On August 13 2020, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel signed a historic agreement normalising relations between the two states, and in the weeks that followed, other Arab states followed Abu Dhabi’s lead in what […]

Bahrain

Are Trump’s Arab-Israeli “Peace Deals” fuelling a New Mideast Arms Race?

Middle East Monitor

By Motasem A Dalloul | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Giving up its decades-old position against Israel’s occupation of Palestine, Sudan has agreed to normalise relations with the Zionist state. Tellingly, this was announced by US President Donald Trump on Friday at the White House. He is, of course, seeking a second term […]

Bahrain

Abraham Accords: The War Pact Among Jim Crow States of the Middle East

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Middle Eastern parties to the “Abraham Accords,” Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel, did not make peace by signing them. The small Arab Gulf principalities have long had behind-the-scenes relations with Israel and Israeli firms. They weren’t at war with the Israelis. As members of the Arab League, […]

Bahrain

Qatar’s Victory over Saudi, UAE Blockade Shows UN Court can be Weapon of the Weak

Middle East Monitor

By Daud Abdullah | – A press release issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 14 July described its judgement against Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE as “final, without appeal and binding on the Parties.” Since June 2017, the four countries have imposed a land, air and sea blockade against the State […]

Bahrain

Gulf Arab Women were Finally making Progress, but will the Covid-19 Crash and Austerity set them Back?

The Conversation

By Humaira Hansrod | – Citizens of Saudi Arabia are having to get used to something that has long been an unpleasant fact of life in most parts of the world. On July 1, the kingdom tripled the VAT levied on consumer goods and services from 5% to 15%. There were reports of frantic stockpiling […]

Arab World

Gulf Security in the Age of Covid-19: Webinar, Qatar University

Juan Cole

Gulf Studies Center, Qatar University Panel on Gulf Security in the Age of Covid-19

Bahrain

With Oil Prices in Freefall, Coronavirus Reveals Weaknesses of Saudis, Arab Gulf States

Middle East Monitor

By Marwan Kabalan | – ( Middle East Monitor) – The coronavirus outbreak has put the Arab Gulf States under the spotlight and exposed their structural weaknesses. It has also suggested that security, which is often the focus because of geopolitical regional rivalry, especially with Iran, distracts from other equally important threats. While it is […]