UAE

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al Jazeera reports that on Thursday the UN Human Rights Council voted 21 to 18 with 7 abstentions against a resolution urging the renewal of the mandate of of the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen (GEE). The group of experts had found in 2018 that parties […]

Green Energy

Are the Renewables Initiatives of the Arab Oil Producers of the Gulf a Game Changer or just Greenwashing?

Sustainability Times

By Anna Schneider ( Sustainability Times) – Major oil-producing countries in the Arabian Gulf have lately committed to reducing their carbon emissions in the face of global climate change. In 2015, five major governments pledged to reduce carbon emissions, but none of those nations were major oil producers. This August, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) […]

censorship

Expo 2020 Dubai: The Tolerance Narrative of the United Arab Emirates is a Sham

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut, October 1, 2021) – United Arab Emirates authorities are using Expo 2020 Dubai to promote a public image of openness that is at odds with the government’s efforts to prevent scrutiny of its rampant systemic human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said today. Expo 2020 is a prominent global cultural […]

Featured

Trump’s Tehran Poison Pill: US Trade Embargo provokes Iranian Attacks in Gulf, Making Return to Nuclear Deal Harder

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The BBC reports that a bitumen tanker, the MV Asphalt Princess, was boarded by nine men on Tuesday and hijacked. It cites unnamed “analysts,” presumably MI6, to the effect that the hijacking was the work of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. The MV Asphalt Princess, owned by the United Arab […]

Government surveillance

Calls to hold Israel and its NSO Group Accountable for Global hacking scandal, as UAE Role bulks Large

Middle East Monitor

By Nasim Ahmed | – The global hacking scandal involving Israel’s notorious NSO Group has sparked fury around the world as the full extent of the industrial scale spying operation targeting politicians, academics and activists begin to emerge. As many as 50,000 phone numbers were said to have been targeted for surveillance by NSO Group’s […]

Corruption

Trump Associate Indicted for being Agent for Emirates, Covertly Shaping US Mideast Policy

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Donald Trump as president dumped the Paris Climate Accord, withdrew from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, endorsed the 2017 blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and pushed for declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. The Brotherhood had been part of the 2011 uprisings against […]

Petroleum

Does the end of Bromance between Saudi’s Bin Salman and UAE’s Bin Zayed mean Breakup of OPEC?

Omar Ahmed

( Middle East Monitor ) – The disagreement between the UAE and Saudi Arabia over a proposed deal by OPEC+ to increase oil production is the latest sign that the close relations between the two Gulf states, and in particular those of their respective de facto rulers, are turning into a bitter rivalry. The Saudi-led […]

Climate Crisis

Ship Explosion Rocks Dubai, Mideast’s Largest Commercial Zone, Possibly as a Result of Extreme Heat

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Alarabiya reports from Dubai on the massive explosion on the deck of a ship that was coming in to dock at the Jebel Ali port there, which could be heard for miles and shook the city’s skyscrapers. Since the explosion was on the ship, it appears not to have done […]

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 […]