In the Gulf Arab states, there is a growing trend of entrepreneurship in the field of art, as millennials pursue creativity in their careers. These “artrepreneurs” often collide with a complementary trend of social entrepreneurship, bringing together art and philanthropy in ways that are meaningful and even profitable. Emirati artist Noor Shamma has been making headlines across the United Arab Emirates for her project, the Postcard Initiative. Launched in May 2015, the initiative began as a personal art project for Noor but has since grown into a national campaign to ameliorate eye diseases and blindness around the world. Read more
Abu Dhabi’s Masdar energy company signed a contract to build the first large-scale wind farm in Dhofar, Oman. The United Arab Emirates's Excise Tax Law will go into effect October 1 and will add a 100 percent tax on tobacco and energy drinks, and a 50 percent tax on sugary drinks. While UAE schools will be exempt from the new value added tax, Saudi Arabia will introduce a 5 percent value added tax on private educational institutions. Saudi Arabia sold its second sukuk of 2017 to local markets in three tranches, raising $3.47 billion. Saudi Arabia will also allow full foreign ownership in the education and health sectors.
Egypt is at the ideological center of the ongoing dispute between Qatar and its fellow Gulf Cooperation Council members Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, Egypt has been a bellwether for both political and economic reform in the wider Middle East and North Africa. It is also the focal point of experimental efforts of the gulf states to exercise policies of financial and political intervention. How the current GCC crisis unfolds in Egypt can tell us much about the new norms of foreign intervention — whether economic, political or military — in the region. Read more
خلال ثلاثة أيام، وعبر ثلاثة خطب، شاهد الأمريكيون الرئيس ترامب وهو يلقي خطابا يوم الأثنين حول استراتيجيته في أفغانستان تراجع فيه عن تعهداته بإنهاء أطول حرب في تاريخ الولايات المتحدة، معتمدا إلى حد كبير نفس سياسة سلفه أوباما. ترامب قرأ نصا كتبه المسؤولون في مجلس الأمن القومي، وفعل ذلك بجدية عكست خطورة الحرب، خاصة وأنه ألقاه أمام جمهور من العسكريين. وفي اليوم التالي،ألقى ترامب خطابا مرتجلا استمر لساعة وربع، أمام جمهور متحمس من مؤيديه في مدينة فينيكس بولاية أريزونا، كان أبعد ما يكون عن أي خطاب يمكن لرئيس أمريكي أن يلقيه اطلع على المزيد
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