In August, the United Arab Emirates agreed to accept 15 detainees released by the Obama administration from the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, the largest transfer in the facility’s 14-year history. Twelve of the released prisoners were Yemen nationals and three were from Afghanistan. In January, Oman accepted 10 Yemeni nationals released from Guantanamo “for humanitarian purposes.” Read more
The extraordinary resilience of U.S. shale oil production continues to confound forecasters, leading to flawed market analysis and undermining OPEC’s strategy to force higher cost producers to shutter output in the lower oil price environment. U.S. independent shale oil producers have adapted to the downturn in oil prices with innovative and more advanced applications of technology to sharply reduce production costs and improve oil field recovery rates to levels unimaginable in the early days of shale development. Read more
There is no shortage of calamity in Yemen right now. The poorest country in the Arab world endures a debilitating civil war and increasing humanitarian disaster. Trends in global economics have not been in Yemen’s favor either. Yemen is a not a major oil producer, but of its exports and sources of foreign exchange, oil is its primary source of revenue. Read more
AGSIW is pleased to announce the launch of the redesigned Gulf Economic Barometer. The GEB is an online data report that monitors initiatives taken by Gulf states as they implement fiscal, monetary, and labor policy changes to meet the challenges of reduced state revenue from natural hydrocarbon resources. Follow the GEB
لا يكاد يمر إسبوع دون تذكير الأمريكيين بأن الدورة الانتخابية الحالية هي الأكثر غرابة والأقل شبها بالدورات السابقة، إن كان في طبيعة المرشحين ومواقفهم ومزاياهم الشخصية، أم في اتجاهات الرأي العام وردود فعل ما يسمى بالمؤسسة السياسية التقليدية في واشنطن من العملية الانتخابية اطلع على المزيد
In 2012, Raneen Bukhari had graduated from university and was back home in Khobar in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. She wanted to expand her family’s business, an art store called Desert Designs that opened during the Gulf War, and she began trying different art community projects. One of those initiatives started with a call for art expressed through a variety of mediums, a collection she, along with co-founder Najla AlSuhaimi, hoped to turn into a traveling art gallery. They called it LOUD Art and, in the years that came after, took the gallery to various cities around the Gulf. Read more
Saudi Arabia’s decision to limit the authority of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV)—barring it from chasing, arresting, or interrogating suspects—was positively welcomed by commentators as an attempt “to respond to [public] grievances.” Read more
Saudi Arabia has a long and mixed track record of involvement in Yemen’s numerous political conflicts, dating back to the early 1960s. Until last year, the kingdom’s inclination was to either use its extensive contacts with political and tribal elements to forge negotiated settlements or to choose a side in the conflict, assist it financially—occasionally provide it with weapons—but not involve its own troops in the fighting. Read more
The G20 summit got underway in China's eastern city of Hangzhou on September 5, where the focus is expected to be on global economics and finance. While policymakers and central bank governors from the world’s 20-largest economies – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, along with the European Union – continue to struggle with the slow recovery of the world economy, the theme of this year’s summit will be “Building an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive world economy.” Read more
In the Media
Speaking with Al Jazeera, AGSIW Senior Resident Scholar Hussein Ibish discussed the U.S.-Russian brokered cease-fire agreement in Syria, arguing that it changes little on the ground. Additionally, in an AFP article discussing the perpetual state of war 15 years after the 9/11 attacks, Ibish noted "The thinking of the Obama administration is that big wars make things worse... It is even more than a permanent war because the limited resources cannot change the instability. It accepts the current chaos as being unsolvable."
Outreach
AGSIW Senior Resident Scholar Karen E. Young presented on U.S.-Saudi economic relations and Vision 2030 at a closed forum in Washington, DC hosted by the Atlantic Council, Middle East Policy Council, and the Prince Saud al Faisal Institute for Diplomatic Studies on U.S.-Saudi Relations on September 7.
Position Title: Associate – Cultural Programs Department/Team: Programs and Communication Period: Part Time (25 hours/week, no benefits) Location: Washington, DC
Job Summary: The cultural associate will be responsible for proposing and implementing cultural programming at AGSIW, such as panel discussions, film screenings, art exhibitions, and music performances. The associate will monitor the arts and culture scene in the GCC countries and help shape the direction of AGSIW cultural programming. The associate will provide administrative, communication, and logistical support to the programs team to plan and execute cultural programming. Read more
Position Title: Research Associate (Economic Analysis) Department/Team: Senior Resident Scholars Period: Part Time (20-25 hours/week, no benefits) Location: Washington, DC
Job Summary: Provide research assistance and administrative support to senior resident scholars at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. At the direction of the scholars, conduct research on Gulf politics, foreign policy, finance, macroeconomics, and U.S. policy toward the region. Monitor contemporary developments in the Gulf states and in U.S. policy, including reviews of regional and international media. Source data, compile bibliographies, and write summaries on relevant topics. Create charts and graphics for AGSIW publications. Provide administrative, communications, and logistical support to senior resident scholars, and perform additional tasks as requested. Read more
