“Al Raheel,” a play written by a young Emirati woman, made its world premiere in January in Abu Dhabi. With its all-female Emirati cast, this poetic and innovative production shakes many assumptions about theater and what it means to be a young woman in today’s United Arab Emirates.
Saudi filmmakers came late to the craft, limited by the lack of opportunities for training and imposed by Saudi Arabia’s conservative sociopolitical order. Today, filmmakers are viewed as avatars of the top-down transformation of Saudi society.
With the Cultural Majlis, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi aims to bring together the Middle East and North Africa community within U.S. campuses and establish an inclusive dialogue connecting people, ideas, and cultures.
Saudi Arabia has adopted strict austerity measures to combat the dual effect of falling oil prices and the coronavirus crisis. Unlike previous measures that were lifted when oil prices recovered, a July 1 VAT increase (from 5% to 15%) is more likely to stay in place, which could present challenges to low-income families, businesses, and plans to revive domestic tourism.
For those seeking pathways to stable economic growth in the Middle East, developments in Iran may serve as a model – Iran represents the first major oil producer in the Middle East to transition to overall dependence on non-oil exports.
A tense period in U.S.-Saudi relations has not dissuaded the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund from investing in major U.S. companies during an opportunistic spending spree.
The global economic slowdown presents Chinese entities with a cost-effective opportunity to expand investments in strategic sectors across the Gulf region.
It will take time for the new Iraqi government to formulate its energy policies amid an unprecedented health and economic crisis. But the electricity sector is among the most in need of new investment and rehabilitation.
The dramatic crash in oil prices has led the global energy community to coordinate production cuts to stabilize market conditions.
With few available alternatives for accessing water resources, the UAE is continuing to expand existing desalination facilities and construct new desalination plants.
For the Gulf Arab states, renewables could contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions while also supporting economic goals of meeting increasing domestic energy demand and creating jobs.
While Saudi Arabia’s long involvement in global climate change negotiations has attracted mounting attention, little is known about the kingdom’s climate change governance at the domestic level or its progress in terms of addressing climate change in line with economic diversification.
Under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic and the political imperatives of upcoming elections, populism is raging in Kuwait. It colors public discourse high and low, from elite campaigns to root out corruption to grassroot demands to expel guest workers.
UAE officials are doing their best to warn Israelis against annexation, but the medium may trump the message.
Gulf states may find plenty to work with to strengthen ties with Washington in a Biden presidency.
A pilot survey of Imam Hussein University academic journals shows the limits of academic freedom in the Islamic Republic, save a few pieces reflecting the Iranian leadership’s view of the role of missiles in strategic deterrence.
The evolution of the Gulf Arab armies is best understood by highlighting some of their key formative moments and sociocultural foundations.
Survival supersedes ideology, and the ruling elites of the Islamic Republic find themselves adhering to the constants in security policy of a predecessor they vilify.
Advancing Oman’s technology initiatives can help the government address economic challenges that have assumed a new degree of urgency following the coronavirus outbreak and oil price collapse.
While youth-led awareness campaigns and public health education are shifting the landscape of mental health care in the Gulf, sociocultural challenges persist.
Donors’ efforts are needed to ensure access to coronavirus assistance is open to all citizens without discrimination, lest they risk exacerbating social bias and inequality in an already frail country.
Through its careful examination of the forces shaping the evolution of Gulf societies and the new generation of emerging leaders, AGSIW facilitates a richer understanding of the role the countries in this key geostrategic region can be expected to play in the 21st century.
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