“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.
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 coronavirus-induced slowdown in Gulf Arab states will further stress the already reeling economies of South Asia.
Smart spending on the enhancement of Gulf governments’ digital capabilities and the development of technology-focused industries is needed to bolster future growth.
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.
The world’s largest coronavirus lockdown in South Asia is placing unprecedented downward pressure on energy demand.
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.
Gulf states may find plenty to work with to strengthen ties with Washington in a Biden presidency.
Although there are many reasons to believe the U.S.-Saudi partnership can endure, the need for both parties to repair trust has rarely been more urgent.
Mustafa al-Kadhimi seems to have succeeded where his predecessors mostly failed, forming a Cabinet mainly composed of technocrats, academics, and respected national military figures.
While the long-term objective of Tehran may well be to expel all great powers from the Middle East, in the short term, Iran benefits from the U.S. presence in Iraq.
The Iranian friendly fire incident that killed 19 Iranian sailors on May 10 points to the inconsistencies of the regime’s leadership and makes one of its sources of pride into a liability.
The specter of a Saudi withdrawal from Yemen is prompting parties to the conflict to shore up their positions, further destabilizing the country.
Public opposition to social and political normalization with Israel appears to be holding fast among most nationals, even as some governments allow more room for advocates of Gulf-Israel relations to make their case.
As the Saudi government manages the fallout from collapsing oil revenue, it will be seeking greater contributions from the Saudi public. A little-known program to instill the productive values of entrepreneurship, hard work, and optimism may have found its moment.
As Saudi Arabia undergoes a generational shift, Saudi Ramadan series provide insight into the social changes occurring inside the kingdom.
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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