Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
By James M. Dorsey The 2022 Qatar World Cup may be sparking social change in the Gulf, just not (yet) in Qatar. Qatar’s winning of the hosting rights for the World Cup gave human rights and trade union activists the leverage they needed to more effectively pressure the Gulf state for reform, if not abolition,…
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Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives Consolidates 28 Humanitarian Programmes and Foundations Operating in 116 Countries; Refocuses on Middle East Middle East‘s largest development and community foundation includes 1,400 development programmes and initiatives targeting 130 million in need through to 2025 H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced today the…
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Ultra Wealthy In United Arab Emirates Control US$255 Billion Of Private Wealth There are 1,275 ultra wealthy individuals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), representing 20% of the total ultra wealthy population in the Middle East, Wealth-X research shows. The combined wealth of the UAE’s ultra high net worth (UHNW*) population stands at US$255 billion. The study also reveals that 57%…
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By James M. Dorsey Palestine is a headache Saudi King Salman doesn’t need as he confronts rare demands from members of his ruling family that he and his son be removed from power, growing unease about a seven-month old devastating military campaign in Yemen that has caused devastation and mounting civilian casualties, widespread criticism of…
By James M. Dorsey The war by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies against Houthi rebels in Yemen has become a debilitating sectarian conflict that has reduced large parts of the impoverished country to rubble and potentially destabilising the region. The kingdom has framed its approach in stark sectarian terms that has sparked intolerance towards…
Read More “Saudi Arabia’s Reach in Yemen: Fighting for Regional Dominance” »
By James M. Dorsey A panel in Doha of religious scholars, officials of Qatar’s government-sponsored human rights committee, and international labour activists has called on Qatar to radically alter its controversial labour policies. The call serves to support Qatari government promises of labour reform in response to World Cup-related international criticism and increases moral pressures…
Read More “Religious support for Qatari labour reforms puts Gulf states on the spot” »
Anger and emotion following the terrorist attacks after Sept. 11, 2001 prevented most Americans from thinking with reason and common sense back then. But as time goes on, more and more Americans are recognizing that our failure to act responsibly after 9/11 has helped create a much more dangerous world, not a safer one. We will…
Read More “9/11: We will never forget, but will we ever learn?” »
While Americans are among the most traveled people on the planet, one place they are avoiding is the Middle East and Arab countries. At one time, the Middle East was a favored destination to Americans but these days with the rising Islamic extremism, the violence and continued conflicts, tourism to the Arab World from the…
Read More “Americans are not traveling to the Middle East” »
Congressman Seth Moulton, a combat veteran, shares why he supports the Iran deal and why he’s urging others to do the same. By Congressman Seth Moulton I was in the first company of Marines to enter Baghdad in 2003 As a combat veteran, I know the cost of war. It is something I still carry…
Read More “American veteran supports Iran deal on nuclear arms” »
Three of America’s top airlines — American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Airlines — have launched a campaign to block the commercial services of Qatar Airways, Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways which provide direct flights to popular destinations in the gulf, such as Dubai. They complain the Arab airlines receive subsidies from their governments, but they are silent about subsidies…
The greatest power in America and the world is strategic communications. It can make the truth look like a lie, and a lie look like the truth. While Israel masters the art of strategic communications, the Arab World has failed to use it resulting in the increasing world stereotypes that are driving the devastation of the…
Read More “Palestinian failures come down to absence of strategic PR” »
By James M. Dorsey Discontent is bubbling over among the majority Shiite population in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, home to the kingdom’s major oil fields and petrochemical industry. Disgruntlement is no less in the Iranian province of Khuzestan where up to 90 percent of Iran’s oil reserves are located. Iranian Arabs, who account for approximately…
Read More “Saudi Arabia and Iran: Volatile Political Geography of Oil and Minorities” »
By James M. Dorsey A condemned Turkish stadium harbours a dark warning of the long-term consequences of ethnic cleansing or what Turks euphemistically call the population exchange almost a century ago when Turkey and Greece expelled their respective Greek and Turkish minorities. It is a message that has not lost its urgency as Turkey fights…
Read More “A Turkish stadium harbours a stark message for multiculturalism” »
The Liberation of Aden, progressing but with challenges By Gamal Gasim Taking control of the Aden province and its transformation into a free and safe area has been a huge challenge to the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which has been based in Riyadh before the beginning of the Saudi-led military operation on…
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By James M Dorsey Saudi Arabia’s four-month old bombing campaign against Houthi rebel forces in Yemen has had mixed results beyond devastation in the region’s poorest country. The insertion of Saudi-trained Yemeni ground forces that support exiled president Abd Rabbah Mansour Hadi led last month to the capture of the port city of Aden from…
Read More “Yemen and Arab Uprising: Fissures and Repercussions” »
International sporting associations struggle to balance adherence to human rights with hosting events in autocratic countries
Access to soccer fields not available to everyone in Qatar where economic and social class distinction is still the rule. Migrant worker populations continue to increase, but not the benefits By James M. Dorsey Walking around Qatar’s monumental Aspire Dome sports academy, coach Fred Engh noticed kids playing soccer on an indoor field big enough…
Read More “Qatar’s quagmire: existential fears and missed opportunities” »
By Ali Younes Jordanian military and government sources told the Arab Daily News late last week that US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter visit to Jordan included a secret meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Nayef and a delegation of the pro-Iranian Yemeni Houthi group currently fighting in Yemen. Carter’s trip to the region…