The Gulf

Working Group on Defense Industrialization in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Saudi Arabia, which spends more on defense than any other nation in the Middle East (up to 10 per cent of its GDP, which amounts to $21 billion), is the world’s seventh biggest spender in military terms. The United Arab Emirates, the world’s fourth largest arms importer, fields an increasingly capable military, is a regional leader […]

Moving the New US-Saudi Relationship Beyond Reassurance

By Richard LeBaron

Over the past two months, US and Saudi officials have done what they needed to do to calm the waters in US-Saudi relations. Senior officials visited Riyadh to discuss the status of the negotiations with Iran; the Saudi interior minister visited the United States to coordinate Syria policy more effectively; the vocal complaints of the […]

Three Years On, Arab Transitions Remain Incomplete

Three years after a wave of popular uprisings swept aside long-standing regimes in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Yemen, the future of the region remains uncertain. The Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East held a panel discussion on March 11th to discuss the current state of the Arab transitions to look ahead at economic and […]

YemenSource | Constitution Drafting Committee Established

By YemenSource

On Sunday, President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi established the long-awaited committee mandated to draft the country’s new constitution.

The Gulf and Geoeconomics

By Mohsin Khan

The sizable financing provided by the Gulf countries, in particular Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Egypt since the popular uprising in 2011 led many observers to conclude that Gulf states have started using their vast resources to shape the region, direct political developments, and mold strategic relationships; in other […]

Breaking taboos: Youth activism in the Gulf States

By Kristin Diwan

In a new Atlantic Council issue brief, Breaking Taboos: Youth Activism in the Gulf States, Visiting Senior Fellow Kristin Diwan contends that youth activists are bringing new forms of civic engagement and political contestation to the Arab states in the Gulf region.  Evaluating  youth movements in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain, Diwan contends that although […]

Break Up in the Gulf

By Bilal Y. Saab

On March 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain announced that they had withdrawn their ambassadors from Qatar, claiming that Doha had been violating a clause in the Gulf Cooperation Council charter banning interference in the domestic affairs of fellow GCC members. The decision, unprecedented in the GCC’s history, hints at significant […]

Not the Saudi Arabia You Hear About

By MENASource

More than 100,000 young Saudis are currently studying in the United States, and this population is seen by many as a positive force that will inevitably catalyze change in conservative Saudi society.