A decade of de-escalation among Gulf states could be at risk if Israel-Hamas violence spills across region. And that could threaten Saudi plans to transform the kingdom.
Articles on Gulf states
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Despite initiatives which appear to be normalising Suria’s relations with Arab states, Damascus remains isolated and insecure.
Saudi Arabia’s choice of China to broker its deal with Iran surprised many, but is consistent with its foreign policy agenda.
The region is well placed to satisfy China’s huge oil needs.
Key areas for cooperation between Indonesia and the Gulf countries are trade and investment, multilateralism, pandemic mitigation, and cultural exchange.
Underlying issues which led to the three-year dispute have not been resolved.
Sports diplomacy has eased relationships between nations before – here’s how it could help Israel, Bahrain and the UAE as they enter into new peace accords.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates weren’t at war, so their new deal is not really a peace accord. Nor does it satisfy the Palestinians, who need Arab nations to support their drive for statehood.
Gulf states have given women great education, but they are still very limited participants in the workplace.
The states of the Gulf Cooperation Council have exploited the underlying threats of the virus to bolster their own survival strategies.
In countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, it’s now official policy that women should go to college and work outside the home. But cultural pressure to marry and have kids remains strong.
The clubs no longer ‘belong’ to the fans - they have become instruments in an ideological war between Western capitalism and the rent hungry sheikhs of the Gulf states.
Jokha Alharthi is the first woman from Oman to have a book translated into English.
A legacy in fossil fuels is likely to help even in the era of renewable energy.
UK and US relations with Saudi Arabia were already under serious scrutiny – even before the disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE led a group of countries that have severed all ties to fellow American ally Qatar over its foreign policy. The US will play a key role in whether it accedes to their demands.
The ongoing diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia has isolated Qatar from the rest of the Middle East while also undermining the anti-Iran alliance among the Gulf countries.
Qatar has used its wealth to adopt policies sometimes rivaling Saudi Arabia’s. Think, for example, of the popular Al-Jazeera. Now the Saudis seem determined to limit Qatari influence as much as possible.
The interventionist foreign policy of the Gulf states is increasingly at odds with their economic security.
Syria and IS may have dominated the news this year, but the Middle East has plenty of other problems on its hands.
Top contributors
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Fellow for the Middle East at the Baker Institute, Rice University
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Professor of International Politics, Clinton Institute, University College Dublin
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Senior Lecturer in Economics, The Open University
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Professor of International Relations, Lancaster University
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Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Public Policy and Director of the Interdisciplinary Studies Institute, UMass Amherst
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Assistant Professor in Circular Supply Chains, University of Bradford
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Research Fellow at the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World, University of Edinburgh
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Lecturer in Sustainable Freight Transport and Logistics, University of Leeds
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Professor of Intelligent Engineering Systems, Nottingham Trent University
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Doctoral Research Candidate in the School of Government and International Affairs, Durham University
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Visiting Fellow, Middle East Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science
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PhD Researcher, King's College London
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Director of China-Indonesia Desk, Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS)
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Loughborough University
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Lecturer in social policy, University of Bath