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Tag Archives: Saudi Arabia

Candid Discussions: Akin Ünver on Turkish Foreign Policy Challenges

Candid Discussions: Akin Ünver on Turkish Foreign Policy Challenges

Akın Ünver sits down with Reza Akhlaghi of the Foreign Policy Association to discuss Turkey’s current foreign policy challenges and the situation in Kobane.

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The Saudi and Emirati response to Qatar is all about domestic unrest

The Saudi and Emirati response to Qatar is all about domestic unrest

Qatar’s financial habits have been the subject of a lot of media coverage lately due to the successes of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and the setbacks the Syrian opposition actors the Gulf states were pinning their hopes on have suffered at the hands of ISIS. Kuwait, through its relative openness, plays a […]

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The Arab World and the Security Crisis in Syria and Iraq

The Arab World and the Security Crisis in Syria and Iraq

Karen Elliot House, Bessma Momani, Kamran Bokhari and Ayham Kamel joined Reza Akhlaghi of the Foreign Policy Association to discuss the growing regional instability, Arab policy, and the breakdown of security structure in Iraq and Syria.

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Saudi-Iranian Face-Off in Iraq

Saudi-Iranian Face-Off in Iraq

I have been recently asked by LinkedIn to contribute writing for the professional social networking site. So, for my first piece I decided to write the following on the worsening situation in Iraq. The piece can be accessed in its entirety here. The crumbling of government authority in Sunni-dominated areas of Iraq under the alarming onslaught […]

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A Clash of Civilizations in the Central African Republic? (Part 2 of 2)

A Clash of Civilizations in the Central African Republic? (Part 2 of 2)

Is the crisis in the Central African Republic a “clash of civilizations”? A recent report entitled “Behind the Headlines: Drivers of Violence in the Central African Republic” from Enough, a Washington-based project of the Center for American Progress whose goal is to end genocide and crimes against humanity, is particularly revealing. Comments by the author […]

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Beijing Desperate to Rein in Terrorism

Beijing Desperate to Rein in Terrorism

Beijing is going all out in its efforts to rein in terrorism, following the latest attack at a morning street market in Urumqi, which killed at least 43 people and wounded dozens. The bombing in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, has been blamed on five suspects, all Uighurs, the region’s most populous Muslim minority. Police said that […]

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Is the GCC a Toothless Organization?

Is the GCC a Toothless Organization?

The [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is comprised of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. According to the GCC’s Charter, what unites these countries are their “special relations, common characteristics and similar systems founded on the creed of Islam.” “Their […]

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Candid Discussions: Ian Bremmer on a Disengaged U.S. Foreign Policy

Candid Discussions: Ian Bremmer on a Disengaged U.S. Foreign Policy

In a wide-ranging discussion with Reza Akhlaghi of the Foreign Policy Association, Dr. Ian Bremmer discusses what he considers to be a disengaged foreign policy by the United States. On April 10, 2014 Dr. Bremmer will be speaking at the Foreign Policy Association on the world’s biggest political risks.  Dr. Ian Bremmer is the founder and […]

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A Candid Discussion with Kamran Bokhari of Stratfor

A Candid Discussion with Kamran Bokhari of Stratfor

Kamran Bokhari is Vice President of Middle Eastern and South Asian Affairs at Stratfor, a leading geopolitical and intelligence consulting firm based in Austin, Texas. Mr. Bokhari is a distinguished scholar and expert in Middle Eastern and South Asian affairs. He has given briefings to the U.S. and Canadian governments on important geopolitical issues in […]

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Saudi Arabia’s Undocumented Workers Repatriated

Saudi Arabia’s Undocumented Workers Repatriated

Since the 1970s, Saudi Arabia has employed thousands of foreign workers in many of its sectors and continues to do so as long as they enter the country and obtain work legally and according to the regulations. However, over the years more and more illegal expatriates cross the borders of the Kingdom or remain in […]

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New Women Driving Campaign in Saudi Arabia

New Women Driving Campaign in Saudi Arabia

Since the first World conference on Women in 1975, the issue of women’s rights was brought to the international stage which led to the General Assembly’s adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). These events also coincided with the international feminist movement of the 1970s. In the […]

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Would the 9/11 Hijackers’ Money Trail Raise Red Flags in Today’s System?

Would the 9/11 Hijackers’ Money Trail Raise Red Flags in Today’s System?

  If terrorists entered the U.S. today to conduct a 9/11-scale attack and used the same money-movement methods employed by the hijackers in 2001, it is “possible, but not probable” that their financial activities would bring them to the attention of intelligence and law-enforcement officials. That’s the assessment of Dennis M. Lormel, who led the […]

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Attracting FDI: Openness Helps, But Opportunity Rules

Attracting FDI: Openness Helps, But Opportunity Rules

    If a country had the most-restrictive regulations on foreign direct investment (FDI) of 55 nations studied, where do you think it would rank among those nations in terms of actually attracting investment from abroad? If you said “First,” you obviously would be flaunting conventional economic theory and engaging in highly counter-intuitive speculation. Further, […]

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The Developing World’s Runaway Energy Train

The Developing World’s Runaway Energy Train

    As the developing world continues its economic expansion, it is predicted to leave the developed world in its dust in regards to increase in energy consumption over the next 25 plus years or so. Dominant forces of China and India will drive the trend, but other developing nations will continue to become major […]

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Morsi Ouster: Is There a Backstory?

Morsi Ouster: Is There a Backstory?

  There usually is. The Egyptian military, mirroring, it says, the will of the Egyptian people, has thrown Morsi’s band of Islamists out of office and set in motion the kind of parliamentary and electoral process that millions of neighboring Syrians want to see materialize in their own country. Instead, the Syrian people remain trapped […]

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