There is little to suggest that the Syrian War, which has run for nine years, is likely to end soon. Nonetheless, the US State Department is expected to announce on Wednesday (US time) the first round of targets under the so-called Caesar Act. One of the aims of the sanctions is to stop the Syrian regime from seeking foreign investment to rebuild t...

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has brought about huge implications for Turkey. It has to confront its own racism- which it is reluctant to do. The Gulen movement and the Kurdistan Workers Party (the PKK, which is deemed a terrorist organisation in the United States and Turkey) are among the parties that are accused of bringing about the upri...

Living in any country in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) - - no matter for how long it is- will not allow you to acquire a passport. I have a New Zealand (NZ) passport and lived in the United Kingdom (UK) for long enough that I could get a passport there- and that was after only five years. Of course, I lived there for much longer. Coming from ...

What Benjamin Netanyahu does regarding the annexation of the West Bank by Israel is anyone's guess. Will he go ahead with the move? The problem that is he is counting on the US and President Trump to approve it. President Trump, has other things on his mind, however. It's not just the COVID-19 pandemic with which his administration has to deal but ...

Seniors, like most people, around the world are struggling with the current lock downs. What of their future? Lucia Dore looks at the economic implications of COVID-19 for seniors and what may happen in the future. The future economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on seniors varies between countries - from Europe and the Americas to Asia/Pacific....

The killing of George Floyd by a white policeman in Minneapolis, USA, has reverberated around the world. One of the places where significant parallels are made is in Israel, where the Arabs feel marginalised and are targeted indiscriminately by police. The killing of autistic Palestinian man Iyad Hallak is arguably a perfect example of brutality by...

How the Gulf economies will get their economies back on track as COVID-19 numbers reduces is a dilemma I have been mulling over for some time. In the past, most of the countries have relied on oil to keep their budgets in order. Dubai, of course, is dependent on logistics, and on oil from Abu Dhabi. Qatar is reliant on natural gas of which it is th...

Saudi Arabia will be sterilising all its coins and notes in circulation as a way of stemming the growth of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be put the money in sealed envelopes, which will be out of circulation for 20 days. I'm unconvinced that such a measure works, although South Korea and China have done this. However, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Au...

I was interested to read that all conflicts are not always  between Arabs and Jews in the Middle East. Sometimes they are between Arabs and Italians. This article explains the problem that erupted in Turkey. May 22, 2020 in Al Monitor IZMIR, Turkey — Residents in several districts in the Turkish city of Izmir could hardly believe their ea...

I am interested to know how robots can help fight coronavirus, and other diseases. This article discusses how the building of a robot and its use has stopped the spread of coronavirus in Jordan's largest refugee camp, the Zaatari camp. Syrian refugees in Jordan build robot to fight coronavirus by Mohammed Ersan for Al Monitor In Jordan's Zaatari re...

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the Middle East hard, in the same way that the rest of the world has been hit hard. The economic implications of lockdown are severe. The resumption of economic activity across economies is not easy. Most governments are cautious about the relaxing of economies. It is happening slowly. Could governments have done anyth...

What is the relevance of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC)? Does it affect intra-regional trade? With only 10% of intra-regional trade being between the GCC countries, is the GCC past its sell-by date? Saudi Arabia has also raised VAT by 300% to 15%, somewhat higher than the 5% in the UAE and the still-zero-rating in Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. With ...

What will be the impact of COVID-19 on people-powered protests in the Middle East? That was the topic of the discussion of the latest installment of Foreign Policy (FP) Virtual Dialogues, in partnership with the International Republican Institute. This session examined the impact of COVID-19 on protest movements in the Middle East. The panel discus...

One of the repercussions of COVID-19 in the Arabian Gulf countries is the impact that it's having on migrant workers. They do most of the work in these countries- especially in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar, (the latter two countries are heavily reliant on migrant labour, particularly for Expo 2020 and Qatar 2022 respectively...

Supporting SMEs which contribute around 60 per cent of non-oil economic output and employ around 90 per cent of the private workforce is critical. This article was published in the Abu Dhabi- headquartered The National newspaper. Zak Hydari May 5, 2020 Covid-19 is the most serious public health and economic emergency the world has faced in modern t...

This article from New Zealand's Super Fund crossed my desk yesterday and I wanted to share it with you. - Formosa Golf Course reopens under Level 3 restrictions The new owner of a large block of land at Beachlands says it looks forward to engaging with the local community on the area's future. A partnership comprising the NZ Super Fund and parties ...

Yemen is suffering from the world's worst humanitarian disaster mainly because of an ongoing war between the Houthi rebels and its interim government and the coalition of Gulf powers comprising Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The war has gone on for five years and has made it increasingly difficult to get food. It has also destroyed the ...

Countries across the Middle East have hunkered down and closed shop during the coronavirus pandemic. Other countries around the world have done the same. Although the severity of lockdowns has differed everyone has suffered, especially small businesses, and those in the tourism, aviation and the hospitality sectors. Some of the strict restrictions ...

I was shocked to read this article about the World Health Organization (WHO) and what it intends to do in Yemen. WHO is likely to suspend 80% of the health care services in the country by the end of this week. That is happening as a consequence of President Trump's decision to withdraw its funding from WHO. It's a perfect storm. With an on-going wa...

Following on from yesterday's article where I talked about the United Arab Emirates and its response to COVID-19 I'm posting this article from today's Arabian Business on the fact that the UAE is now undertaking mandatory testing for all citizens and residents. Tue 21 Apr 2020 07:49 AM UAE performed 25,795 tests and confirmed 484 new infections in ...