In this article, Farhaa Abdelhaq, from Saudi Arabia, looks at how emerging technologies are impacting the Middle East. T he technology landscape in the Middle East region is constantly changing. As governments in the region are preparing to regulate emerging technologies, financial organisations in the Middle East are deploying these technologies a...
New Zealand PM bows out
Here's an article from The Economist which, while talking about John Key's resignation, states that NZ is "one of the most successful countries in the world. While this is debatable, there is no doubt that Key has had successes- namely international recognition- along with failures, housing, immigration and the environment. We have yet to see whether the new Prime Minister, John English, will have the same success.
Financial "associations", sometimes known as Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs), are common in Egyptian society so that households can meet their household expenses. Some analysts see them as harmful to the national economy. Ahmad Abdel-Rahman explains. Many Egyptians are suffering from a cost-of-living crisis and cannot s...
Ahmad Abdel-Rahman looks at the changing relationship the US has with Iraq and Lebanon. Iraq has been a target and a focus of American attention for decades. America chased and besieged Iraq when it invaded Kuwait, then destroyed its regime in 2003 and appointed a military ruler before it established a local authority there that was controlle...
Egypt has adopted a reform programme to accelerate growth and protect the poor. The projects aim to improve the lives of 60 million citizens, provide 900,000 jobs annually, and create new cities to accommodate 10 million people. Ahmad Abdel-Rahman explains. Over the past eight years, Egypt has adopted a national programme for economic reform with t...
Key trends in Egypt that were highlighted at COP27 included international partnerships, a circular economy and green finance. Projects included renewable energy, transportation, the Suez Canal, irrigation and drainage, writes Ahmad Abdul-Rahman. Egypt has made great efforts in the field of green economy development over the past few years. Egypt fi...
The Middle East is controlled by "circles of conflict". Much peacemaking diplomacy will have to occur. Ahmad Abdul-Rahman explains. The Middle East region has not been free of conflicts for decades, whether the conflict is between the countries of the region, or within them. There are many reasons for these conflicts. Most of these are to do with i...
The Arab world is rich in money but poor in technology, writes Ahmad Abdul-Rahman. So far, no Arab country has been able to transfer high technology and establish an industry based on innovation, despite the enormous wealth of some Arab countries. Why this technological poverty in the Arab world despite the availability of individual competencies a...
An American think tank praises Egypt's leadership in climate change. Ahmad Abdel-Rahman explains why . Egypt's Arab-African identity makes it a representative of the south, and the Sharm El-Sheikh summit is an opportunity to refine Egypt's regional and international position. The US Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said that Egypt, by hos...
Standard & Poor's maintains Egypt's credit rating at "B" with a stable outlook.Ahmad Abdel-Rahman explains what this is about. Mohamed Maait, minister of finance, praised the decision of Standard & Poor's (S&P's) to keep Egypt's credit rating at "B" for a second time while maintaining a stable outlook. The decision was made on Oct...
Obama's and Biden's approach to foreign policy pushed the Middle East and the American security system into the abyss, writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. A few days ago, White House National Security Affairs spokesman John Kirby announced that president Joe Biden would re-evaluate the relationship with Saudi Arabia in the wake of the "OPEC +" announcement ...
US president's Obama's and Biden's approach to foreign policy pushed the Middle East and the American security system into the abyss, writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. A few days ago, White House National Security Affairs spokesman John Kirby announced that president Joe Biden would re-evaluate the relationship with Saudi Arabia in the wake of the "OPEC +...
The drug network between Syria and the US and the other Arab countries has been very active in the last few years. Ahmad Abdul-Rahman looks at how the networks will be dismantled. A few weeks ago, the US House of Representatives passed a bill asking the US government to dismantle the drug networks linked to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. The ...
The Iranian regime promotes the idea that the current demonstrations are motivated by the goals of countries hostile to Iran. Ahmad Abdel-Rahman writes. Following the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police, Iran has witnessed many protests since September 16, when they first began. The Iranian regime not only suppressed the demons...
The Middle East, in fact the entire world, is going through a difficult period, one in which the region is enjoying a loosening of controls even though Russia has invaded Ukraine and China could invade Taiwan at any time. Ahmad Abdul-Rahman explains what is happening. Whoever observes the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), especially since the Uk...
Women protesting the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran The Iranian regime began to promote the theory that the demonstrations are motivated by the goals of countries hostile to Tehran. Ahmad Abdel-Rahman writes. Following the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police, Iran has witnessed many protests since September 16, when they first be...
Media censorship in South Sudan is pushing journalists to leave the country. Ahmad Abdel-Rahman investigates. Since 1992, at least 10 South Sudanese journalists have been killed while they have been reporting. Murder is the most common cause of death, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ ) report . Speaking at the Media Developmen...
The unemployment rate has jumped to 7.2 per cent, and the Egyptian pound has fallen against the US dollar. What is happening to inflation? Ahmad Abdel-Rahman explains. Recent official data showed that the unemployment rate in Egypt increased during the second quarter of 2022 by 1.7 per cent on an annual basis, or 7.2 percent of the total labour for...
Since September 11, 2001, and perhaps since the end of the Cold War in 1990, successive US administrations have dramatically changed their attitudes toward their Middle East partners . Ahmad Abdel-Rahman explains. Countries of the Middle East and the Arab world, historically allied with the US, have to adapt to volatile American policies towards th...
Egypt's New Republic means major economic and social transformation in the country, writes Ahmad Abdul-Rahman. The New Republic is a term that has been repeated a great deal recently. It is a slogan used by Egypt as evidence of the transformation that its peoples are witnessing in all aspects of life. In 2015, Egypt began to develop a sustainable d...
Is a two-state solution possible? Or will it have to be a one-state solution? Tel Aviv's policies stood stand in the way of achieving Arab-Israeli peace, writes Ahmad Abdul-Rahman from Egypt. The Palestinians and Israelis agree on the impossibility of reaching the so-called two-state solution in the short term. That solution provides the Palestini...