Category: Columns

By James M Dorsey Increasingly, compliance with US sanctions against Iran could emerge as a litmus test of the United Arab Emirates’ close ties to

By James Dorsey A cursory look at Saudi Arabia and Iran suggests that emphasizing human rights in US foreign policy may complicate relations but has

By James M Dorsey The United States has signalled in advance of next week’s Summit for Democracy that it is unlikely to translate lip service

By Matein Khalid Every time I noticed a Garuda flight in Jakarta airport, visited the ancient Thai capital of Ayodhya or saw the Ramayana frescos

By Matein Khalid I will never forget watching the 2006 soccer World Cup final in Berlin on TV with my two then nine year old

By James M Dorsey Russia hopes to blow new life into a proposal for a multilateral security architecture in the Gulf, with the tacit approval of the

By Matein Khalid Speculative manias in the financial markets invariably culminate in hysteria and greed run amok. So the 25% fall in the $2.5 billion

By James M Dorsey It has been a good week for United Arab Emirates Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. Headline-grabbing, fast-paced moves reinforce the UAE's position

By Matein Khalid I remember a time when Lebanon was called "le rêve d'orient" by its Francophile elite. This was definitely the case in the

By James M Dorsey, When seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton wore a helmet this weekend featuring the colours of the LGBTI Pride Progress Flag during

James M Dorsey The family of nations is balancing on the edge of an abyss as mushrooming religious and ethnic intolerance becomes the norm. Western as

By James M Dorsey Former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki AlFaisal Al Saud must have gotten his tenses mixed up when he asserted in a

Erdogan Becoming a Liability for Turkey   By Manish Rai Last month Turkey made it into the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the

Matein Khalid The Middle Kingdom has been a black hole for emerging markets equitywalas since mid-2020. The PBOC kept monetary policy far too tight at

Matein Khalid Trend is your friend until the trend comes to an end. So this has been a fabulous year to own US equities and

James M Doresy Sunni Muslim ultra-conservatism is having a field day. Barely three months after the Taliban claimed victory in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the second most populous

Matein Khalid In the winter of 2018 on the eve of a trip to South Africa with my close friends from Roshni, an enclave of

Matein Khalid I have been a consistent bear on the Turkish lira from the time President Erdogan, a political populist and former soccer player, decided

By Manish Rai  The attacks carried out by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) aka Pakistan Taliban have increased to the highest level in over four years as

James M Dorsey It may not have been planned or coordinated but efforts by Middle Eastern states to dial down tensions serve as an example

Matein Khalid I found this letter from Erin Bali, co-founder of Udemy in 2010, utterly inspirational (thanks ZoPa). It is available on page 96 of

By James M. Dorsey Two separate developments involving improved relations between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and women’s sporting rights demonstrate major shifts in how rivalry

James M Dorsey Societal struggles and reform often take unexpected turns in vast swaths of land stretching from the Middle East into Central Asia. Take education

Matein Khalid Today is the milestone moment for Manju and I as well as a special constellation of our close friends who shared my conviction