Category: Columns

By James M. DorseyMessage to Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Tel Aviv: Not to worry, US President Donald J. Trump has no intention of meeting

By James M. DorseyChina appears to be shifting gears in its multi-billion dollar Belt and Road initiative. Long projected as driven by economics and

By James M. DorseyThis month’s inauguration of a fibreoptic cable linking Pakistan with China could prove to be a double-edged sword. Constructed by Chinese conglomerate Huawei

By James M. DorseySaudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman could well dash expectations that he is gunning for a break with Sunni Muslim ultra-conservatism

By James M. DorseyThe Pakistani government’s removal of a virulently anti-Shiite militant from its terrorism list at the very moment that an international money

​ |By Matein Khalid| Crude oil prices plunged by 7% in two sessions as Saudi Arabia and Russia confirmed that they would release 1 million

By James M. DorseyA look at a decade of failed social, economic and political reform in Jordan goes a far way to explain recent

By James M. Dorsey Nothing in a swath of land stretching from the Atlantic coast of Africa to China is undisputed. Food is often emblematic of

By James M. DorseyA recent upsurge in insurgent activity in Kashmir likely explains Pakistani and Chinese reluctance to crackdown on internationally designated militant Hafez

By James M. Dorsey Ousted Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif kicked up a storm when he earlier this month seemingly admitted that Pakistan had supported militants

| M A Hossain |United States has walked- out of the Iran deal that had been touted mainly by Barack Obama. Washington's argument in

By James M. DorseyA Saudi Moroccan soccer spat speaks volumes about the depth of change in the Arab world.The spat over Saudi Arabia’s refusal

By Matein Khalid A dismal legacy of civil war, sanctions, insurgency, foreign invasion and terrorism has had a catastrophic impact on the Iraqi economy. Prime

By James M. DorseyThe Gulf crisis that pits a United Arab Emirates-Saudi-led alliance against Qatar is escalating in discreet but no less worrisome ways

By James M. DorseySaudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s investment of $1 billion and option to pump a further $480 million into Richard Branson’s ventures

By James M. DorseyTwin attacks earlier this week on Pakistani security forces in the troubled province of Balochistan cast a light on a sustained and

By James M. DorseyStepped up Saudi efforts to forge close diplomatic, economic and cultural ties to Shia-majority Iraq in a bid to counter significant

By James M. DorseyBangladesh, in a twist of irony, is looking to Saudi Arabia to fund a $ 1 billion plan to build hundreds of

By James M. DorseyThere’s a cutting-off-the-nose-to-spite-the face aspect to a Saudi plan to turn Qatar into an island by digging a 60-kilometre ocean channel through the

By James M. DorseyIranian leaders are struggling, three months after anti-government protests swept the Islamic republic, to ensure that environmental issues that helped sparked

By James M. DorseyWhen Miguel Torres, scion of an iconic Spanish winemaking dynasty, described the impact of the Catalan quest for independence on his

By James M. Dorsey In his effort to improve Saudi Arabia’s badly tarnished image and project the kingdom as embracing an unidentified form of moderate

By James M Dorsey[caption id="attachment_47651" align="alignleft" width="800"] China steps into the Maelstrom of the Middle East[/caption]The Middle East has a knack for sucking external

|By Anand Vardhan|Shaikha Hind Al Qassimi, member of the royal family of Sharjah, is a multifaceted personality with an enviable record as a painter,