The Economist (May 23)
“Saudi Arabia’s rulers have long wielded their influence discreetly.” No more. Amid current Middle East chaos, “the Saudis are acting with uncharacteristic boldness across the whole range of domestic, foreign and economic policies. Whether by design or default, they stand out as the leading force in the Arab world.”
Tags: Boldness, Chaos, Discreet, Influence, Middle East, Saudi Arabia
New York Times (April 20)
“The high season of migration from Africa to Europe has begun, bringing with it a new wave of tragic drownings in the Mediterranean…. Unless Europe acts to reform its policy on migration, 2015 could be the deadliest year yet for the thousands of people who fled to Libya from conflict-torn regions across the Middle East and Africa, only to find Libya equally dangerous.”
Tags: Africa, Conflict, Dangerous, Deadliest, Drownings, Europe, Libya, Mediterranean, Middle East, Migration
New York Times (December 20)
“The vision of two separate states, with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace” is proving elusive despite “years of arduous negotiations to solve the Middle East conflict.” As confidence wanes in the realizability of a two-state solution, it may be the time to consider alternatives.
Tags: Alternatives, Confidence, Conflict, Elusive, Israel, Middle East, Negotiations, Palestine, Peace, Two-state solution
Financial Times (September 16)
“Fears of disruption following a Scottish vote for independence and intensifying conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine have damaged prospects for the world economy,” according to the latest assessment of the OECD, which lowered growth forecasts for 2014 to 2.1% in the U.S., 0.9% in Japan and 0.8% in the eurozone.
Tags: Conflict, Disruption, Economy, eurozone, Independence, Japan, Middle East, OECD, Scotland, U.S., Ukraine, Vote
Washington Post (August 8)
The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit was truly “an extraordinary event. That may sound like hype, but the gathering featured some innovative new ideas to prevent terrorism and lawlessness from spreading in Africa as it has in the Middle East.”
Tags: Africa Leaders Summit, Ideas, Innovative, Lawlessness, Middle East, Spreading, Terrorism, U.S.
USA Today (July 2)
“Any traveler to the Middle East today can feel the tidal wave sweeping the area. The Arab Awakening is now a distant memory, and the hopes for democracy have been replaced by the black flags of al-Qaeda,” except they are now known as ISIS. The threat is not limited to the Middle East. “If al-Qaeda, from its sanctuary in Afghanistan, could produce 9/11, imagine the threats ISIS can pose from the much larger area in Iraq and Syria.”
Tags: Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, Arab Awakening, Democracy, Iraq, ISIS, Middle East, Syria, Threat, Traveler
Global Investor (February Issue)
“Initial public offerings (IPOs) in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region are gathering momentum, with a burgeoning pipeline of deals and renewed optimism of further supply stretching into the future.” Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul Exchange is predicted to be the region’s most active, followed by the Dubai Financial Market, Qatar Exchange and the Abu Dhabi Exchange. “However, some of these companies could look to the London Stock Exchange due to its wider access to international investors. The dearth of liquidity in regional compared with global exchanges remains a challenge for local IPOs.”
Tags: Abu Dhabi Exchange, Dubai Financial Market, Exchanges, Global, Investors, IPOs, Liquidity, LSE, Middle East, Momentum, North Africa, Pipeline, Qatar Exchange, Regional, Saudi Arabia, Supply, Tadawul Exchange
Washington Post (January 17, 2014)
“Over the past few months, the Middle East has become an even more violent place than usual. Iraq is now once again home to one of the most bloody civil wars in the world, after Syria of course, which is the worst.” There is no quick fix that outsiders can provide. “In fact, the last thing the region needs is more U.S. intervention.” The Middle East’s deep-rooted tension is part of “a sectarian struggle, like those between Catholics and Protestants in Europe in the age of the Reformation. These tensions are rooted in history and politics and will not easily go away.”
Tags: Catholics, Civil war, Europe, History, Intervention, Iraq, Middle East, Politics, Protestants, Reformation, Struggle, Syria, Tensions, U.S., Violence
Los Angeles Times (November 6)
“President Obama is slowly extricating the U.S. from its Bush-era fixation on the Middle East. But he is turning his attention in the wrong direction. Europe, not Asia, should be his main focus.”
The Times of London (September 17)
“The West is right to seek a diplomatic solution with Tehran to defuse an emerging nuclear threat…. Iran’s nuclear programme is plainly not designed purely to generate electricity. It is also to make atomic bombs and is a threat to already shaky stability of the Middle East.”
Tags: Bombs, Diplomatic solution, Electricity, Iran, Middle East, Nuclear threat, Stability, Tehran, Threat
