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  • 16 May 2025
    • Middle East
    • Saudi Arabia
    • United States

    Trump's extraordinary Saudi speech

    Sam Roggeveen
    A speech in the Middle East offers insights into Trump's views on China.
  • 20 Nov 2023
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Egypt
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • Israel
    • Lebanon
    • Qatar
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Syria
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Yemen

    The war in Gaza has not destroyed normalisation … for now

    Lydia Khalil
    Despite deepening hostilities, common strategic interests still bind Israel and most of the Arab states.
  • 1 Nov 2023
    • India
    • India's Economy
    • Europe
    • Europe's Economy
    • Trade
    • Middle East
    • Iran
    • Israel
    • Saudi Arabia
    • United Arab Emirates
    • United States
    • US Economy

    History repeats: A new (old) economic corridor emerges

    Ved Shinde
    Renewed connectivity between India, the Middle East and Europe shows how maps are temporary, but geography persists.
  • 1 Nov 2023
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Recommendations
    • Review

    The Fix: An evolving Saudi Arabia

    Gabriela Bernal
    Your weekly Interpreter feature about issues, resources or helpful distractions that might otherwise be missed.
  • 26 Sep 2023
    • Middle East
    • Egypt
    • Iran
    • Israel
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Türkiye
    • United Arab Emirates

    Israel and Saudi Arabia: Finally, a New Middle East?

    Dave Sharma
    A deal with the Middle East’s two most significant powers could transform the volatile region, but the stakes are high.
  • 15 May 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • China
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Iran
    • Saudi Arabia

    China to the rescue, with peace plans for Saudi, Iran, Russia, Ukraine and Afghanistan – up to a point

    Henry Storey
    These diplomatic gambits all carry a message. But conflict resolution isn’t necessarily the main one.
  • 28 Mar 2023
    • China
    • Pakistan
    • Iran
    • Saudi Arabia

    China trumpets the Saudi-Iran deal, yet much credit goes to Pakistan 

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    A little-heralded meeting in Islamabad set the stage for two arch rivals to set aside differences.
  • 19 Dec 2022
    • China
    • Middle East
    • Saudi Arabia

    China’s catch-up game in the Middle East

    Rodger Shanahan
    For all the promises and praise, there is little prospect of displacing deep ties between the Gulf nations and the West.
  • 14 Dec 2022
    • China
    • Middle East
    • Saudi Arabia

    A step-up for China’s involvement in the Middle East

    Dave Sharma
    Beijing will not soon supplant Washington as a dominant security partner ­– but the Arab world sees a chance for leverage.
  • 10 May 2022
    • United States
    • China
    • Saudi Arabia

    Saudi Arabia and China: a blossoming friendship

    Evan Freidin
    Relations are cosy for now. But is Saudi Arabia hedging its bets between Beijing and Washington?
  • 21 Mar 2022
    • Defence & Security
    • United States
    • Russia
    • Saudi Arabia
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Ukraine

    The Gulf’s diversification dilemma

    Rodger Shanahan
    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine puts Saudi Arabia and the UAE in an awkward spot in relations with the United States.
  • 28 Sep 2021
    • Afghanistan
    • Saudi Arabia
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Yemen

    Yemen: the search for leverage after Afghanistan

    Philip Eliason
    Islamists see advantage in a perceived reduction of America’s commitment to friends. Yemen could be the start.
  • 3 Jun 2021
    • Pakistan
    • Saudi Arabia

    Saudi Arabia wins back Pakistan

    Adnan Aamir
    Islamabad mistakenly tried to strong-arm Riyadh from a position of weakness.
  • 17 Nov 2020
    • G20
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Sex and Gender

    The G20’s existential crisis

    Erin Watson-Lynn
    The group’s expanded mandate, including into women’s empowerment, puts its relevance and its values under a microscope.
  • 19 Aug 2020
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • China
    • Pakistan
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Türkiye
    • Malaysia

    As Pakistan and Saudi Arabia drift apart, China moves in

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    A growing schism between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan points to new alliances in the Muslim world.
  • 9 Jul 2020
    • Middle East
    • Syria
    • Iran
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Yemen
    • Türkiye
    • Israel

    Cashing in the chips at the Trump casino

    Rodger Shanahan
    The prospect of a Biden administration has pro-US leaders in the Middle East seeking to keep their political “winnings”.
  • 10 Jun 2020
    • Saudi Arabia

    Need To Know: Ben Hubbard on the Mohamed bin Salman power grab

    Lydia Khalil
    The Saudi Crown prince has enacted sweeping positive reforms, yet did so by embracing authoritarianism.
  • 30 Apr 2020
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Energy

    The high price of cheap oil for Saudi Arabia

    Rodger Shanahan
    Having picked this fight and dragged in Washington, the Saudi Crown prince now also has a big stake in the US election.
  • 18 Mar 2020
    • Middle East
    • Egypt
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Yemen
    • Africa

    Middle East dispatch: MBS purge, dam dispute, refugees in jeopardy

    Lauren Williams
    As Covid-19 threatens some of the world’s most vulnerable, power plays continue in northern Africa and Saudi Arabia.
  • 6 Mar 2020
    • Saudi Arabia

    Saudi Arabia is not offside on gender equality

    Erin Watson-Lynn
    Years of legislative and cultural change will come to a head at the G20 to show how far the Kingdom has come for women.
  • 17 Sep 2019
    • United States
    • Iran
    • Saudi Arabia

    Raising the stakes in the Gulf’s game of reprisals

    Rodger Shanahan
    With global energy markets rattled, the tit-for-tat exchanges have reached a new level.
  • 8 Mar 2019
    • Saudi Arabia

    Silencing women’s voices in Saudi Arabia

    Elaine Pearson
    Universal rights aren’t guaranteed. A few rights are granted by the monarchy. The world should speak up for Saudi women.
  • 2 Nov 2018
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Yemen

    Yemen, Khashoggi, and the deadly Saudi trade

    Elise Thomas
    No one denies Western weapons are used in Yemen but it took a journalist’s death to focus on arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
  • 31 Oct 2018
    • Middle East
    • Saudi Arabia

    Concerns over Saudi Arabia go far beyond Khashoggi

    Lydia Khalil
    The death of the dissident journalist has exacerbated regional worry about the many missteps by the Saudi Crown Prince.
  • 29 Oct 2018
    • United States
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Türkiye

    Jamal Khashoggi: shifting law in a deadly turf war

    Melinda Rankin
    The journalist’s death illustrates broader anxieties for the international rule of law and the fate of the global order.
  • 24 Oct 2018
    • IMF
    • China
    • Pakistan
    • Saudi Arabia

    Pakistan: indebted to China, Saudi Arabia, and IMF

    Adnan Aamir
    Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Kahn slammed the IMF during his election campaign and then sought a bailout - why?
  • 15 Oct 2018
    • Saudi Arabia

    What should Australia do about Saudi Arabia?

    Rodger Shanahan
    If Saudi complicity in the death of Jamal Khashoggi is shown, Canberra must make a stand to express disgust.
  • 8 Oct 2018
    • Saudi Arabia

    Where’s Jamal?

    Rodger Shanahan
    The bizarre disappearance of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi could complicate Saudi relations with the West.
  • 8 Aug 2018
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Canada

    Saudis try block Canada’s feminist foreign policy

    Grant Wyeth
    An online spat has escalated into a formal diplomatic break in a test of the values professed by the Trudeau government.
  • 12 Jul 2018
    • Saudi Arabia

    Reform in Saudi Arabia: will MbS squib it?

    Anthony Bubalo
    Saudi Arabia’s young tyro is trying to keep up with citizens who are demanding a lot more of their rulers and system.
  • 26 Jun 2018
    • Diplomacy
    • Russia
    • Saudi Arabia

    The sports make-over

    Matthew Holding
    <p>The World Cup is a chance for authoritarian countries to appear more committed to idealistic internationalism.</p>
  • 4 Apr 2018
    • Saudi Arabia

    The world according to Mohammed bin Salman

    Rodger Shanahan
    The Saudi Crown Prince is on a PR drive yet still displays all the kingdom’s weakness.
  • 24 Nov 2017
    • Middle East
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Yemen

    Saudi desperation as Yemen campaign stagnates

    Alexander Harper
    Rare access to Yemen's badlands reveal the human and economic cost of the conflict.
  • 8 Nov 2017
    • Saudi Arabia

    Saudi arrests: More than palace intrigue

    Raihan Ismail
    It will surely not be long before King Salman abdicates for his son. But the future ruler confronts serious obstacles.
  • 17 Oct 2017
    • Syria
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Kurdistan

    Iraq, the Kurds, and the mess America has made

    Anthony Ricketts
    America’s strategy of ‘building partner capacity’ is beginning to show its weaknesses.
  • 28 Sep 2017
    • Saudi Arabia

    Politics slows Saudi reform plans

    John Edwards
    Ambitious reform plans go to the core of the regime's power. Little wonder the pace is slowing.
  • 17 Aug 2017
    • Asean
    • Saudi Arabia

    As Malaysia turns 60, its economy is stuck in third gear

    Anthony Kleven
    With elections slated within the next year, the Malaysian government is running out of time to secure its economic future.
  • 16 Aug 2017
    • Iraq
    • Saudi Arabia

    Riyadh’s Shia two-step

    Rodger Shanahan
    Gulf states have decided to try a carrot-based approach towards Iraq Shia leaders in attempting to blunt Iranian influence.
  • 2 Aug 2017
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • Saudi Arabia

    Saudi Arabia’s change of tack on Iraq

    Rodger Shanahan
    There are signs that Saudi Arabia has changed tack and has decided to contest Iran's influence in Iraq.
  • 18 Jul 2017
    • Saudi Arabia
    • United Arab Emirates

    Defence exports to the Gulf: No price on values

    Rodger Shanahan
    We should always be clear-headed about the degree to which it is our interests, rather than shared values, that tie us to states in the Gulf.
  • 6 Jul 2017
    • Middle East
    • Saudi Arabia

    Stalemate in Qatar dispute

    Rodger Shanahan
    If Saudi Arabia can't make Doha dance to its tune, then Riyadh runs the risk of further reducing regional states' confidence in its leadership capabilities.
  • 30 Jun 2017
    • Middle East
    • Saudi Arabia

    Qatar crisis: Why the Saudis want Al Jazeera gone

    Anneliese Mcauliffe
    Qatar’s support of political Islamist groups is key to understanding the current diplomatic crisis and role of Al Jazeera.
  • 21 Jun 2017
    • Saudi Arabia

    Saudi succession shuffle

    Anthony Bubalo
    Today’s announcement that Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has shuffled the line of succession in favour of Mohammed bin Salman is surprising but not unexpected.
  • 15 Mar 2017
    • Saudi Arabia

    King Salman’s wild ride

    Ben Rich
    A key objective of Salman’s charm offensive is to court investors for an economy that has traditionally been closed to most international business.
  • 6 Dec 2016
    • Saudi Arabia

    Book review: Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy: Conflict and Cooperation

    Ben Rich
    The volume provides an understanding of the inner structures guiding Riyadh’s decision making on the global stage.
  • 6 Sep 2016
    • South China Sea
    • China
    • Saudi Arabia

    Did Saudi Arabia just side with China on the South China Sea?

    Anthony Bubalo
  • 29 Feb 2016
    • Saudi Arabia

    Saudi Arabia goes to war

    Yiftah Shapir

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