RYAN BYRNE WRITES – Last week, after more than a year of trading barbs and lawsuits, the world’s preeminent golf circuit, the PGA Tour, announced that it, along with the European-based DP World Tour, would merge with the Saudi-backed LIV Tour. The LIV Tour, then, managed to leverage the enormous coffers…
Category: Saudi Arabia
WORLD CUP 2022: THE SOARING FLIGHT OF THE GREEN FALCONS
MOHAMMED ALKANDARI WRITES – We celebrate the Saudi Arabian National team’s biggest upset in World Cup history in its extraordinary 2-1 triumph over Lionel Messi’s Argentina in their first match-day of the World Cup. The world’s bookies had Argentina as heavy favorites, and Saudi Arabia as all but certain losers…
SAUDI ARABIA’S ‘VISION 2030’: A PROMISE GETTING CLOSER
ABDULLAH AL HAJERI WRITES – A vibrant society, a thriving economy, and an ambitious nation-these are the three pillars of Saudi Arabia’s mapped-out expansion of its 2030 Vision, a vision increasingly under world scrutiny. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman’s 2030 vision, which includes reduced carbon…
SAUDI ARABIA: IS RIYADH’S GOLF MOVE ONE BIG SAND TRAP?
RYAN BYRNE WRITES – The June kick off of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund-backed LIV Golf Tour has torn the golf world apart. Some have derided the tour, and the players who defected to it, for being bankrolled by a nation with a poor human rights record, while others…
SAUDI ARABIA: HOW TELFAZ11’S PARTNERSHIP WITH NETFLIX IS GOING TO AFFECT THE SAUDI FILM INDUSTRY
ABEER ABUNAYYAN WRITES FROM SAUDI ARABIA – Operating in an increasingly competitive industry, Netflix has been pursuing an aggressive growth strategy intended to increase and diversify its programming whilst gaining access to new, high-potential markets. Having consolidated its position in the United States, the company has spent the past few…
The GCC: TINY STATES NEED BIG HELP FENDING OFF BIG ENEMIES
NAWAF ALSABAH WRITES — The new Arab uprisings of 2018-2020 have demonstrated that instability in the Middle East can result from regional states’ domestic turmoil. A case in point: threats posed to the national security of the tiny Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries as a result of these recent Arab Spring…
GULF GEOPOLITICS: WILL THE LACK OF UNITY ENTICE THE U.S. TO GO IT ALONE?
SENAY EMMANUEL WRITES — Last month, Arab leaders held an emergency summit in Mecca to address threats presented by Iran, following attacks on oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. While Saudi Arabia described the attacks as “naked aggression,” Iran denied having anything to do with them.…
Saudi Arabia: What Can A Princess Fix?
SARAH Al-MUWAD WRITES– Is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the fifth largest country in Asia, actually working towards female empowerment? And is this to advance the kingdom’s international reputation, which has recently taken a huge hit? The answer is yes. On February 23, history was made when the Kingdom of…
SAUDI ARABIA: SAUDI MEDIA FEEL THE LOVE FOR TRUMP
ALEXIS CRUZ WRITES –Turns out, if there’s one place that U.S. President Donald Trump can count on for a warm welcome, it’s Saudi Arabia. As unlikely as that seemed at the height of last year’s presidential election, the Middle Eastern kingdom welcomed Trump with open arms on his recent visit.…
SAUDI ARABIA: The Passion of al-Nimr
PEYTON CROSS WRITES – With its attractive cityscapes and strong economy, Saudi Arabia can give the impression of being an advanced desert nation. Then it announces plans to crucify and behead a young political dissident, and the world goes, Hmmmm. Priya Joshi of the International Business Times reports that on September 7,…
SAUDI ARABIA: When Social Media Triggers Intolerance — Is it Thinking Outside the Box … Or Just Thinking Out Loud?
We’re living in a time in which social media plays a crucial role in our lives, whether digitizing human interactions, making us more/less connected, or even mobilizing revolutions. Whatever it is, we cannot deny the fact that we’re being grasping a double-edged sword. As with any other type of technology,…