Analysis

SAUDI FILM

Long Taboo, Cinema to Return to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

• Lucien Zeigler
• |
• 9. 19. 2014

A posting on the Labor Ministry website has indicated that Saudi Arabia will allow film production entrepreneurs to recruit personnel to kickstart the cinema industry, according to reports.

• Labor

  

  Saudi Arabia’s Labor Ministry Launches Web Site to Handle Complaints, Educate Workers

  Lucien Zeigler  |  9. 18. 2014

  Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Labor has launched the online web portal www.laboreducation.gov.sa to educate expatriate workers on their rights and handle complaints systematically, Arab News reports.

• US-Saudi

  

  Fahad Nazer in ‘Foreign Affairs’: Renewing Vows With Saudi Arabia

  SUSTG Team  |  9. 18. 2014

  Riyadh and Washington have both recognized that ISIS poses a serious threat to Middle Eastern security and stability. By working together against the group, they might shore up the region -- and their relationship," analyst Fahad Nazer writes in Foreign Affairs.

• Construction

  

  KAFD: Saudi Arabia’s ‘City Within a City’ Slated for Soft Opening as Kingdom Gears Up To Be Financial Hub of the Gulf

  Lucien Zeigler  |  9. 17. 2014

  Situated on the outskirts of Riyadh, the new development bears the name of a King who has steered a nation through a period of economic transformation and growth. The city’s purpose is to serve as the Gulf’s financial hub in the heart of its largest economy.

• 

  SUSRIS: The Emergence of the GCC+4 Against ISIS

  SUSTG Team  |  9. 16. 2014

  SUSRIS.com shares an assessment of the surge in recent diplomatic activity from Gulf expert Theodore Karasik, Director of Research and Development at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA) in Dubai.

• Women

  

  Female Saudi Student Abroad: ‘I can confidently claim that being able to drive has transformed my daily life’

  SUSTG Team  |  9. 15. 2014

  In a short Arab News op-ed, a Saudi woman says that being able to drive while living abroad has been a "liberating" experience.

• U.S.-Saudi

  

  Analysis: Threat of ISIS, U.S. Diplomacy Help Re-build Tested U.S.-Saudi Ties

  Lucien Zeigler  |  9. 12. 2014

  Less than a year ago, credible analysts debated whether the U.S.-Saudi alliance would survive tensions that had brought the relationship to what some were calling the lowest point in decades. But 9 months on, the U.S.-Saudi “special relationship” appears intact.

• Labor

  

  Nitaqat Three Years On: A Summer 2014 Report Card

  Nathan Field  |  9. 11. 2014

  As of summer 2014, three years into what must be understood as a long-term project, the available evidence suggests the Ministry of Labor is progressing towards its goals, meaningful progress is occurring and that the foundations of longer-term sustained success are in place.

• Social Media in the Arab World

  

  Social Media’s Arab Future

  Richard Wilson  |  9. 9. 2014

  Apart from the numbers, what does it actually mean if Saudi Arabia has the highest per-capita percentage of Twitter users in the world or that 41% of Saudis on the Internet use Twitter?

• Foreign Policy

  

  President Obama, Biden, Kerry Meet with Washington’s Foreign Policy Elite for Strategic Dinner

  Lucien Zeigler  |  9. 9. 2014

  U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden hosted a dinner meeting at the White House with several of Washington's top foreign policy experts on Monday, according to reports.