Analysis

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.

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  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.

• Energy

  

  Saudi Arabia Fast-Tracks Nuclear Power to Meet Soaring Domestic Demand

  SUSTG Team  |  9. 9. 2014

  In an excellent round-up of the shifting energy sector in Saudi Arabia, James Conca in Forbes discusses Saudi Arabia's embrace of nuclear and renewable energy sources to meet demand - an important initiative for the increasingly energy-hungry Saudi society.

• Saudi-Iraq Border

  

  Saudi Arabian Northern Border Security Project Breaks Ground

  Lucien Zeigler  |  9. 7. 2014

  Phase 1 of the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques project for border security" was kicked off at a ceremony in Jeddah with Saudi and Bahraini leaders in attendance.

• Labor

  

  ‘Changing Tack’: Saudi Arabia Cushions Labor Reform with New Hours, Subsidies

  SUSTG Team  |  9. 5. 2014

  Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia is "changing tack in its labor reforms," citing a draft law.