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  • Saudi prince proving crucial to Trump efforts to end Ukraine, Gaza wars

    Top U.S. and Russian officials wrapped up their meetings Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to discuss a pathway to end the war in Ukraine, days before Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is set to convene a summit with leaders from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to discuss an Arab response to U.S. President Donald Trump's vow to take over Gaza. The two separate talks reflect the growing role of the prince in Trump's efforts to fulfill his campaign promise to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. The Saudi talks signaled a major détente between Washington and Moscow and an abrupt end of U.S. policy under former President Joe Biden to isolate Russia and support Ukraine "for as long as it takes."

  • Middle East Balance of Power Continues to Shift

    The setbacks suffered by Iran and its Axis of Resistance partners in their post-October 7 battles against Israel have set the stage for a realignment of the Middle East balance of power. The leading beneficiary of the power shift is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has sparred with Iran for regional influence since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. Another competitor of both Saudi Arabia and Iran, Türkiye, has benefitted from the overthrow of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria by Turkish-backed Sunni Islamist armed dissidents. At the same time, the Kingdom by no means regards Iran as eliminated from the region’s power structure. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has stated an intent to rebuild Iran’s resistance axis gradually, including in Syria. In March 2023, under pressure from the Iran-led Axis and doubtful the U.S. would continue to protect the Arab Gulf monarchies, Saudi leaders, using China’s mediation, finalized a restoration of relations with Tehran in March 2023.

  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff with Jennifer Hansler of CNN and Matthew Lee of the Associated Press

    But I think the most important part is the President has stated his desire, his determination, to end this war, to end the killing that is going on.  The death and destruction that is happening as this war goes on and on, month after month after month in the killing fields of eastern and southern Ukraine, is unacceptable.  It is not in the interest of either country.  It’s not in the interest of the world and certainly not in the interest of United States and Europe.

  • Saudi Arabia’s anti-corruption efforts paying off

    Bribery and abuse of influence are the leading corruption offences in Saudi Arabia’s public sector, according to a new report. Saudi Arabia’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha), formed in 2011, arrested 1,708 people last year on corruption charges, according to legal, risk and regulatory advisory company Secretariat. Charges included embezzlement, money laundering, forgery and misuse of public funds, Secretariat said. Departments with the most cases were interior, health, education, and municipalities and housing,  “It is clear that you're being held to account if you abuse your position of power, if you abuse your position of influence and if you take money in return for giving out favours or contracts,” said Ralph Stobwasser, managing director at Secretariat.

  • Opinion: Gulf-China relations are strictly business

    Hardly a day goes by without a story about China’s growing presence in the Gulf, which is a remarkable transition. When I started working on a PhD focusing on China-GCC relations in 2011, an economist at a regional sovereign wealth fund dismissed the project out of hand: “How are you going to write 100,000 words on selling cheap stuff and buying oil”? Nearly 15 years later the narrative has shifted hard in the other direction, with China generally considered a major external power in the region. That does not mean its role in the Gulf is any better understood.  First and foremost, the Gulf remains a place to get energy. For decades, China has had a voracious appetite for imported oil and gas and it will continue to be the world’s largest importer in the near term. Gulf countries typically provide it with between 40-50 percent of its crude oil imports and an increasingly large percentage of its LNG.

  • Neom spends $37bn on infrastructure development

    Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion giga-project Neom has spent more than SAR140 billion ($37 billion) on infrastructure development so far, a senior company executive has said. Several real estate projects are still under development, with work on infrastructure and utilities continuously progressing, chief development officer Denis Hickey told PIF Private Sector Forum last week. The developer has two investment vehicles. Neom Investment Fund focuses on sector growth and partnerships, while the Neom Investment Office handles real estate development and launching new initiatives in other sectors.

  • Saudi Arabia takes bold decision to unlock full economic potential, diversify away from oil: Alibrahim

    Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of the Crown Prince, made a bold decision to unlock the full potential of its economy by planning long-term and looking at the big picture to move away from oil dependence, Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim said. The country adopted a constructive approach based on innovative radical change, the minister said during a panel discussion at AlUla Emerging Markets Conference. This approach stimulated innovation from top to bottom in the public sector and opened markets to innovators from within the Kingdom and globally. There is progress and momentum and the Kingdom is on the right track, but the task is not yet complete, he noted.

  • Rubio meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a meeting Monday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh. The State Department issued a statement on Rubio’s meeting with the Saudi crown prince, saying Rubio emphasized the necessity of a Gaza solution that strengthens regional security. However, the statement didn’t elaborate on how Rubio and Crown Prince Mohammed reconciled their differing opinions on Gaza’s future.

  • Arab summit on Trump’s Gaza plan postponed and expanded

    A planned meeting in Saudi Arabia of Arab leaders in response to United States President Donald Trump's plan to take control of Gaza has been postponed by a day and expanded, Arab diplomats said on Monday, February 17. "The mini Arab summit in Riyadh has been postponed from Thursday to Friday, February 21," a Saudi source told French news agency AFP. An Arab diplomatic source confirmed the new date. Three Arab states had been expected to attend the summit, but the Saudi source said the expanded meeting will "include the leaders of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, along with Egypt and Jordan, to discuss Arab alternatives to Trump's plans in the Gaza Strip". The Saudi source said that "an influential Gulf country expressed its dissatisfaction at being excluded from the Riyadh summit, which prompted the organizers to include all the Gulf countries" – without specifying which country.

  • Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Residences draw early buyers at $1.5mn starting price

    Red Sea Global has sold more than 12 per cent of its ultra-luxury homes on Saudi Arabia’s western coast before the official market launch, with prices starting from SAR5.5 million ($1.47 million) for a one-bedroom property, as the developer taps into growing regional demand for premium coastal real estate. The pre-sales success of the multi-billion riyal development on Shura Island signals a strong appetite from wealthy Gulf investors for Saudi Arabia’s emerging luxury tourism destinations, with the developer primarily targeting buyers from the kingdom and neighbouring Gulf countries.