MUST-READS

• Tunisian Elections
  A Big Step Forward: Tunisia’s Fragile Democratic Consolidation

  Yet, even as they celebrate Tunisia’s progress, U.S. policy makers and others in the international community should avoid the tendency to advance an election-centric perspective—one that privileges electoral progress above all else in democratic transitions. Indeed, the consolidation of democracy in Tunisia, and the rest of the region, will require far more than elections. In particular, it will require the careful incubation of political compromise skills, particularly the willingness to share power with bitter rivals.

• U.S. Military Strategy
  Air-Sand Battle

  Among the ideas under scrutiny are the relevance of ground forces and whether state actors pose the most dangerous threat to the U.S. homeland and global security. For the military services, the debate over these assumptions will directly affect their size, budget, and the types of weapons they buy.

• Alhokair
  Saudi Arabia’s Alhokair Follows Emaar With Mall Unit IPO

  Saudi Arabia’s Fawaz Alhokair Group plans to raise $2 billion from the initial public offering of its Arabian Centres malls unit, surpassing a similar sale by rival Dubai operator Emaar Properties PJSC (EMAAR) earlier this year.

• Economy
  G-20: Saudi Arabia’s focus on economic policy

  The ninth summit of the G-20 heads of government to be held in the Australian city of Brisbane on Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 is different from the crisis meeting held in 2008 to save the world economy from falling into the abyss. But it is of no less importance considering the myriad challenges of tackling widening global inequality, poverty, unemployment and stuttering growth.

  • SUSRIS - G20 Leaders’ Communiqué
  • Al Arabiya - Saudi Arabia, the G20 summit and oil
• Women
  ‘Saudi women can succeed’: The creative response to entrepreneurship

  Apart from these well-known Saudi women there are also many others who are successful wedding planners, fashion designers, jewelry designers, chefs, photographers and consultants. All of these women reflect the entrepreneurial spirit; they are prolific and self-driven and they have taken on a role in life and have proven one thing: “Saudi women can succeed”.

• Football
  FIFA President Blatter completes Saudi Arabia visit

  FIFA President Blatter on Thursday evening completed a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia. In the capital city Riyadh, he officially inaugurated Goal Project 1, the Leaders Institute Football Turf, set to become a fundamental pillar for Saudi Arabia’s youth and grassroots activities, and delivered a speech at the Sports Investment Forum in which he stressed the importance of investing in football as a way to “promote development and education across the world.”

• Sultan Qaboos and Oman
  The Only Sultan I’ve Ever Known

  When Qaboos ousted his father in 1970 in a British-backed coup, the country was a backwater. In a much-cited statistic, the entirety of Oman had two hospitals and six miles of paved road. Since then, the country has transformed into a modern oil-exporting state with highways, universities, and a per capita GDP of $22,181. Unsurprisingly, most Omanis separate their country's history into two stages: before and after Qaboos.

• U.S. Middle East Policy
  Acting and Reacting in the Middle East – Alterman

  While some rush to ascribe incompetence or even malice to U.S. government actions, the lack of effectiveness is instead a product of sustained U.S. uncertainty. Tumultuous politics in the Middle East have pushed the United States toward a more circumspect attitude toward the permanence of its allies. Put simply, it is not willing to bet on their success. The speed with which the United States moved to establish a working relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt was chilling to many regional leaders, as was the slow reluctance with which the United States accepted the Egyptian army’s seizing power. For the United States, the episode was a principled expression of concentrating on process rather than outcome. For Arab allies, it was an opportunistic embrace of victors over friends.

  • CSIS - 2015 Global Forecast: Crisis and Opportunity
• Saudi-Libya Relations
  Libyan PM al-Thinni visits Saudi Arabia

  Libya’s internationally-recognized Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni, facing a power struggle with Islamists, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, official media reported. Al-Thinni landed in the capital Riyadh where he “was received by Dr. Musaed al-Aiban, minister of state and member of the cabinet, and a number of senior officials,” the Saudi Press Agency reported without further explanation.

• U.S. Foreign Policy
  9 Ways Foreign Policy Will Dominate the Lame-Duck Congress

  The White House asked Congress Friday for another $5.6 billion to fight against the self-proclaimed Islamic State. The new appropriation will help fund the 1,500 additional troops the Pentagon plans to deploy to Iraq. Increasing the Pentagon’s $58 billion overseas contingency operations (OCO) request -- the account used to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other hot spots -- is expected to get broad support on Capitol Hill and pass easily. If lawmakers choose the omnibus route, they will fold the money into that legislation.

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