MUST-READS

• Labor
  Saudi salaries likely to grow 5.4% in 2015

  The figure is slightly down from forecasts made in 2014 and 2013, which was 6 percent and 5.8 percent respectively, indicating that companies in the Kingdom are being slightly more conservative with their budgets. However, employees in Saudi Arabia were given an average salary increase of 5.2 percent in 2014, only slightly below the original projection of 6 percent.

• Society
  Be polite to the public, Saudi police officers told

  Saudi Arabia’s top public security official has asked his men to be more polite and friendly when dealing with members of the public.

• Social Media
  Social media in Saudi Arabia: A virtual revolution

  Tune into one of Saudi Arabia’s television channels and you are likely to find a stuffy report praising the government or a sheikh spinning a dreary sermon. Little wonder that so many Saudis turn to YouTube and other online broadcasters for light relief. That has led to the emergence of new media companies, mainly in the more liberal coastal city of Jeddah, dedicated to amusing the kingdom’s growing population.

• U.S. Wars
  ‘American War Generals’ a sobering reflection on U.S. failures in Iraq

  As the U.S. escalates its campaign against jihadists in Iraq and Syria, a new documentary offers a cautionary tale about putting too much faith in technology and forgetting hard-fought lessons from the past. “American War Generals,” which airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on the National Geographic Channel, looks at how the U.S. military recovered from its disastrous endeavor in Vietnam, remade itself into an all-volunteer force that focused on fighting conventional wars, and then came close to defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan as it faced a type of enemy it vowed never to fight again.

• Counter-Terrorism
  U.S. weakens al-Qaeda groups around the world but hasn’t wiped any out

  Through two wars, thousands of drone strikes and hundreds of covert operations around the world, the United States has substantially weakened al-Qaeda and its affiliates, eroding their capabilities in ways that have reduced the threat they pose to the United States. The scope of that conflict is poised to expand again as U.S. military officials said Thursday that they were given new authority to begin targeting leaders of an al-Qaeda rival known as the Islamic State.

  • Washington Post - The only way to defeat the Islamic State
  • New Republic - Opinion: You Call This a Strategy for Defeating IS?
  • Defense One - Opinion: Obama's Speech Reflects a Refined Foreign Policy Doctrine
• Terrorism
  Since 9/11, Fewer Americans Say Terrorism Top Problem

  Relatively few Americans -- usually less than 0.5% -- mentioned terrorism as the most important problem facing the U.S. prior to 9/11. But that changed quickly after the 9/11 attacks. Mentions jumped to 46% the month after the attacks, the highest percentage Gallup has found for terrorism since it began asking Americans monthly to name the most important problem facing the nation in March 2001.

• Syria and IS
  Combat Reversals Pressure Syria’s Assad, Complicating Efforts Against Islamic State

  In a span of weeks, the Islamic State has overrun military bases in Syria's east. In the west, the regime faces a coalition of rebels that threatens the heartland of Mr. Assad's Alawite minority and could alter the course of Syria's multi-sided civil war. Alawites, a Shiite-linked group that forms the backbone of the regime and pro-government militias, are angry over the loss of hundreds of troops last month after the Islamic State captured an air base in the northeastern province of Raqqa.

  • Abu Aardvark - Previewing the Syria tourniquet
  • Economist - A harrowing journey
• Islamic State
  Opinion: The Saudis Can Crush ISIS

  Saudi Arabia is the only authority in the region with the power and legitimacy to bring ISIS down. Having effectively eradicated Al Qaeda in the kingdom, the Saudi government, with its experience fighting terrorism, is uniquely positioned to deal with ISIS, which is, after all, an Al Qaeda-aligned organization. The kingdom has built up an impressive counterterrorism program and its counterterrorism strategies are considered some of the most sophisticated and effective in the world.

• U.S. Foreign Policy
  Kerry heads to Jordan, Saudi Arabia to rally against Islamic State

  Kerry plans to meet with his counterparts in Jeddah and Amman, following a meeting of the Arab League on Sunday that endorsed action against the group, if not explicitly joining the cause. Both kingdoms have publicly allied themselves with the US in its fight against the terrorist organization, which has swept throughout eastern Syria and northern Iraq since June.

  • AP - US fears Islamic State group attack on Jordan
  • WSJ - U.S., Allies Step Up Efforts to Choke Off Islamic State's Funding
  • US Department of State - Secretary Kerry Travels to Jordan and Saudi Arabia
• Diplomacy
  Saudi embassy shuts down in Yemen

  The embassy’s closure follows growing tensions between the Yemeni government and Houthi protesters in Sana'a who are calling for a new government and the reinstatement of fuel subsidies. In a similar development, the Saudi Higher Education Ministry issued an urgent decree to evacuate 60 Saudi students who are studying at the University of Science and Technology (UST) in Sana'a.

  • ICG - Unrest in Sanaa
  • Washington Post - Yemen police open fire on protesters, killing 4
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