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  • What Electricity Sources Power the World?

    Coal still leads the charge when it comes to electricity, representing 35.4% of global power generation in 2022, followed by natural gas at 22.7%, and hydroelectric at 14.9%.

  • Will US-Iran prisoner exchange jumpstart diplomacy at UNGA?

    While the exchange of prisoners — five will be freed by each side, as Elizabeth Hagedorn reported — seems straightforward, as far as these types of exchanges go, the Biden administration is being pilloried by Republican critics for the release of $6 billion owed to Iran from South Korean banks, as Adam Lucente reports. Those funds were frozen under US sanctions in 2018, when the Trump administration withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). They have now been transferred to a restricted account overseen by Qatar.

  • Opinion: Why is foreign policy discourse so dominated by funding-related finger pointing?

    When the resulting research is peer-reviewed and published, a section of the paper is reserved for the declaration of these competing interests. Crucially – and this is that part that is alien to most foreign policy researchers – a clear conflict of interest does not lead to other scholars nonchalantly dismissing the research and confining it to the intellectual dustbin. Instead, it becomes one of many factors that they take into account when developing their opinions about what does and doesn’t work.

  • As AFC Champions League returns, will Saudi Arabia dominate for years to come?

    Another edition of the AFC Champions League kicks off on Monday with the familiar scenario of an East Asia Zone club as the current title holders. In fact, in the past 15 editions of Asian football's premier club competition, the eastern region of the continent has produced 13 champions across Japan, South Korea, China and Australia. Only twice has the West Asia Zone managed to reign supreme -- Al Hilal two seasons ago and Al Sadd all the way back in 2011.

  • Which players are in the Saudi Pro League?

    The Saudi Pro League is making big in-roads into the international player market, leading to some interesting discussions on any number of controversial and non-controversial topics. Money talks, and it’s been what’s helped Major League Soccer reach out to big names, so it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that the Saudi Pro League has landed Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, and Karim Benzema.

  • A US Pivot Away from the Middle East: Fact or Fiction?

    The general conclusion from the conference speakers (and this subsequent volume’s contributing authors) is that the United States is not fully disengaging from the Middle East but rather recalibrating its priorities and positions in the region while simultaneously devoting resources, time, and effort to maintaining as much influence in the Indo-Pacific region as possible to preserve its interests there.

  • Can Saudi Arabia Build an Internationally Competitive Fintech Hub by 2030?

    “By 2022, when we issued our annual report, we found that there were 147 operating fintechs under the umbrella of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia, as well as non-regulated activity. For today, we have over 180 operating fintechs in Saudi Arabia. “The ultimate aim is to achieve over 525 operating fintechs in Saudi Arabia; create over 18,000 jobs in the fintech domain; accumulate over 12billion Saudi Riyal of investment in fintech companies; as well as generate 13billion Saudi Riyal in Saudi GDP.”

  • Chart: Which Is ‘the Best Country in the World’?

    In 2022, the U.S. was back in rank 4 - its inaugural 2016 score - after gaining more points for indicators of quality of life and social purpose. Increases in the entrepreneurship as well as the cultural and natural heritage scores also saw the country improve its standing opposite other nations that year, leading to a much higher score when comparing to previous years. Despite ranking first for entrepreneurship in 2023, overtaking both Germany and Japan since 2021, the U.S. saw a big drop in the "open for business" category and is now ranked 59th for the metric, down from 53rd. As a result, its overall score dropped one rank this year. The U.S. is also ranked first for power and agility.

  • Opinion: Are we looking at Saudi Pro League spending, stars all wrong?

    But here's the thing: maybe, rather than talking about "superstars moving to the Saudi Pro League," we should really be talking about "superstars moving to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) teams." Because PIF, one of Saudi's sovereign wealth funds -- and the majority owner of Newcastle United, as well as LIV Golf -- owns 75% of the four most popular clubs (Al Nassr, Al Ittihad, Al Ahli and Al Hilal), which it acquired seemingly overnight in early June.

  • Saudi Arabia Is Pouring Money in Sports. Is Tennis Next?

    Players are ready for a change. “Of all the important sports around the world, I think tennis is clearly the one with the greatest opportunity for financial growth and the most unrealized value,” Maria Sharapova, the retired tennis star, told DealBook. Despite the popularity of tennis, the sport brings in only 1.3 percent of earnings from global media sports rights. That’s partly because tennis is made up of myriad entities — including the Women’s Tennis Association; the U.S. Tennis Association; and independent tournaments. The independently operated organizations make scheduling tournaments difficult and diminish bargaining power for sponsorship and media deals. Erratic scheduling and long matches don’t help entice broadcasters.