MUST-READS

• Oil
  The Energy Revolution’s Impacts on the Arab World

  Turmoil in the world’s hydrocarbon heartland is not good news for anyone, including the United States. Oil has been a fungible commodity for decades and gas increasingly so as a result of the rising share of LNG in the global gas market. Major disruptions to supply from the Arab world would have negative economic consequences even for an energy independent America.

• Khafji Oil Field
  Saudi, Kuwait Seen Curbing Oil Output at ’Opportune Time’

  Saudi Arabia and Kuwait halted production at a jointly run oil field late this week, a move that could help ease a supply glut that has pushed global prices down 25 percent. The 300,000-barrel-a-day Khafji field, located in the neutral zone between the two countries, was being shut because of environmental concerns, a person familiar with Saudi Arabian oil policy said yesterday, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The shutdown comes as Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members face increasing pressure to scale back production while supply expands from the U.S. and other countries and demand growth slows. Asia’s oil market has become particularly flooded as the U.S. imports fewer cargoes.

• ISIS in the Polls
  ISIS Is Unpopular in the Middle East, but Still Has Some Support

  While the Islamic State is ramping up recruitment around the world, the public is against them in key "coalition" countries, which include Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. A survey—conducted by a commercial firm for The Washington Institute of Near East Policy—polled 1,000 residents of each of those three nations. The interviews were conducted face-to-face by "experienced local professionals."

  • Long War Journal - Islamic State photos highlight group's grip on Ramadi
  • Washington Post - U.S. airstrikes in Syria are now dwarfing those in Iraq, thanks to the fight for one town
  • Informed Comment - Top 7 Ways US Intervention in Iraq/Syria could turn Catastrophic
  • The Hill - Air campaign against ISIS is just getting off the ground
  • LA Times - Islamic State steps up bombings in Baghdad
• Extremism
  Afghanistan arrests son of Haqqani militant network’s founder

  Afghan forces have arrested the son of the feared Haqqani network's founder along with a militant commander in charge of suicide attacks, a blow to the Taliban-linked Islamist group, Afghanistan's intelligence service said Thursday.

• US-Arab Military Cooperation
  Serious disagreements remain in U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State

  The question is whether such a diverse coalition, whose members have differing objectives, can be herded into agreement on a coherent strategy.

• Crisis in Libya
  Libya’s government holed up in a 1970s hotel

  Three years after Western military intervention helped topple Col Muammar Gaddafi, many believe Libya is rapidly turning into a failed state. There are two rival governments, and the parliament elected in June has been forced to flee from hostile militias - to a grey concrete 1970s hotel near the Egyptian border.

• Finance
  The Saudi Banking sector and fiscal policy

  The continued build-up of deposits is a positive when the banks can and must play a bigger role in driving economic development. There have been structural developments to accelerate the momentum in certain areas, for example, the mortgage law. But, in general, the banks are essential for driving private sector-led development in an economy that has historically relied very heavily on government provision and investment.

• Mohammed al-Nimr
  Saudi Sentences Shiite Cleric to Death

  He had told The Associated Press earlier Wednesday that he would be in the courtroom for the verdict. He could not be immediately reached again for comment.

• Palestinian Statehood
  France says Palestinian recognition shouldn’t be merely symbolic

  France's foreign minister said on Tuesday that Paris should recognize a Palestinian state only if doing so would help achieve peace, not as a symbolic gesture.

• NCB
  Saudi bank’s $6 billion IPO ignites religious controversy, but IPO ‘unlikely’ to be derailed

  "Plans by Saudi Arabia's biggest bank for a $6 billion initial public offer of shares, the largest-ever equity sale in the Arab world, have run into religious controversy with some clerics suggesting it violates Islamic principles" but "Securities analysts said the controversy was unlikely to sway enough investors to derail the IPO of state-owned National Commercial Bank, which is due to start next week," Reuters reports. 

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