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  • Perceptions of Saudi Arabia
    A Study in Contradictions: A Tenement Museum Employee Visits Saudi Arabia

    How is it possible for a woman to look fabulous in the shapeless cloak of the abaya? Similarly, abaya style and the choice of veil, embroidered colors versus austere black, and pairings with designer handbags and heels or Uggs all made me wonder what the abaya actually communicated about religion, ideas of gender, and personal style. In addition to my fascination with women’s clothing, I experienced shock at the discovery that I rather liked the look of men in dresses and couldn’t stop thinking about when and how pants became the official menswear of most of the world.

  • Israel-Palestine
    Do Americans Care About the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?

    It’s well recognized that the level of public passion on issues varies, and those who care most about the issue matter the most for policy makers. Overall, Americans who rank the Israeli-Palestinian issue among the top three tend to want the United States to lean toward Israel more. But this is not necessarily a clear indication of what policy should be, in part because of another issue that Americans rank highly in their priorities: human rights.

  • U.S. - Israel
    American Public Attitudes Toward the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

    After the collapse of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations earlier this year and the devastating violence of this summer’s Gaza war, tensions between Israelis and Palestinians are on the rise. Voices on both sides of the conflict question the United States’ traditional role as shepherd of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, and Americans seem increasingly skeptical about their government’s engagements in the Middle East. Nonresident Senior Fellow Shibley Telhami conducted a survey on American public attitudes toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; below are several key findings and a download to the survey's full results.

  • Saudi Football
    Angry Saudi soccer clubs pinpoint Gulf labour market contradictions 

    The clubs' complaint mirrors problems across the Gulf with government efforts to encourage preferential employment of nationals. The complaint is particularly stark given that the kingdom unlike smaller Gulf states like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates still boasts a population in which nationals constitute a majority, if only a slim one.

  • Lebanon and the Region
    The Syrian Conflict and the Ascendancy of the Lebanese Armed Forces East Institute

    Quietly over the past few years, the LAF has been developing a credible force, with U.S. assistance. The training and materials geared toward counterterrorism, internal security, and border control were not seen by Hezbollah as a threat to its military arsenal of rockets and long range missiles. As it turns out, the LAF was better prepared for the Syrian crisis and its spillover into Lebanon.

  • Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan
    US military continues to claim al Qaeda is ‘restricted’ to ‘isolated areas of northeastern Afghanistan’

    A recently issued report on the status of Afghanistan by the US Department of Defense has described al Qaeda as being primarily confined to "isolated areas of northeastern Afghanistan." But information on Afghan military and intelligence operations against the global jihadist group contradicts the US military's assessment.

  • Saudi Banking Sector
    Strong outlook predicted for Saudi banking sector

    Saudi banks’ high net income is expected to continue to drive robust internal capital generation and substantial loss-absorption capacity. Although capitalisation levels to decline slightly as the banks increase lending.

  • Lebanon
    Lebanon’s politics paralyzed by regional conflict

    With Lebanon's most powerful political parties funded and often directed by regional powers, the country has for decades been affected by events in the Middle East.

  • Libya
    Benghazi district residents urged to leave

    Libya's army has asked residents in a central district of the port city of Benghazi to leave before a major military operation against Islamists.

  • Economic Policy
    No restrictions on foreign investment licenses in Saudi Arabia: SAGIA

    Director of Information and Communication at the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) denied that Riyadh intends to limit the number of licenses issued under the system of foreign investment. In comments to the state-owned Saudi Press Agency (SPA), SAGIA Communications Director Nasser Al-Tawayan said that reports that Saudi Arabia aims to limit the number of foreign investment licenses to just 100 per year were “baseless and untrue.” “It is not logical for SAGIA to adopt such a trend since it is incompatible with the basic principles underlying the economic policy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which is based on openness, flexibility and the application of the concept of the free market in general,” he said.