Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: The coming of age

Saudi Arabia has come of age in the last few years under the stewardship of Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud (known by his initials, MBS). The kingdom has started to establish itself within the Middle East as a country with views that should be considered, listened to, understood and appreciated – despite the negative reputation …

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Two hard-boiled egos

When two powerful world leaders start to collaborate over how to restructure the global order, the rest of the world had better sit up and take note. The leaders from the G7 nations are desperately trying to intervene, but they are slowly losing cohesion and influence. The growing combined influence of Xi and Putin is …

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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp – businessmen or terrorists?

It appears that Iran is entering into business negotiations in the Near Abroad and is looking to benefit from the new detente with Russia and China. Members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) are already in negotiations in Uzbekistan where a million barrels of oil a day (from a daily production of 1.46 million …

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The North-South corridor: the rise of the East

The International North-South Transport Corridor is a 4,500-mile network of ship, rail, and road routes for moving cargo between India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Central Asia. However, due to the recent normalisation of relations between regional enemies, Saudi Arabia and Iran (negotiated by China) has altered the North-South Corridor to include those nations. The rapprochement …

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Saudi Arabia and Iran – an unholy alliance

Russia and China are using Saudi Arabia and Iran to create a North South trading corridor to dilute the trading power of the West. China, as the Big Brother within the BRICS trading bloc, is seeking to mediate between the two to establish a trading agreement that would benefit all parties involved, excluding the West. This move …

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Multipolarity and the Middle East: The not-so-beautiful game

Four years ago, one of the defining images of the 2018 World Cup was of Vladimir Putin and Mohammed bin Salman together in the stands, sharing a joke as hosts Russia hammered Saudi Arabia five-nil. There will be no such repeat this time, given that Russia is – amazingly – too corrupt even for FIFA …

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Blue or Green? The Gulf’s Hydrogen Gamble

Hydrogen is the simplest element in our universe, formed from a single proton and electron pair. Burning hydrogen produces heat without carbon, with pure water as the only by-product. In theory, it’s the cleanest of fuels. Harnessing its power would be an elegant solution to the energy crisis – and with hydrogen representing 75 percent …

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