The dress code for Muslim women in the Middle East - namely the hijab and the abaya- are often seen as symbols of oppression by women in the West. The oppressiveness of women in Iran is often compared with the oppressiveness of those in Saudi Arabia. One regime is not more oppressive than the other, however. I found it difficult in Saudi Arabia, es...
New Zealand PM bows out
Here's an article from The Economist which, while talking about John Key's resignation, states that NZ is "one of the most successful countries in the world. While this is debatable, there is no doubt that Key has had successes- namely international recognition- along with failures, housing, immigration and the environment. We have yet to see whether the new Prime Minister, John English, will have the same success.
The Jeddah summit reflects an Arab-American consensus on curbing the Iranian nuclear programme, writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. On July 16, the Jeddah Summit for Security and Development concluded in Saudi Arabia. The US President Joe Biden participated in the summit on the last leg of his Middle East tour, his first since taking office. Several other A...
Ahmad Abdul-Rahman explains what the Iranian government is doing to help the country manage the shortage of wheat and grain. To overcome the current wheat crisis, and prevent a large amount of food being wasted, Iran, which is subject to Western sanctions, has changed the way in which its currency is allocated to producers and consumers. The govern...
Ahmad Abdul-Rahman writes why the Gulf countries are experiencing higher inflation as a result of the war in Ukraine. Although oil, whose prices have witnessed record highs during the past few months, constitutes a main source of income for the economies of the Gulf States, it has not saved them from inflation. Foodstuffs have been at the forefront...
The gender pay gap around the world remains wide. Unfortunately, the Middle East and North Africa has one of the widest gaps. With an average population-weighted score of 63.4%, Middle East and North Africa has the second-largest gender gap yet to close, after South Asia, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF). "The region's progress remains s...
Egypt's huge projects has ensured the country's economic growth, despite global economic turmoil, writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. Mega projects, bold legislation, and raising the efficiency of infrastructure in Egypt has helped to ensure positive growth during the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic. Positive growth continued despite the uncertainty th...
How the Middle East deals with climate change varies from country to country. Ahmad Abdul-Rahman gives an update of what is happening in the region. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued a report on climate change in 2021, which showed a clear and dangerous deterioration in a number of important indicators used in assessing the global ...
I was interested to read the recent survey which told of the reluctance of the Arab world (excluding the GCC States) to embrace democracy. Perhaps that is not surprising in light of the fact that democracy in some of the wealthy economies, such as the US and the UK, has proved to be ineffective. But was the so-called Arab Spring been totally unsucc...
What is the ability of desalinated water to compensate for the potential shortfall that will result because of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam? Ahmad Abdul-Rahman investigates. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, on the issue of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, mentions water reuse and seawater desalination projects with every talk he gives,...
US president, Joe Biden's visit to the Middle East is against a backdrop of the failure to revive the nuclear agreement with Iran. Ahmad Abdul-Rahman writes. Despite renewed nuclear talks in Vienna that started taking place more than a year ago, a return to the nuclear deal is no longer in sight. The Iranian regime has increased the frequency of it...
Popular protests about human rights violations and sanctions continue in Iran, writes Ahmad Abdul-Rahman In recent months, waves of popular protests have escalated in Iran. Some protests are related to the harsh economic conditions, principally as a result of sanctions, and are directed against the Iranian regime. Other protests are linked to human...
The Gulf States have succeeded in preserving their Arabic heritage, while moving towards modernity, prosperity, and diversifying their economies , writes Ahmad Abdul-Rahman. The Arabian Gulf is a region that extends south from the Indian Ocean to the borders of Turkey and northern Iran. The population of the Gulf States comprises well-known A...
The US, China and Russia are vying for more control in Iraq. Ahmad Abdel-Rahman explains how they are going about it. When former US President Donald Trump announced the US's withdrawal from northeastern Syria, he abandoned the Kurdish forces that had fought alongside the US against the Islamic State for Turkey. He also paved the way for the possib...
The World Bank praises the reforms implemented in Egypt since 2016, writes regular correspondent Ahmad Abdul-Rahman. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, minister of International Cooperation, and Tarek Amer, president of the Central Bank of Egypt and governor of Egypt at the World Bank (WB), held an extensive meeting with members of the delegation of executive di...
In this article Ahmad Abdel-Rahman looks at the outlook for Open Banking in MENA. At the beginning of 2021, fintech quickly grew in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). "The region is no stranger to this sector", says Shaimaa Al-Nazer, a researcher at the College of Computing and Information Technology at Taif University in Saudi Arabia. The wo...
Israel and Iran are getting closer, with greater co-operation between the two countries. Turkey, at the behest of Israel, is stopping terrorists in the country – but not enough to stop a threatened attack on Israeli tourists there. Turkey is a favourite holiday destination for many Israelis. At the same time, the shortage of grain and wheat is hitt...
The Maghreb is important strategically to Europe and to North America, Ahmad Abdel-Rahman explains the role of the region and its strategic importance. Theorists of international relations differ about the importance and role of geography in shaping foreign policy. However, they all agree that space plays an influential and decisive role. This is t...
I read this article on desalination in the UAE with a great deal of interest. That's because it was a huge problem when I lived and worked there. The economics of water did not make sense then; it still doesn't. It seemed that locals enjoyed the benefits of highly subsidised water, while foreigners had to pay much higher prices. My bill from the Du...
The Middle East could form new alliances in the coming months, writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. The Middle East is going through structural transformations that will impact the direction of how the region interacts with other countries, said Mahmoud Fahmy, vice president of the National Center for Middle Eastern Studies and Professor of Political Sc...
Political stalemate threatens to deepen the division and prolong the conflict in Libya, says Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. Libya is not making progress politically and is in a state of political stalemate. With the election of Fathi Bashagha as second prime minister alongside Abdel Hamid Dabaiba, the country appears to be going back to the past. But it needs...