It would appear that America is no longer the country of the "free", with immigration being curbed and a ban on Muslim immigrants in particular, and a crackdown on the media. No longer can journalists say what they know to be true; it is clearly better to present "alternative facts".
The volume of oil reserves in Saudi Arabia has interested me, ever since I covered oil and gas in the Middle East. There were often disputes about the oil reserves in the region, and that the current estimates were not believable. How much does Saudi Aramco administer? How much will it fetch for its planned IPO? This article that appeared in the Wall St Journal, on 26 January, sums up recent activities.
Having lived in the Arab World for some years I'm sympathetic to the views of many Arabs about the attitude of the West toward their countries. This article, that featured in Politico Magazine, sums up the ways in which America is similar to the Arab World.
The presidential inauguration of Trump in the USA seems to be the only show in town. Every day the problems seems to get worse. Now, lies or falsehoods don't exist. There are only "alternative facts".
This article appeared in the Weekend Financial Times. I think it sums up the latest US administration well.
I've had a great deal of information cross my desk saying that online video is the way to go for blogging and for dissemination of information since videos engage the readers more. This survey undertaken by the Nieman Lab says otherwise.
Millennial communication professionals and their managers hold sharply different perceptions about millennials’ workplace factors, values and attributes
The future of technology and how it affects us, as companies and individuals, are important issues we ought to think about. In this article, James Manyika, Director, McKinsey Global Institute gives his opinion of what technology means for us.
It's always important to know what might happen in the year ahead and there are many ideas in various sectors. Here are some predictions for Customer Management Services.
President-elect Trump takes over running the US on Friday. Is he up to the job? More importantly, is his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, equipped to take over the Middle East peace process?
President-elect says his son-in-law ‘knows the region, knows the people,’ but the reality appears to be somewhat different
This story has come across my desk again and again. Many will gloat at the demise of Yahoo. But is it a good thing?
All the best for 2017
Going to a local mosque in Christchurch was a surreal experience. But I guess that’s because I had never imagined I’d be doing it. For a start, I’d never considered that the local Muslim community, in what was always the most English of cities, would be large enough to support one.
I've been asked a lot recently whether I've covered private equity. The answer is a definitive "yes". For the six months ending February 2016 I was Asia/Pacific correspondent for Private Equity International, a London-based publication. Here's the link with a couple of articles as well. There's a paywall so it might be difficult to access all the material.
Recently this article appeared in Fdi magazine and Fdi Intelligence (24/11/16) http://www.fdiintelligence.com/News/IFSWF-Conference-where-should-sovereign-wealth-funds-invest. Do take a look.
IFSWF Conference: where should sovereign wealth funds invest?
One of the most intractable problems of the Middle East is the relationship between Israel and Palestine. It's always been problematic and it always will be. I doubt that the problem will be resolved, at least any time soon.
I went to Bethlehem from Jordan three years ago, travelling into the Palestinian territory via the Allenby Crossing via bus, as a journalist. I was with several coach loads of Palestinians going to Bethlehem to attend a conference on Palestine- or at least to obtain a visa so that he/she could enter the Palestinian territory in the first place. What an experience.