Yemen: Two Years Under President Hadi

It is coming up to two years since President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi of Yemen was sworn in, in February 2011. After a thirty-year rule by the brutal, corrupt and dictatorial regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen needs several years to reinvent itself as a modern pluralistic society. No one should expect miracles. But nothing […]

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To Stop Iran, Get a New Saudi King: The Atlantic

On December 25, while many Americans were eating turkey or Chinese meals and otherwise distracted from the rest of the world, leaders of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf met in Manama, the capital of the island state of Bahrain, for their annual summit. The meeting was scarcely noticed by American newspapers and other […]

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Are The Arab Monarchies Next?

The Arab Spring is not an outcome, it is a process. For those countries at the forefront of regional transformation, the fundamental question is can democracy become institutionalised? Though progress has been uneven and the outcomes of many state-society struggles have yet to be resolved, the answer is a cautious yes. In at least a […]

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Chalking Out A New Course Of Action

For the last 60 years or so, the relationship between the US and the Gulf states can be likened to a Catholic marriage. Both were in need of each other and kept supporting each other in times of difficulty. During the oil crisis, the Gulf states came to the help of the world economy by […]

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The Bright, Shiny Tinderboxes of the Persian Gulf

Touring the luxurious campus of the American University of Sharjah last week, I was yet again struck by what money, especially petrodollars, can buy. Sharjah is an emirate of the United Arab Emirates, located adjacent to Abu Dhabi. Designed by the ruler of Sharjah, Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qassimi, one of the more enlightened of […]

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