For most countries in the Gulf, therefore, an El Sissi presidency will bring a familiar, trustworthy and capable partner on issues of common concern such as Iran, the Middle East peace process and Turkey. On the other hand, Qatar’s continued support for the Muslim Brotherhood in exile will likely be seen as a direct challenge and threat to Egypt’s new popular strongman. This may result in the further deterioration of relations. Read more »
GCC
The Gulf and Egypt: Long transitions and Marshall plans
Over the past few years, Egypt’s relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on one hand, and with Qatar and Turkey on the other, witnessed a complete reversal, twice over. Up until the 2011 uprising, Egypt maintained cool relations with Qatar and Turkey who had hosted Muslim Brotherhood leaders, while at the same time maintaining strong ties with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Following the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power in 2012, the equation was completely reversed. Read more »
Correcting misconceptions of the Gulf’s modern art movement
On Oct. 25, after a brief visit to the region, a Wall Street Journal writer declared, “The Arabic-speaking part of the Gulf has essentially no indigenous tradition of visual or plastic arts.” It isn’t the first time that the modern art movement in the Gulf was dismissed by those who don’t know better. In fact, modern art as defined in the West stretches back several decades across the Gulf with multiple generations of artists. Read more »
Thriving Gulf Cities Emerge as New Centers of Arab World
An old Arab saying goes, “Cairo writes, Beirut publishes and Baghdad reads.” These three capitals, along with Damascus, were long the hubs of culture and education in the Arab world. However, over the past few years, as these traditional Arab capitals became more embroiled in civil strife, a new set of cities started to emerge in the Gulf, establishing themselves as the new centers of the Arab world. Abu Dhabi, its sister emirates of Dubai and Sharjah and the Qatari capital, Doha, have developed as the nerve center of the contemporary Arab world. Read more »
Give expats an opportunity to earn UAE citizenship
Some Emiratis are apprehensive about it, and some residents aspire for it. The possibility of naturalising certain long-term UAE residents is not without its sceptics and advocates. Part of the fear of naturalisation is that Emiratis would lose their national identity; we are after all a shrinking minority in our own country. However, UAE national identity has proven to be more resilient and adaptive to the changing environment and times than some may believe. Read more »
What Do Gulf States Want for Egypt?
Stability or democracy? Sultan Al-Qassemi, commentator on Arab affairs, and Hani Sabra, MENA director at the Eurasia Group, joins in conversation with Richard LeBaron, visiting senior fellow with the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. Read more »