WorldcrunchStay updated with comprehensive news on Saudi Arabia from Worldcrunch. Discover insights on Saudi politics, economic strategies, societal issues, and cultural landmarks with translations from top international sources. Highlights include Riyadh, Saudi history, and cultural events.
The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has created an unprecedented crisis for moderate Arab countries, mainly for those who have ties with Israel, and for Saudi Arabia that was on the verge of reaching a normalization deal with Israel. It’s hard to envision a future for Gaza without them.
When the guns fall silent, Saudi Arabia and its ambitious prince want to be the historic peacemaker in the Middle East.
Defying an ICC arrest warrant, Russian President Vladimir Putin is on a one-day foray to UAE and Saudi Arabia to display his role in shaping the geopolitical and energy landscape — and to make the world forget about the Ukraine war just a little bit more.
Can Europe play a role in the current conflict in the Middle East? During the recent visit to the region by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, it appeared clear that Gulf States are in a much better position to negotiate a possible solution.
Saudi Arabia is set to host non-Western countries to discuss how to initiate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Moscow-based daily Kommersant takes an in-depth look at what the high-level talks, slated for Aug. 5 in Jeddah, mean for Russia — who wasn’t invited to the summit —, Ukraine and the world.
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is getting a warm reception after arriving in France for an extended stay. He has attempted to modernize his country’s image, but can the West turn a blind eye to deep moral problems in his leadership.
Saudi Arabia suddenly now leads the world in golf, continues to attract top European soccer stars, and invests in culture and entertainment… Its “soft power” strategy is changing the kingdom’s image through what critics bash as blatant “sportwashing.”
Mohammed bin Salman, aka MBS, is positioning the Saudi kingdom to be a global force of diplomacy in a way that challenges a longstanding alliance with Washington. But does the young prince have a singular vision for the interests of both his nation and the world?
Despite the official “consensus” by Arab League nations to welcome Syria back to the organization after 12 years of suspension, several key countries were opposed on principal — including key questions still open in North Africa.
Iran’s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei recently sent out a special envoy to ease tensions with wealthy Arab neighbors. He’s hoping to end the country’s international isolation and dismal economic conditions that contributed to last year’s mass protests.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have announced they will restore diplomatic relations. The news may have proved startling — especially China’s role — but is unlikely to dispel long-standing distrust between two regional rivals.
The move is seen as a coup for China in its efforts to assert itself as a global superpower, while also presenting itself as a responsible and peaceful nation in the eyes of the non-Western world. The agreement is expected to help reduce tensions in the region and revive hopes for peace in Yemen, where the two countries have been fighting a proxy war.
Labor strikes are forbidden in the Emirates, but two consecutive work stoppages by food delivery drivers have made news lately. Could it be a sign of challenges to the UAE’s unequal and authoritarian economic model?
Just two days after they’d signed an Arab League statement that did not condemn Russia and instead called for diplomacy, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined 138 other nations in a UN resolution demanding Russia halt its invasion of Ukraine.
The peace accords signed between conservative Arab states and Israel are the start of an inevitable opening for the Middle East, and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan means a new post-American, post-oil future.
NEW DELHI — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s visits to India and Pakistan in the immediate aftermath of a deadly suicide attack on Indian security personnel in Kashmir have been a test of Riyadh’s policy to keep its relations with the two neighbors in strictly separate silos. As Mohammed bin Salman“s statements in Pakistan gained wide coverage, his comments on terrorism in the Indian capital were minutely parsed. His travel itinerary for Asia had been decided months ahead but finally took place under the shadow of the car bomb attack on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy which left […]
For Westerners, particularly the United States, Mohammed bin Salman had represented the hope of a kingdom finally prepared to open to the world. The murder of Jamal Khashoggi demonstrates the contrary. Donald Trump will not escape this unscathed.
-OpEd- MUNICH — A business conference will take place next week in Saudi Arabia, dubbed “Davos in the Desert.” It comes at a delicate moment to say the least: Nearly two weeks ago, the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared from a Saudi consulate in Turkey, and is now feared dead. Many have accused the regime […]
-Analysis- The unlikely rapprochement between the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia, orchestrated by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, seems to be a response to the rise of the Iran-Russia coalition. In this game of chess, the American decision to choose Jerusalem as the Israeli capital offers an interesting opening. This face-off between the four oil-giants […]
RIYADH — In the span of a few months, Hind al-Zahid’s life has changed for the better. “My dream turned into reality,” the 38-year-old Saudi says. She’s become the first woman to enter the board of directors of one of the kingdom’s airports, in the eastern city of Damman. And soon, like millions of other […]
The latest big news out of the Middle East is that Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has ousted the crown prince and installed his 31-year-old son, Mohammed bin Salman, in that position. While the world waits to see more of the reaction from Saudis and others in the region, a few quick thoughts come to my mind. First, the news feels stunning because of its significance; if MbS (as the new crown prince is known) becomes king, he will be the first monarch who is not a son of King Abdulaziz al Saud, the founder of Saudi […]
Forget the Strait of Hormuz. The real place to watch the simmering diplomatic battle between Saudi Arabia and Qatar is 5,500 kilometers to the southeast, in the Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia. That’s because the petroleum market’s center of gravity, along with that of the global economy, is in Asia these days. As recently as the 2003 Iraq War, the U.S. and Europe accounted for more than half of the world’s oil imports. The share has now fallen to barely more than one-third, as imports by the north Atlantic countries have stood still while those by China, India, […]
-Analysis- RIYADH — The Panama Papers may be the largest data leak regarding offshore companies, but it is not the first. Offshore Leaks and Swiss Leaks were the first in this case. The nature of these revelations was, of course, different. Yet they all have had one common denominator: namely that numerous members of Middle […]
-Op-Ed- PARIS — In the 1970s, in the aftermath of Richard Nixon’s visit to China, commentators talked about the Washington-Moscow-Beijing triangle. These days, in the Middle East, there is another triangle: between Riyadh, Tehran and Washington. The problem for the region’s stability is that this triangle is absolutely dysfunctional. Indeed, the only way to understand […]
-Analysis- ISTANBUL — Saudi Arabia silenced Ayatollah al-Nimr by executing him. He was an open critic of the Saudi royal dynasty and the cruelty against the Shia, while a longtime advocate for democratic elections. The Saudis lumped Nimr in with 46 al-Qaeda members who were charged with terrorism in order to ruin his reputation. You […]
Saudi Arabia, long a direct and indirect financier of religious fanatics, has declared war on Islamist extremism! It has 34 countries on board, some of which aren’t even aware that they’ve joined. The punchline? It’s not really abo
BERLIN — As the price of oil continues to fall, share prices on the Gulf region’s stock markets have plummeted in parallel. The price of oil reached a yearly low of $60 a barrel on Friday, and we’re now looking at a possible $50, which would create a truly bleak outlook for economic prospects in […]
After militants serve time in Guantanamo or Saudi prisons, the kingdom tries to ease them back into society with a mix of carrot, stick and religion.
For fear of an Iran-led rise of Shia, authorities from Riyadh to Ankara fed the radicalism that now eyes them as the primary target.
Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, closed the annual World Health Assembly this week May 27 sounding alarm about a new SARS-like virus circulating primarily in Saudi Arabia. “My greatest concern right now is the novel coronavirus,” Chan warned the representatives of two hundred nations gathered in Geneva. “We do not know […]
-OpEd- PARIS – A lot of people in Europe, especially the French, cheered heedlessly when the Arab Spring took off in 2011. But then came the 70,000 dead from the Syrian war; the proliferation of terrorism in Libya and Mali; the assassination of the main Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid in a country where there […]