The Gulf region and how GSN covers it – including recent and archived articles, maps, family trees, and other resources.
Briefings & Reports
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Need an expert briefing to support an investment decision?
GSN’s team of experienced analysts are often called on by governments and their agencies, financial institutions, and energy companies to comment on developments in the Gulf region. Our analysts are available for private briefings (either by telephone or in person) and can produce tailored reports and research on a range of topics and issues. For more information contact Mark Ford. Email:mark@cbi-publishing.com
Politics, succession & risk in Saudi Arabia report
Politics, succession and risk in Saudi Arabia is a GSN special report, published in January 2010. The new report analyses Saudi policy on issues including succession, domestic and regional politics, defence, energy and financial trends, and features extensively researched biographical entries on 1,200 Al-Sauds from the ruling family’s main branch, together with profiles of leading cadet branch businessmen, and a range of maps and graphics.
Read more about the report
Welcome
For over thirty seven years, GSN has been breaking news and providing informed analysis on the people, politics and resources of the Gulf region.
Our information is based on independent research and staff expertise. We are not a web-based aggregator that rehashes wire stories and press releases.
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HEADLINES
One year on, Bahrain protesters hope for renewed momentum as crackdown continues
Protesters call for widespread demonstrations on 14 February, undeterred by continuing clashes with riot police; rights groups say little has changed since the completion of an official inquiry into last year’s violence
With just over two weeks to go until the anniversary of the popular uprising, temperatures are rising on the streets of Manama. Protests continue, as does the often violent police response; little has been done so far to implement the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report’s recommendations, intended to redress human rights abuses during the government crackdown on protesters (GSN 913/5, 914/15). Since the report was released, at least five protesters have been killed, according to rights groups. more
Militants advance as President Saleh leaves a crumbling Yemen
President Ali Abdullah Saleh has made his long awaited exit, but it is a country in chaos he leaves behind. Militant gains in the south, street protests, gun battles, assassinations and air force mutinies do not build a picture of a nation ripe for political transition, but rather of a Yemen imploding more
Grim outlook as Syria stand-off grinds on
Reflecting a deteriorating political situation and a consequent economic downturn, GSN has lowered its risk grade for Syria to E4 (from D3). President Bashar Al-Assad’s defiant regime looks increasingly isolated internationally, but retains enough internal support to prolong its brutal crackdown on protests, in which more than 5,400 people have been killed since last March. more
Kuwait’s invigorated Bidoon sceptical about government promises
Protests have triggered new promises from the leadership, including that it will grant citizenship in ‘legitimate’ cases. But the Bidoon have had enough, and support for their cause is growing more
All fingers point to Mossad after violent deaths of Iranian nuclear scientists
The 11 January assassination of nuclear procurement expert Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan is the latest in a string of killings targeting scientists involved in Iran’s nuclear sector more
Growing risk of miscalculation in Strait of Hormuz stand-off
As long-term Gulf-watchers know, Iran is never more dangerous than when shocked into a hasty reaction by an unexpectedly painful blow. The 3 July 1988 destruction of Iran Air Flight 655 by a US naval vessel, in which 290 civilians died, is now thought to have brought about the Iranian-Libyan plot to destroy Pan Am Flight 103 six months later. In 1995, then US House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich publicly called for regime change in Iran, injecting $18m into the classified annual intelligence budget to achieve it. Most US counterterrorism analysts believe Tehran’s response was to bomb the Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, in June 1996. more
China shifts towards GCC as Iran’s isolation deepens
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad garnered moral backing during his mid-January voyage around five of Latin America’s ‘anti-imperialist’ states, but he seems to have come away with little material support to counter Iran’s growing crisis of international isolation – underlined on 23 January, when European Union foreign ministers agreed on the much-anticipated embargo on Iranian oil imports (effective from 1 July). Working the crowd with Hugo Chávez may have been good for Ahmadinejad’s morale, but Venezuela is unlikely to repeat efforts to smuggle Tehran fuel additives, aware of the cost of US sanctions. Neither are old friends China or Russia likely to break embargos that could hurt their other commerce. Maintaining payment flows from Iran’s 2.25m b/d oil exports is getting ever harder. more
Another busy year for FCPA activity, say lawyers
A summary of actions by the US authorities and their allies in 2011 shows the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and associated legislation are having an impact, with due diligence and investigative business expected to grow further more
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Tracking political risk issues in the Gulf
GSN publisher Cross-border Information is a business intelligence company, providing political and commercial risk monitoring, analysis and research services focused on Africa and the Middle East.
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