18-20 January: MENA-EX 2009 Strategic Conference and Exhibition, Jeddah
19-21 January: Gulf C4ISR 2009, Abu Dhabi
19-21 January: Oil & Gas Maintenance & Technology, Manama
20 January: The World in 2009 Executive Forum, Dubai
24-25 January: Iraq Health Summit, Dubai
25-26 January: Operational Risk Management for Banking & Finance, Manama
26-28 January: 3rd Annual Global E&P Summit, Barcelona
28-30 January: Gas Transport & Storage Summit 2009, Barcelona
2-4 February: Middle East Energy Security Forum, Dubai
3-5 February: Strategic Private Equity Investment Middle East 2009, Dubai
9-10 February: Middle East Energy 2009: The Politics of Investment and Supply, London
17-18 February: Islamic Project Finance, Dubai
24-25 February: 8th Annual Islamic Finance Summit, London
24-25 February: Middle East Trade and Export Finance, Dubai
4-5 March: Oil & Gas Contracts with Host Petroleum Regimes, Paris
23-24 March: LNG 2009, London
Briefings & Reports
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In addition to producing the flagship fortnightly Gulf States Newsletter, GSN’s team of experienced analysts also produce briefings and reports on a range of topics and issues that affect the region. Our expertise can be tapped by anyone and delivered in a range of formats. For more information contact Nick Carn. nick@gsn-online.com
Issue 843 - 19 December 2008
Risk management grades revisited
GSN has revised its Risk Management Report ‘risk grades’, with an assessment of the political and financial factors that can impact on the region’s polities and economies. The exercise, undertaken by GSN’s staff, showed that no country is immune from instability, and the credit crunch and oil price slump are having a big negative impact – even on those smaller, wealthier states who are expected to emerge as winners from the global shakedown. But it also showed inherent strengths in many societies that will serve the region well, and provided some reasons to be optimistic that even the most troubled polities – Iraq, Iran, Syria and Yemen – can survive their crises, hopefully better able to ensure peace and rising living standards for their populations, as well as their elites. more
Issue 842 - 5 December 2008
UAE
Five years on, RAK’s Sheikh Khalid is back
What is happening in Ras Al-Khaimah? Five years after he was replaced by his half-brother Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al-Qasimi, former Ras Al-Khaimah crown prince Sheikh Khalid Bin Saqr Al-Qasimi is employing PR companies and YouTube to signal his return to public life, promising a ‘pledge for progress’. more
The RAK succession path-
Like many of the Gulf territories, RAK has not had the easiest of successions. more
Fujairah’s CP Mohammed speaks out on policy preoccupations
Fujairah Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Al-Sharqi has spoken about his emirate’s crippling electricity shortages, more
SAUDI ARABIA
Succession manoeuvres with Sultan in US for tests
Amid a flurry of renewed speculation over the health of Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdelaziz – who flew from Jeddah to the United States for medical tests on 23 November – Allegiance Council chairman Prince Mishaal Bin Abdelaziz has begun informal soundings among senior royal family members about the future course of the succession. But the Al-Saud are divided, with so far no sign of support coalescing in favour of any particular potential heir apparent. more
Saudi clerical leaders bend with Abdullah’s tolerance agenda
In parallel to an SR9bn ($2.4bn) upgrade of school facilities and teaching methods under the banner of the King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz Project for Developing Public Education (Tatweer), the Saudi Ministry of Education (MoE) is tackling the ideological roots of jihadist activity. more
KUWAIT
Crunch time beckons for Kuwait’s comeback premier
Mere survival is not enough: supporters of Sheikh Nasser Mohammed want to see the prime minister give decisive leadership in overcoming family rivals and parliamentary opponents. more
ERITREA / QATAR
Eritreans come into the Qatari tent
Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki was in Doha again in late November to attend a UN Conference on Development Funding. While there he held talks with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa, who has been taking a big interest in East African affairs.
Issue 841 - 21 November 2008
REGIONAL
Commander-in-Chief? Washington unsure whether Obama or Petraeus will lead Gulf policy
With the Obama camp keeping its cards close to its chest on key appointments and foreign policy, Gulf watchers have been left pondering what the US president elect intends to do in the region – whether Obama will opt for continuity or change, and how the anticipated strategic ‘pivot’ to Afghanistan will affect Gulf policy. more
IRAQ
January elections point to new Iraqi order
Iraq is to hold its much-anticipated – and delayed – provincial elections on 31 January, with 444 seats to be contested by a growing number of political groups. The polls could set the tone of Iraqi politics for years to come, to an even greater extent than Barack Obama’s investiture in Washington eleven days before. more
IRAN / US
What to do about Iran: key appointments will point the way
Until Barack Obama makes key appointments to his foreign policy team, there is little way to gauge exactly how he is thinking about Iran. One early set of indicators will include his choice of leadership figures such as his secretaries of state and Defence. State may go to Senator Hillary Clinton, Obama’s rival from the Democratic nomination. more
Obama election and offer of talks with Iran may pressure Ahmadinejad
A US offer of dialogue would be a useful means of applying pressure to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Rahbar (Supreme Leader) Ali Khamenei as Barack Obama could pose a real challenge for the Iranian leadership. more
KUWAIT
Kuwaiti tribes fight to defend political influence
Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed’s administration is feeling the heat from defenders of traditional politics. Months after the government deployed police to break-up tribal primaries in the run-up to this year’s general election, Interior Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Khalid Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is the target of a renewed attack by parliament’s tribal members. more
BAHRAIN
Mini cabinet reshuffle in Bahrain
Information Minister Jihad Bu-Kamal has been replaced by high-profile cultural promoter Sheikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa. more
SAUDI ARABIA
First Saudi Arabia, now Jordan – Qatar mends regional relations
The impending official visit of the Jordanian royal couple to Doha signals another step in Qatar’s efforts to rebuild regional relations that were, in part at least, hurt by Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel’s irreverent reporting of regional leaderships. more
Issue 840 - 7 November 2008
Saudi foreign policy: Obama will find a self-confident Kingdom that states its terms
In little over three years of rule, King Abdullah’s Saudi Arabia has steadily gained in diplomatic confidence. It’s not just because of its wealth that Riyadh is now a major destination on the foreign policy map for international leaders. Saudi Arabia has emerged as a partner that knows its own mind, able to forge policy that is in line with the government’s view of national self-interest but which also pushes a positive global and regional agenda. more
Saudi Arabia: Dancing in the streets as Mishaal is removed from Najran
Spontaneous celebrations began in Najran as news broke that hard-line governor Prince Mishaal Bin Saud Bin Abdelaziz had been removed by King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz after years of discrimination against the local Ismaili community. more
Bahrain: violence points to confrontation
Street violence flared in Bahrain during late September and October, leading to another major security hunt for a group of Shia protestors who were allegedly involved in a serious assault on three men. more
‘Military action’ against Iran
There was a lull in the speculation over the potential bombing of Iran by the United States or – more likely – its ally Israel, with the world transfixed by Barak Obama’s victory in the US presidential election. more
