Monthly Archives: March 2013

Gulf in the News – March 8, 2013

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‘Friends of Yemen’ group wants aid on faster pace

Source: The Saudi Gazette (Read full story)

International donors must speed up aid to impoverished Yemen to help it complete its delicate political transition and fight Al-Qaeda, ministers warned at a meeting of the “Friends of Yemen” group in London Thursday. The grouping of more than 35 countries and international organizations pledged $7.9 billion (6.06 billion euros) of aid to Yemen in 2012, but little of the funding has been distributed so far. “Yemen is now at a very important and dangerous crossroads,” Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi told a joint press conference with his British and Saudi counterparts, who co-chaired the London meeting.

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Malone Fellow Linda Pappas Funsch on Oman

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The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 2006 Malone Oman delegation spent time aboard a traditional Arab sailing dhow, fashioned from wood and crafted by hand in the manner of Omani shipwrights and mariners of yesteryear.

In 2006, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ Malone Fellow and Model Arab League advisor Professor Linda Pappas Funsch contributed a series of stories to the Frederick News-Post drawn from her experiences participating in the National Council Malone Fellowship Oman Cultural Immersion Program. Her seven-part series, “Oman Rediscovered,” explored various dynamics of the Sultanate’s culture, economy, international relations, and modernization since her first visit in 1974.

Gulf in the News – March 6, 2013

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GCC Macro-Outlook: Great in the Mid-Term, but What about the Long Run?

Source: The Middle East Times (Read full story)

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After the GCC private sector had taken over leadership in investment in the 80s and 90s, capital formation too is now again led by government, accounting for more than half of total investment again in Saudi Arabia for the first time since the early 1980s. Some of this investment might help in generating private growth in the future, but much of it is just to satisfy the basic infrastructure and utility needs of growing populations; in some cases, just like in the 1970s, resources also go into prestige projects of questionable economic value. Most worryingly, much of private demand in GCC economies remains indirectly state-driven: Different from almost all other economies in the world, the majority of the wage share in GDP typically consists of public sector wages, meaning that most household demand for goods and services is indirectly state-financed.

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Model Arab League Update – January & February 2013

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2013 Ohio Valley Model Arab League

Students at the 2013 Ohio Valley Model Arab League, held at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ Model Arab League program saw the successful completion of 5 Models during January and February. High school conferences were held in Atlanta, Georgia (January 24-25) and Little Rock, Arkansas (February 22-23), and university conferences were held in Grand Rapids, Michigan (February 14-16), Houston, Texas (February 16-17), and Oxford, Ohio (February 21-23). Below are a collection of stories detailing some schools’ experience at these recent Models.

Additional Model Arab League conferences will continue to be held across the United States through April. Students and schools wishing to participate in the Model Arab League program this year or in future school years should contact the National Council’s Director of Student Programs Megan Geissler or Deputy Director of Student Programs Josh Hilbrand to learn how to get involved.

Gulf in the News – March 4, 2013

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Saudi foreign minister calls for arms embargo on Syrian regime

Source: Al Arabiya (Read full story)

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal called on Monday after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for imposing an arms embargo against the Syrian regime, adding that embattled President Bashar al-Assad has lost control on all of Syria.  Prince al-Faisal stressed Saudi Arabia’s support for the Syrian people right for self-defense against the brutal crackdown of the President Assad’s forces. The United States will continue to work with its “friends to empower the Syrian opposition,” Kerry told reporters. Asked about reports of arms being sent to the rebels from countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Kerry replied: “The moderate opposition has the ability to make sure that the weapons are getting to them and not to the wrong hands.”

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Gulf in the News – March 1, 2013

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Gulf awaits Kerry with qualms over US policy – GCC officials ‘finding it difficult’ to trust Washington

Source: Kuwait Times (Read full story)

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Sager said the US and the GCC also had “core differences on Bahrain,” where security forces boosted by Saudi-led Gulf troops crushed Shiite-dominated protests in March 2011. “The United States sees political demands (in Bahrain) whereas GCC countries see a problem of terrorism,” said Sager. On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Gulf states have made no secret of their frustration at the US administration’s failure to pressure its Israeli ally into a two-state solution. For Shaikh, the Gulf monarchies, which are staunch US allies, were alarmed by “how quickly (President Barack) Obama has moved away from his old allies” in Arab Spring countries like Egypt and Tunisia.

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