I wonder if anyone reading this can imagine living in a state where criticism of the rulers results in life imprisonment, where human rights activists are given long sentences because they dared to challenge authority, where a son who…

In 2017 the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman marked himself out as a Middle East leader to be reckoned with. The consolidation of his power was completed with two audacious manoeuvres that saw the removal of the 32 year old’s chief…

For Donald Trump it was a carefully constructed and nuanced announcement: “I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.” Note one word that is missing. It is “undivided” as in “undivided…

On multiple levels, Saudi Arabia stands at the crossroads between those who see Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) inevitably ascending to the throne in the coming few days/months, and those who believe that such a change is faced by challenges and…

When Mohammed bin Salman first floated the idea of selling a portion of Saudi Aramco through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in January 2016 both pundits and Saudi Aramco senior executives were caught off guard. “Personally I’m…

Sceptics and critics of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, and I must number myself amongst them, have pointed to previous grandiose plans that have been promulgated and announced with great fanfare by the kingdom only to slip below the waterline…

As the dispute between Qatar and the so-called Quartet – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt  - drags on with no end  to the blockade of the small Gulf state in sight, Qatar is using human rights issues as a weapon in…

I recently attended a seminar on the war in Yemen, sponsored by an Oxford based think tank OxGAPS. It was aptly titled “Yemen in crisis: past, present and future.” The war that is now more than two and a half years old has destroyed…