Author: Andrew Leber
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Discussions of Elections in Qatar
There has been much discussion on social media of certain objections to how Shura Council elections in Qatar are playing out this year, with some Qatari citizens excluded from participation on the basis of the 2005 Nationality Law. I will add more when I have time – for now, adding in & translating relevant threads…
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The Democratic Party
In a recent discussion about “anti-Americanism” in Saudi media I was gently encouraged to think more about how anti-Americanism manifests as anti-left-wing-Americanism (i.e. antni-Democratic Party, built up as the same kind of socialist bogeyman you see on Fox News) in particular. While this has changed a bit since the 2020 election, it has started to…
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KSA-UAE Tensions: Oil, Trade, TV
Once again, Twitter and the occasional statement to international media has offered evidence of some below-the-surface tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as documented on this site with respect to the conflict in Yemen back in 2019. Following up on those posts, I’ll put a bit of what I’m seeing here, but…
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Al-Qarar Center for Media Studies
I haven’t posted for a while as I a) figure out what makes sense to cover given Ahmed al-Omran’s excellent coverage of Saudi media over at Riyadh Bureau (which you should absolutely sign up for!) and b) deal with trying to finish my dissertation. One thing I’ve come across recently (that I don’t fully understand…
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March-April 2021: Yemen Peace Proposal and More
Been a while since I’ve posted, so just slowly pulling together a few articles on topics of interest. To be updated periodically, leave a comment if there’s something you’d like to see covered. Yemen A fair number of op-eds towards the end of March briefly discussed the Kingdom’s offer of a ceasefire with respect to…
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Media Reactions – 25 Days of Biden
Below is a quick review of recent Saudi media reactions thus far to US policies towards Saudi Arabia and a number of regional issues – including a summary of main narratives, a note on what Biden administration policy seems to be, and quotes from some of the more prominent commentators (especially Abdelrahman al-Rashed, for reasons…
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KSA Labor Market, 2017-2020
For my dissertation I look at a fair amount of Saudi labor statistics, which have attracted a bit of media coverage of late – the General Authority for Statistics delayed the release of the Q3 2020 labor market report several times “to ensure that the data collected… are up to the standards GASTAT is committed…
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Supporting the Site
Hi all! Despite the current wave of substacks, I have no intention of taking this site private anytime soon, given that my posting is too erratic and eclectic to warrant any kind of subscription service. However, if you’d like to help defray the costs of hosting this site, or buy me the virtual equivalent of…
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43 Months of Qatar Crisis Op-eds
Looking back at 43 months of articles on the Qatar Crisis from Al-Sharq al-Aawsat‘s Abdelrahman al-Rashed, a few quick takeaways (and, if you scroll down, all the articles in question – see previous post on the Deal of the Century for a similar review). As I find the time, I’ll try to add a few…
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Reconciliation with Qatar?
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan commenting on the potential resolution of the Gulf crisis kicked off some domestic Saudi discussion of potential reconciliation with Qatar: “We deeply appreciate efforts made by the brotherly State of Kuwait to bridge the gap in viewpoints regarding the Gulf Crisis, and thank the American efforts in this regard,…
The Bitter Lake 