The Bitter Lake

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…