Saudi Arabia: Business As Usual?

A month and a half after Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder, Donald Trump has issued a rare formal statement that attempts, clumsily and mendaciously, to lay his ghost to rest. “The crime against Jamal Khashoggi was a terrible one […] It could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – […]

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Political trends in the Arab World and their impact on investments

  Presentation by Yaqut President Peter Cross to the third annual Arab Mining & Minerals conference and exhibition, London, November 7, 2018   Around a quarter century ago, when I had not long started out in the business of political risk consultancy, I had an interesting conversation with one of our clients, who asked me which […]

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RIP MBS?

As you will surely have heard by now, Muhammad bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s controversial and energetic Crown Prince, was killed or badly wounded in an attack on the royal palace of Khuzama in Riyadh by a hostile faction of the ruling Al Saud family during the night of April 22. Which is why he has […]

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Saudi Royal Orders: MBS is crown prince

A series of Royal Orders issued on the morning of June 21 appointed King Salman’s influential son Prince Muhammad Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (MBS) Crown Prince. He hitherto held the position of Deputy Crown Prince – a recent innovation which is now likely to fall into abeyance. The details of the royal orders […]

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MBS takes on Qatar. But can he win?

Since May 24, Qatar has been locked in a dangerous and unprecedented showdown with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE. This is a fight that was picked by Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister, Prince Muhammad Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (MBS) – egged on, it would seem, by Abu Dhabi’s Crown […]

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Will it be war? The Trump administration discovers the Middle East

Every four to eight years, the same perilous but necessary exercise comes round again: trying to establish a working idea of the incoming US administration’s foreign policy, and in particular of what it intends to do in the Middle East. Past experience should teach us caution: things that may appear clear on day one can […]

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