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With Bahrain and Dubai under fire, Riyadh has emerged as the Gulf’s unlikely refuge
As missiles cross Gulf skies, the Saudi capital finds itself playing an unfamiliar role.
Back to reality: Why Saudi Arabia is downsizing its Vision 2030 plans
There’s something refreshing about a country admitting that it has overdone it. Of course, Saudi Arabia has not phrased it in so many words but the scaling back of its Giga-Projects – most conspicuously…
Missing in action: A rift emerges as the UAE skips Riyadh’s World Defense Show
The World Defense Show in Riyadh is doing exactly what it was designed to do: project confidence, capability and ambition. Fighter jets roar overhead and precision hardware gleams under the lights. The choreography is…
A look inside Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter: A community of political transients
Embassy staff are used to postings around the world but in Riyadh, they live alongside government ministers in the Diplomatic Quarter district. We pass the security checkpoints to meet its residents.
The Gulf’s best mediators are not immune to conflict – even with each other
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have presented themselves as the twin pillars of Gulf power for much of the past decade. Aligned on security, broadly synchronised on diplomacy and increasingly influential beyond the region,…
Saudi Arabia’s latest alcohol policy shift lowers the bar for raising a glass
Riyadh looks set to loosen alcohol prohibitions for select foreign residents in the kingdom. The discreet change widens access to booze in the country’s only liquor store amid suggestions that additional outlets will soon…
Can Trump get Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords? Not just yet
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) landed in Washington yesterday and president Trump needs the prince’s visit to be a success. The Epstein drama and the attendant battle with former Maga ally Marjorie…
Faith healer
Creating contemporary art in a fiercely traditional country is hard enough; layering it with political and religious messages is brave. But Abdulnasser Gharem isn’t backwards in coming forwards.
