26-29 September: Affordable Housing Development Summit Middle East, Manama
27-28 September: Unconventional Gas, London
3-5 October: Middle East Investments Summit 2010, Dubai
3-6 October: SWPF - Saudi Water & Power Forum 2010 Conference & Exhibition, Saudi Arabia
3-7 October: Funds Forum Middle East, Bahrain
4-6 October: POWER-GEN Middle East 2010, Doha, Qatar
10-12 October: The 3rd annual Saudi Arabia International Oil & Gas Exhibition & Conference, Dammam
11-12 October: Unconventional Oil 2010, London
12-14 October: Offshore Middle East 2010: The 3rd Annual Offshore Middle East Conference & Exhibition, Doha
18-19 October: Maghreb/Middle East Renewable Energy Conference, Marrakech
24-27 October: MENA Mining Congress 2010, Dubai
26-28 October: Iraq Mega Projects 2010 Conference & Exhibition, Istanbul
27-28 October: Gas to Liquids 2010, London
21-23 November: Private Equity World MENA 2010, Dubai
29 November-1 December: Iraq Petroleum 2010 Conference, London
6-8 December: Smart Grids Middle East, Dubai
Briefings & Reports
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Need an expert briefing to support an investment decision?
GSN’s team of experienced analysts are often called on by governments and their agencies, financial institutions, and energy companies to comment on developments in the Gulf region. Our analysts are available for private briefings (either by telephone or in person) and can produce tailored reports and research on a range of topics and issues. For more information contact Mark Ford. Email:mark@cbi-publishing.com
Politics, succession & risk in Saudi Arabia report
Politics, succession and risk in Saudi Arabia is a GSN special report, published in January 2010. The new report analyses Saudi policy on issues including succession, domestic and regional politics, defence, energy and financial trends, and features extensively researched biographical entries on 1,200 Al-Sauds from the ruling family’s main branch, together with profiles of leading cadet branch businessmen, and a range of maps and graphics.
Read more about the report
Islamic Finance Report
Published in June 2009, this GSN report is an essential reference tool for both newcomers, and well-established bankers and practitioners. Read more
Endorsements
"GSN now really is doing something (and at a quality level) that isn't available anywhere else that I know."
Professor Gerd Nonneman director Institute of Arab & Islamic Studies (IAIS), University of Exeter
"I have been a genuine admirer for many years. I regard GSN as the only one that focuses properly on Arabia and on Saudi Arabia in particular. That alone makes it very special as no country in the region is less understood in the UK than Saudi Arabia."
Stephen Day, consultant and former British ambassador
"GSN is by far the most professional and well-informed report on the region."
Luc Debieuvre, Bank Audi Saradar
"The website is excellent and adds value to an already very valuable publication"
José Silva Pereira general secretary Partex Oil and Gas
"Gulf States Newsletter provides a fund of information and insights for bankers and investors who are serious about doing business in the Gulf."
Francis Beddington, Banker and Economist
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announcements
Politics, succession and risk in Saudi Arabia
GSN’s new special report Politics, succession and risk in Saudi Arabia was launched to great acclaim at a 15 January seminar in London hosted and co-organised by Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. Senior figures from the banking, insurance and risk sectors joined industry and governmental political risk analysts for a frank roundtable discussion of the issues raised by a report that was recognised by discussants – who included Exeter University Professor Gerd Nonneman, political scientist Neil Partrick, Saudi academic Mai Yamani and Chatham House’s Maha Azzam and Claire Spencer – as a significant piece of research and analysis, which “raised the bar” for those researching the Kingdom. Read more about the report
The report is available to GSN subscribers for £175.
Need an expert briefing to support an investment decision?
GSN’s team of experienced analysts are often called on by governments and their agencies, financial institutions, and energy companies to comment on developments in the Gulf region. Our analysts are available for private briefings (either by telephone or in person) and can produce tailored reports and research on a range of topics and issues. For more information contact Mark Ford. Email:mark@cbi-publishing.com
Free email alerts of GSN's latest coverage
Keep track of the defence and security environment in the Gulf by signing up for email Issue Alerts. You'll receive an email update when each issue is published, including excerpts of articles and links to full articles and other resources on our website. Sign up for eMail Issue Alerts
Issue 881 - 16 July 2010
REGION
From tense Basra and Baghdad to ‘relaxed’ Anbar: Iraq’s security outlook as US withdrawal looms
With the 31 August deadline looming for the withdrawal of US combat forces in Iraq, GSN has visited locations across the country to conduct a wide-ranging assessment of the security situation and the likely impact of withdrawal. We asked what the drawdown would mean on the ground and whether the Iraqi Security Forces will cope. more
The unique case of Anbar
Across Iraq the Iraqi Security Forces are less motivated by a need to defeat the remaining cadre of militants. more
Implications of US drawdown
Many parts of Iraq are already operating in a post-US mode, and some have done so for years, as the above observations reveal. more
UK/REGION: Mayall tour
UK deputy chief of defence staff Lieutenant General Simon Mayall was in the Gulf region in early July for meetings. more
UAE
UAE: Joint defence committee with US
Senior military and government officials from the US and UAE have concluded the first meeting of the UAE-US Committee on Defence Strategies and Policies. more
YEMEN
YEMEN: Coastguard base on Miyoun Island
Yemen is building a coastguard base on Miyoun island in the Bab Al-Mandab strait to protect traffic in the crucial shipping lane that links Europe and Asia. more
SAUDI ARABIA
Special court head removed
Al-Watan newspaper has reported that the authorities have removed the president and two other judges of the security court where trials are ongoing for hundreds of suspected Islamist militants. more
Issue 880 - 2 July 2010
SAUDI ARABIA
Al-Qusayir’s arrest highlights role of wives and widows in Saudi terrorism campaign
There is always something new and surprising to learn about militancy in Saudi Arabia, and Al-Qaeda’s pledge to kidnap royals and foreigners has revealed interesting features of the evolving threat more
Why Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula failed in 2003
Thomas Hegghammer, the groundbreaking scholar of Saudi Islamism and a long-time friend of GSN, has released his long-awaited book, Jihad in Saudi Arabia*, preceding it with a pithy report on the same issue for the Combating Terrorism Centre at West Point in February 2010. more
Ursula Brennan’s Riyadh visit
Ursula Brennan, second permanent under secretary at the UK’s Ministry of Defence, has been in Riyadh for meetings. more
Military delegation in Yemen
A Saudi military delegation led by the commander of the southern military zone, General Ali Zayed Al-Khawaji, has been in Yemen. more
Border controls
Marib governor Naji Abdelaziz Al-Zaidi in late June said that Yemen continues to work closely with Saudi security and intelligence on border controls. more
Special court head removed
Al-Watan newspaper has reported that the authorities have removed the president and two other judges of the security court where trials are ongoing for hundreds of suspected Islamist militants. more
REGION
Petraeus returns to the fray as ‘Runaway General’ McChrystal resigns over magazine article
The Obama presidency has acted decisively to remove a dissenting voice from the top military team, opening the way for a further reshuffle of US generals, but not necessarily a change of tack on the operational front in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Gulf. more
Key officers in the US command
A new head will have to be appointed to US Central Command (Centcom). In the interim, deputy Centcom commander and US Marine Corps Lieutenant General John Allen will serve as acting commander while Petraeus is deployed to Afghanistan. more
GCC looks on as Petraeus job threatens to lock US into AfPak conflict
Gulf Co-operation Council states have long been the focus of efforts by US administrations and their regional military structure Central Command (Centcom) to enforce the Pax Americana. more
Issue 879 - 18 June 2010
IRAQI / KURDISTAN
Authorities gloss Kurdistan security threat
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Asaish (security services) and Peshmerga (army) have an excellent record in preventing terrorist attacks, but it may not be as unblemished as the KRG claims. more
RAK
More press chatter about RAK ‘plots’, while Sheikh Saqr remains in hospital
An upsurge in interest in the tiny emirate puts the spotlight once again on the struggle for power between the aged ruler’s feuding sons. more
California Strategies alleges hacking
In early June, California Strategies asked US attorney general Eric Holder to investigate what the firm believes is a case of computer hacking. The company believes hackers had accessed sensitive files relating to their client, Sheikh Khalid Bin Saqr Al-Qasimi. more
REGION
US updates trafficking report
The US State Department’s tenth annual Trafficking in Persons report has been released. more
SAUDI ARABIA
Al-Ayish appointed RSAF commander
King Abdullah has appointed Major General Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al-Ayish as commander of the Royal Saudi Air Force. more
Senior Saudis meet French defence min
French defence minister Hervé Morin was in the Kingdom for a two-day visit in early June. more
A senior member of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has called for supporters to kidnap Christians and Al-Saud members to secure the release of militants held in the Kingdom. more
YEMEN
Saleh talks rapprochement, but it could be too late to contain insurgency in southern Yemen
The heavy-handedness of the government’s security operations has forced retired southern soldiers into common cause with the Southern Movement, piling pressure on a creaking regime. more
Escalating military action in south Yemen
According to GSN’s contacts in southern Yemen, the federal military is rapidly reinforcing the south. more
Northern tensions remain
Ten people have been killed in clashes between northern Houthi rebels and government-allied tribesmen. more
