Foreign colleges get headlines, UAE nationals fear crisis of education

It is not just financial management and governance that is worrying the professional classes and other stakeholders in Dubai. There is growing concern about the education system, which the commercial emirate has until very recently insisted it manages itself. Now, according to a senior publicly appointed official in the UAE’s higher education sector, Dubai is to return its education portfolio to federal level.
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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.
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Oman’s response to cyclone points to heightened efficiency, maturity

By and large, Oman reacted quickly and efficiently to the cyclone that struck the Sultanate in early June. GSN’s soundings in Muscat suggested that Oman was better prepared to confront climatic volatility as Cyclone Phet arrived than it was when Cyclone Gonu struck in June 2007.
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Expat banker’s complaint to UN rights body could set precedent in Gulf

Expatriates in the Gulf are used to horror stories about exit permits refused, passports withheld and people being held indefinitely under house arrest, but most accept it as one of the risks of working in a developing country.
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Paranoia strikes as Iraqis accuse GCC of meddling in oil and politics

It has long been fashionable in Iraq to state that Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Co-Operation Council states represent a ‘hidden hand’ in Iraqi politics, backing various potential proxies by bankrolling their campaigns.
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Gender segregation row rumbles on as clerics make their views clear

Controversy has erupted in Saudi Arabia over the position of Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, head of the Mecca branch of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
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Sunni and Shia machine politicians seek to keep a balance in Bahrain

Bahrain’s legally registered political groups are working to shore up their vote and persuade their constituencies they remain worthy of support ahead of National Assembly and municipal elections scheduled for this year, probably November.
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Southern Iraq: economic federalism more likely than secession in Basra

While the secession of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) area has occupied most attention, a failure of state-building in post-Baathist Iraq might also see other regions looking for at least Kurdish levels of autonomy, if not outright independence.
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Time for clear thinking on free speech in Kuwait

Freedom of expression is a proud Kuwaiti boast in a region where most countries restrict public debate and media comment. The existence of a powerful and democratically elected parliament is only one facet of a society that can justifiably claim to stand out from its neighbours for the pluralism and vigour of its political culture. Equally important are the newspapers – whose buildings line Press Street in the capital’s Shuwaikh district – and a rich variety of diwaniyas and meetings where citizens chew over ideas and opinions.
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Bahrain seeks to build affluence for its national ‘employees of choice’

Bahrain’s ongoing labour market reforms are attracting increasing attention from the media and policymakers in neighbouring Gulf Co-operation Council countries. In a region where expatriates account for over 50% of the labour force – more than 90% in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – increasing national employment is seen as a policy priority.
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Deadlock is broken, but Kuwait’s MPs remain in combative mood

In a major breakthrough for Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s combative MPs have approved a national five-year development plan, the first for decades, and the creation of a Capital Market Authority (CMA).
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Qatar’s sponsorship system once again under international spotlight

While Qatar is no stranger to negative stories in the more scurrilous regional papers, British media, including Euromoney magazine, have picked up the case of senior British banker David Proctor, who has reportedly been unable to leave for nearly a year after his all-powerful sponsor refused to sign his exit visa.
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