21-24 June: World National Oil Companies Congress, London
30 June-3 July: The 21st-Century Gulf: The Challenge of Identity, Exeter
7-10 July: First Gulf Research Meeting, Cambridge
Briefings & Reports
Untitled Page
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
Untitled Page
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 political decisions that affect your business 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 872 - 5 March 2010
OMAN
Gas exports, Iran connection and real estate plays in the mix as Oman looks to economic resurgence
Oman’s sovereign rating has improved and there is growth again, but the authorities still face a tough task if they are to lift living standards for the majority. An Iranian gas deal is among potential solutions to drive new projects more
Coalition-building negotiations following elections to Iraq’s Council of Representatives, held on 7 March as GSN was going to press, promise to be complex and difficult more
REGION
Ambassadors’ corner
British ambassador Michael Aron’s short stay in Kuwait made it into the UK press and from there to several Gulf newspapers. According to the various accounts, Aron was ordered back to London – where he is now deputy director of Middle East affairs at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office – after a married woman working at the embassy became pregnant more
YEMEN
Yemen’s neighbours tackle aid delays as country pins hopes on ten-point plan
While a meeting of GCC states worried over international aid not getting through to Sanaa, Yemeni officials were touting the government’s latest reform package more
Clashes in southern Yemen
The government on 27 February declared a state of emergency in the southern province of Al-Dhalee, where separatists were preparing demonstrations as a message to donors meeting in Riyadh more
IRAN
Iran looks east to outmanoeuvre sanctions
As the United States pushes for further sanctions over Iran’s nuclear programme, China’s emergence as a major player in oil production threatens to undermine efforts to target the Islamic Republic’s besieged energy industry more
BAHRAIN
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. more
Issue 871 - 12 February 2010
IRAN
Iran’s Green revolutionaries just won’t go away
The regime’s hardliners thought its critics were a disparate bunch who would melt away under assault from the Basij militia. The fact that protests continue has surprised President Ahmadinejad’s allies as much as outside observers, forcing the regime and other key players – including the United States – to reassess their options more
Iran runs out of allies as nuclear tensions heighten
The shortfalls in Tehran’s proposal of a new deal on uranium enrichment, even while it intensifies its nuclear programme, has forced long-standing allies like Russia, as well as the Obama administration, to consider taking a much harder line against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his friends more
Iran’s minorities under extreme pressure
A number of minority and ethnic groups have become more prominent since June’s disputed election – and many of them have been severely repressed in an apparent attempt to intimidate them against joining the Green Movement more
IRAQ
Baghdad-KRG rapprochement: is it for real?
The thaw in Baghdad-Erbil relations since the beginning of this year has continued with encouraging statements from both federal oil minister Hussain Al-Shahristani and Kurdistan Regional Government natural resources minister Ashti Hawrami. more
GCC
Clinton to visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Highlighting the Obama administration’s growing engagement with Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states, secretary of state Hillary Clinton was to visit Qatar and Saudi Arabia on 13-16 February. more
BAHRAIN
HRW details torture claim
The government has returned to the practice of ill treating detainees that defined its reputation until the end of the 1990s, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW). more
UAE - DUBAI
Net widens in Hamas whodunnit
Dubai has responded strongly to the 20 January killing in the Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel of Hamas official Mahmud Al-Mabhuh. more
YEMEN
The US holds its nose and considers increasing military aid to Yemen
President Barack Obama has committed the US to providing more assistance to the Sanaa government, but such promises carry real risks, especially when the donor has so little confidence in the recipient more
Patterns of US assistance in Yemen
US security assistance to Yemen has been patchy over the last half decade, reflecting the ebb and flow of the US-Yemeni relationship. more
KUWAIT
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). more
