Tag Archives: Middle East
Obama's Entrepreneurship Summit: Propaganda or Progress?
In case you missed it, the “new beginning” to US-Muslim relations kicked off Monday. The difference is palpable, no? Well, maybe no. Not yet- but the two-day Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship which ended yesterday at the White House is evidence … Continue reading
Filed under Billionaires, Business, World
Qatar's Visa Revenge
If the US is waiting for an apology from Qatar for last week’s insolent-ambassador incident, they are wasting their time. Qatar has been silent since last Wednesday’s flap but if this recent news out of the Qatari Embassy is any … Continue reading
Qatar Above Reproach?
You know that bad kid in the neighborhood? The one who shoplifts, loiters and sells your kid pot but who you can never rat out because his mom is your boss’s sister? The US government sure does and they’re now … Continue reading
What Abu Dhabi's Looming Power Struggle Means for Dubai
The sudden, tragic death of Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahayan in a plane crash in Morocco has cast a pall over the UAE in more ways than one. The intensely-private 41-year-old was not nearly as high-profile … Continue reading
Filed under Billionaires, Business, World
Dubai's Bailout a Wild Bet
Fake islands are the way of the future. That, more or less, is the audacious belief underpinning the deal Dubai worked out yesterday with creditors to restructure $23.5 billion of frozen debt. After four months of gloom and uncertainty, the … Continue reading
Filed under Billionaires, Business
Dubai Cracks Down on the One Thing it Can Still Control
That would be randy Brits. And sexting. Massage parlors. Cooking booze. Pretty much anything that might constitute a threat to traditional Emirati culture and the very same things that differentiated Dubai from its ultra-conservative neighbors. Dubai’s value proposition to the … Continue reading
Filed under Billionaires, Business, World
Dubai Offers Cash For (Real Estate) Clunkers
The story of Dubai’s real estate market over the past eight years would make an exciting flip-book. A sleepy port town introduces freehold property rights for foreigners (May 2002) and- hang on to your hats- a buzzing metropolis is born. … Continue reading
Filed under Billionaires, Business, World
Iran Hits An Ugly Record
My fellow blogger here at True/Slant, Neal Ungerleider put it best: As piss-poor as the opportunities for journalism jobs are in the United States, it’s still better than the situation for Iranian journos. via Iranian journalism market isn’t so easy – … Continue reading
Saudi Arabia's American Problem
Really, who’s surprised? According to Kuwaiti economist, Jassem Al-Mutwwa, Saudi families spend nearly twice their income on what you might call, stuff. “Education, amusement and eating out account for more than 181 percent of a family income in Saudi Arabia,” … Continue reading
Filed under Billionaires, Business
World's Newest Media Hub Has Everything but Freedom of the Press
It’s no secret that media is an industry in dire need of a White Knight. Will it be the iPad? The sudden, improbable rebound of advertising rates? The demise of the internet? Right now, it seems the most successful (least … Continue reading
Filed under Billionaires, Business
