Author: Sebastian Sons

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Group E match at the 2019 Asian Cup between Qatar and Saudi Arabia (photo: Getty Images/AFP/K. Desouki)

Saudi Arabia, football and the Olympics

Making the leap from off-side to big league?

The Saudi national team is set to play the German Olympic squad at the Olympics in Tokyo later this month – a chance for the outsiders to make their mark. At the same time, and keen to buff up the nation's badly tarnished image, the Kingdom is looking to pitch for glory in the multi-million dollar football business. It's a risky strategy. By Sebastian SonsMore

2022 FIFA World Cup and human rights: Pointing the finger at Qatar's rulers is not enoughWorld Cup 2022 and Qatari reforms: So much hot airNon-fiction: Sebastian Sons′ ″Auf Sand gebaut″: Saudi Arabia – a difficult allyBetween religion, oil dependence and reforms: Saudi Arabia under Mohammed bin Salman
German national team wears t-shirts with "human rights" emblazoned across them prior to their World Cup qualifier against Iceland (photo: Tobias Schwartz/Getty Images/AFP)

2022 FIFA World Cup and human rights

Pointing the finger at Qatar's rulers is not enough

As Qatar prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the country has come under fire for its treatment of migrant workers, with some nations calling for a boycott of the contest. But this simply misreads the realities of the situation and the underlying problems associated with international migration. By Sebastian SonsMore

World Cup 2022 and Qatari reforms: So much hot airGulf State economies: The expat bonusOil and development in the Middle East: A two-edged swordSebastian Sons′ ″Auf Sand gebaut″: Saudi Arabia – a difficult ally
Egyptian President Al-Sisi visiting the Saudi King Salman in Riyadh (photo: picture-alliance/epa/Egyptian Presidency)

Egyptian-Saudi relations

Tightening the pursestrings

Saudi Arabia has stumped up billions to help Egypt′s economy in recent years. But bilateral relations seem to be cooling under the new Saudi King Salman. An analysis by Sebastian SonsMore

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Egypt: Conditional supportMuslim Brotherhood texts: Once valued, now proscribed Iran-Saudi conflict: The Middle East′s Cold War
A demonstrator in Yemen (photo: AP)

Review of Michael Lüders' book on the Arab Spring

How the Arab Revolution Is Changing the World

In his book about the Arab Spring, the well-known Middle East expert and journalist Michael Lüders criticises the West's one-dimensional view of the historic events that have shaken the Arab world over the past year. Sebastian Sons read the bookMore

Karim El-Gawhary's ''Diary of the Arab Revolution'': Portraits of the Common Man in the Time of UpheavalThe Arab Spring and the ''Nahda'' Reform Movement: The Second Arab RenaissanceArab Protest Movements and the West: The Spectre of the Muslim Brotherhood

In brief

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Most Recent Photo Essay

It's a man's world: photos and videos emerging from Afghanistan show bustling activity returning to the streets of cities – as at this restaurant in Herat, where customers are being welcomed back. But there is one conspicuous difference from before: at the tables are men and men alone, often wearing the traditional knee-long tunic. Women have become a rarity in the urban landscape

Afghans' altered life under the Taliban

Despite all the drama around the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan, daily life carries on there. But that day-to-day life has certainly changed – particularly for women. By Claudia Dehn & Sonja Angelica Diehn