Mohammed bin Salman
All topics-
Media and politics in the Arab world
The despotsʹ henchmen
The murder of well-known Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi highlights the difficulties facing media in post-revolutionary Arab states. The freedoms temporarily gained after 2011 have long since fallen victim to the authoritarian restoration. By Loay Mudhoon
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Repression against journalists
A world of Khashoggis
Following the death of the Saudi dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi, there are fears that the masterminds of the murder could go unpunished. A development that sends a fatal signal to journalism worldwide, writes Daoud Kuttab
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The killing of Khashoggi
Letting Mohammed bin Salman off the hook
Despite global media coverage and condemnation by governments and human-rights activists, Saudi officialsʹ murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has not led to any meaningful sanctions. And such impunity is an important reason why the murder happened in the first place. By Leon Willems
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Interview with Karl-Otto Zentel, General Secretary of CARE Deutschland
Yemen – what is the world waiting for?
With the latest round of peace talks aimed at ending the war in Yemen underway in Sweden, Karl-Otto Zentel, General Secretary of CARE Deutschland, gives his own assessment of the civil war and the chances for peace. Interview by Carsten Gruen
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The Khashoggi aftermath
The inconvenient truth about Saudi Arabia
Following the massacre of protesting students in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989, U.S. President George H.W. Bush’s administration limited its sanctions and kept lines of communication open, owing to China's strategic importance. Richard N. Haass asks whether a similar policy toward Saudi Arabia would prove viable?
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Bearing the brunt of the war
Yemeni families in dire straits
War, famine and poverty are devastating Yemen. Millions of people are in dire need of food and medical supplies. Among the worst-affected are young mothers and their children. Gouri Sharma and Mohamed Hussein report
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The world according to Mohammed bin Salman
Prove your loyalty, Saudis – deny reality
Saudi Arabia first denied the Khashoggi murder and then blamed it on rogue security agents. Neither version has enjoyed much credibility, but the ability to make the population repeat incredible claims is itself a form of power for Arab autocrats, argues Hannes Baumann
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Trump, MbS and the aftermath
Did the global order die with Khashoggi?
Principled leaders on the world stage need to reinforce the rules on which we all depend, sending a clear signal that what happened in Istanbul is not acceptable. Otherwise, we will effectively be giving up the discourse of values and rules – a decision that could well leave us with no coherent and stabilising discourse at all, argues Ana Palacio
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Middle East economies
Treading the trade war tightrope
Trumpʹs latest campaign to put pressure on China, with the option of raising existing trade tariffs of 10% to 25% by year-end, is just part of an escalating trade war between two super economic powers that could have disastrous effects – with the fragile Middle East destined to feel the pinch. By Stasa Salacanin
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Murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Donald Trump's ersatz reality
The gruesome killing of former Saudi government advisor and journalist Jamal Khashoggi will not lead to dissociation with Saudi Arabia, says Stefan Buchen in his essay. After all, the most powerful man in the West is Donald Trump, one of the murdererʹs best friends
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Interview with Middle East expert Guido Steinberg
No one wants conflict with Saudi Arabia
Even though the case of the disappeared Saudi journalist Khashoggi weighs heavily, no government is prepared to risk open conflict with the Saudis. Meanwhile, the concerns of dissidents who have fled their authoritarian countries of origin to the West are growing. By Diana Hodali
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Ethiopia, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and the UAE
Winds of change in the Gulf
Ethiopia and Eritrea didn't pen their peace agreement in Addis Ababa or Asmara, but in Saudi Arabia with the Emirates alongside. Are economic and military interests increasingly binding Gulf states and the Horn together? By Sella Oneko