Saudi-US Relations Information Service

"..In October 2005 a project to interview citizens in six Arab countries -- Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the UAE -- was conducted under the aegis of Zogby International. The respondents, randomly chosen from different neighborhoods in various cities of each country, were asked about a number of social issues including: concerns facing their country and personal life, the acceptability of women working outside the home, how one describes oneself to another Arab and a Westerner, attitudes toward the United States, likelihood of peace, and employment issues.." [more]

"..The Gulf States are experiencing unprecedented growth in their economies and stock markets. The hope is that this growth is based on real economic growth, sound market fundamentals, and realistic economic policies. While the majority of companies that are listed on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stock exchanges have solid track records, there is limited historical data to analyze the basis of this remarkable growth. By all accounts, the stock markets are overheated, and may need to be forced to cool off. The question is not whether the GCC stock market bubble will burst, but when and at what cost. Economies and stock markets are cyclical, and market corrections are all too common in many of the world’s economies. The Gulf is no exception, but the consequence of a “bursting” of the bubble to the Gulf economies can have strategic and economic implications to the Gulf States.." [more]

"..The 26th summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council was held in Abu Dhabi on December 18-19, 2005. Leaders from the six GCC states convened the organization's Supreme Council to review a host of issues including regional security, economic integration, education reform, and more.." [more]

IT Comes of Age in the Middle East
Jon B. Alterman
[Foreign Service Journal, December 2005]

"..in the first half of the 21st century. Middle Eastern governments are losing their strangleholds on their publics. It is an age of media plenty. Any notion that there is a single "Arab line" on a matter of interest is demolished nightly on Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya and a host of other stations. It is fascinating to see how different the new generations growing up in this environment are from their elders: so much more questioning of their identities, so much more individualistic, so much more impatient. Much has been written about the relative youth of Middle Eastern societies. Forty-six percent of Yemenis and 45 percent of Palestinians are under 15, according to U.N. numbers. Half of Saudis are under 18. Many Arab countries are among the youngest societies in the world.."

"..The World Trade Organization (WTO) membership will help Saudi Arabia to open new markets for its products and services, Commerce and Industry Minister Hashem Yamani has said. Yamani, who led the negotiating team to win WTO accession, said Saudi Arabia had adopted 42 new regulations and measures as part of its efforts to join the international trade body. “Of these, 19 were related to the main WTO agreements,” he was quoted as saying by Arab News. Saudi Arabia has agreed to undertake a series of important commitments to further liberalize its trade regime and accelerate its integration in the world economy.."

‘Syriana’: The Plot Behind the Movie’s Plot
Michael Saba, [email protected]
Arab News, Dec 23, 2005

“The US consumes 26 percent of the world’s oil and gas, 70 percent of which is in the hands of Islamic fundamentalists who hate us. I fear for what my kids will inherit,” states Stephen Gaghan, the writer/director of the new holiday season movie hit, “Syriana.” To try to understand this confusing-on-purpose plot, one might seek out what drives Gaghan and some of the other players behind this thriller focusing on the Middle East.

The movie is supposedly “loosely based” on a 2002 book by former CIA agent, Bob Baer, entitled “See No Evil.” Baer’s book which is subtitled, “The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA’s War on Terrorism” keys on his own tales of serving the CIA in the Middle East and includes much self aggrandizement about his work there.

Baer later wrote in 2003 another book entitled, “Sleeping with the Devil: How America Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude,” and various other articles about Saudi Arabia in 2003 including a May 2003 piece in the Atlantic Monthly magazine called “The Fall of the House of Saud.”

Kingdom, UK Ink Deal for Typhoon Fighters [Dec 22]
"Saudi Arabia and Britain yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding for Saudi Tornado and other combat aircraft to be replaced by Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, the British Embassy here said. It gave no details on the size of the deal and set no timeframe for the delivery of the new aircraft.." [more]

First-Degree Boycott of Israel to Continue [Dec 22]
"Saudi Arabia announced yesterday that it would maintain its first-degree boycott of Israeli products despite joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). An official at the Commerce and Industry Ministry denied reports that the Kingdom had lifted the boycott.." [more]

Domestic Violence on the Rise, Says Human Rights Group [Dec 22]
"A representative of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) told Arab News that the organization has investigated 5,000 cases in the Kingdom since its 2003 inception, and that these cases are increasing. 'Thirty percent of the 5,000 cases involve domestic violence,' said NSHR Research Director Suhaila Hammad. “This is a huge percentage, which strikingly draws the attention to the increase in these kinds of cases.." [more]

Taiwan’s Industrial Exports to Kingdom Surge 23 Percent [Dec 22]
"A 23 percent increase in Taiwan’s exports of industrial machinery to the Kingdom reflects the growing industrialization program in this country.. ..The bilateral trade, at $6.5 billion, rose by 38.8 percent in the first ten months of this year.." [more]

Saudi Women See Changes, and Reasons to Expect More [Dec 21]
"Manal al-Sharif, a Saudi journalist in this Red Sea city, was in Manhattan when the Sept. 11 attacks occurred. She scrambled to contact her editors and send reports, but was rebuffed because they did not trust the work of a woman. Ms. Sharif, who has since been promoted to a midlevel editor position, said it would be different today because much has changed for Saudi women - and Sept. 11 is one of the reasons.." [more]

Dubai Prince Builds City in Saudi Arabia [Dec 21]
"Dubai Crown Prince Al-Maqtum, who decided to invest five million dollars in Istanbul, will this time construct a new city costing 26.6 million dollars near the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The project being undertaken by Dubai Development will consist of a total of six sections including a seaport, industrial zone, education facilities, financial center, tourist hotels, and a residential district.." [more]

Abdullah Launches Mega Economic City [Dec 21]
"Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday laid the foundation stone of an SR100 billion ($26.6 billion) King Abdullah Economic City that will come up in Rabigh, north of Jeddah, in what has been described as the biggest project of its kind in the Gulf region.." [more]

Nahed Taher Is First Saudi Woman CEO of Bank [Dec 21]
"Dr. Nahed Taher has been appointed CEO for the Gulf One Investment Bank, making her the first Saudi woman to head a bank in the Gulf region. Gulf One, headquartered in Bahrain with $100 million in capital, will become operational in the second quarter of 2006.." [more]

Saudi Stock Index Dives 287.12 Points [Dec 21]
"The Saudi stock market plunged yesterday. The market seems to be heading for a correction after surging to a record high last week.. ..The big fall in the Industrial index sent the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) crashing 287.12 points or 1.72 percent to close at 16,448.56 yesterday.." [more]

WTO Will Open New Markets for Saudi Products [Dec 21]
"Saudi Arabia’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) would help open new markets for Saudi products and services, Commerce and Industry Minister Hashem Yamani said yesterday.. ..Yamani, who led the negotiating team to win WTO accession, said Saudi Arabia had adopted 42 new regulations and measures as part of its efforts to join the international trade body.." [more]

GCC Calls for Nuclear-Free Middle East [Dec 20]
"Gulf Cooperation Council leaders ended their summit yesterday calling for a nuclear-free Middle East and backing a Saudi proposal to strengthen the Peninsula Shield, a joint force of the six-member GCC.. ..The summit called on “Israel to adhere to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and to open all its nuclear installations for international inspection"..' [more]

Participants of Women’s Forum Want Proposals Sent to Shoura [Dec 20]
"With reforms aimed at broadening women’s opportunities being floated by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, women who attended this weekend’s workshop entitled “Women and Millennium Development Goals” told Arab News yesterday that conclusions should be forwarded to the Shoura Council for necessary consideration.." [more]

OPEC Needs to Cut Production, Says CGES [Dec 20]
"OPEC needs to slash production by some 1.3 million barrels per day early next year to stop an oil price slide, the Center for Global Energy Studies warned in its monthly report published yesterday.. ..'Unless global oil demand growth bounces back strongly... or non-OPEC members suffer another disastrous year in 2006, the CGES expects OPEC will need to reduce output by around 1.3 million barrels per day (mbpd) to keep the price of their reference basket of crudes above $45 per barrel'.." [more]

Saudi Stocks Continue to Decline [Dec 20]
"The Saudi stock market continued its decline yesterday. The fall in major Banking and Industrial indices sent the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) plunging by 134.54 points to 16,735.68.. ..Over SR29 billion worth of shares changed hands yesterday.." [more]

Saudi Women Want Legal Framework to Protect Rights [Dec 20]
"With Saudi women holding 43 percent of shares in family-owned establishments, there is an urgent need for an institutional framework to ensure that women are not passed over in the chain of command at the behest of the dominant male partners.." [more]

Kingdom Plans to Extend Power Grid to Egypt [Dec 20]
" More than 90 percent of the Kingdom has been electrified and the remaining remote and isolated areas in the interior will be covered by 2009, Deputy Minister for Electricity Affairs Saleh ibn Hussain Al-Awaji told Arab News yesterday. The deputy minister also said that the Kingdom is planning to extend the power grid to Egypt, which will be the largest of its kind in the Middle East.." [more]

Sultan Orders Protection of Madinah Site [Dec 20]
"Crown Prince Sultan yesterday instructed authorities to restore the centuries-old Osaifreen Mountain in Madinah as part of the government’s efforts to protect historic monuments across the country. Prince Sultan’s intervention came after municipal authorities started demolishing the site, which is part of the region’s history. There was a mosque near the mountain where the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) prayed.." [more]

Kingdom Sets Free 400 Detainees [Dec 19]
"Saudi Arabia has released nearly 400 detainees, held for security reasons, after providing them with intense counseling and making sure they are free of deviant thoughts.. ..Interior Minister Prince Naif had spoken about plans to release some detainees after they repented and decided to return to the right path. Prince Naif, however, emphasized that the government would not set free those militants arrested for planning terrorist attacks across the country.." [more]

Sultan Opens 3-Day Conference on Investment in Kingdom [Dec 19]
"Prince Sultan Ibn Salman, the secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism, inaugurated yesterday a three-day international conference.. ..The conference will discuss four main themes: Investment incentives ... the reality and the development schemes, regional and global changes and its effect on investment, corporate investment and expanding ownership grounds, the culture of investment: channels and technicalities.." [more]

ALJ Chief Helps Fund MIT Poverty Center [Dec 19]
"The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced that its two-year-old center for the study of poverty eradication received in October an endowment from a prominent Saudi businessman and MIT alumnus Mohammed Jameel. The center has subsequently been named in honor of the businessman’s father.." [more]

The SUSRIS project -- an independent, private-sector information resource – offers objective, comprehensive news and information on the history, breadth and depth of the US-Saudi Arabia relationship.
< Read More About SUSRIS >