The diplomatic crisis is deepening between Arab League and Lebanon over controversial statements by a Lebanese minister. The rift is escalating and the latest Gulf nation to announce stringent decision is Bahrain. On Tuesday, the Kingdom of Bahrain has urged its citizens in Lebanon to leave the country immediately. Bahraini Foreign Minister Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani has urged all citizens in Lebanon to immediately evacuate “due to the tense situation there, which requires caution”. The Bahrain citizens and residents have also been advised against travelling to Lebanon ‘permanently’ to avoid exposure to any risk.

https://knowafrika.com/growing-rift-between-arab-league-and-lebanon-over-yemen-row-now-bahrain-asks-its-citizens-in-lebanon-to-leave/

https://preview.redd.it/iy9c44t0kij71.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=20884a003f3117c1eb5011d41ecbb4feffecb8ce

One move after another deepens the UAE's humanitarian role around the world, the most recent of which was the agreement to house 5,000 Afghan nationals who were evacuated from Afghanistan before being sent to other countries. The UAE's humanitarian hand continues to operate with efficiency, as evidenced by the fact that it has supported the evacuation of 8,500 foreigners from Afghanistan using its aircraft and airports. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the United Arab Emirates will momentarily house Afghan people before they move to other countries at the behest of the United States of America.

Afghan nationals who will be evacuated from the capital Kabul to the UAE in the following days will be flown out by US planes. “This humanitarian action comes after the UAE recently supported the departure of dozens of planes carrying hundreds of foreign individuals from Afghanistan to the country's airports, including diplomats, staff of various nationalities, and NGO workers.”

Source: https://en.imarabic.com/uae-humanitarian-hand-in-afghanistan-saves-thousands/

https://preview.redd.it/xt3412pc6ah71.png?width=750&format=png&auto=webp&s=0d8d7eec452a64d2d7516a21e32633753f860796

Ahead of the first anniversary of the historic Abraham Accords, senior rabbis in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have spoken of a year of tolerance displayed to citizens of the Jewish faith in the two GCC countries. On September 11, 2020, the United Arab Emirates and Israel announced that they would establish diplomatic relations, followed by Bahrain and Israel. According to Eitan Na'eh, Charge d'Affaires of the Israeli Embassy in the UAE, the two countries have been forging a partnership focused on taking action based on shared interests, seeking methods to build a better future, and finding answers to crises that face the region and the world.

Na'eh told the Khaleej Times on the eve of the first anniversary of the Abraham Accords' announcement: "The United Arab Emirates is an important partner for Israel. It's noteworthy because there's a lot of synergy going on. The United Arab Emirates is one of, if not the, most developed Arab countries in the region. We notice that practically every issue has a high level of synergy, and things just link wherever we go and whenever we talk to our colleagues [in the UAE]." "When we bring individuals together, we find a lot of things in common," he continued, his expression beaming.

Source: https://www.zawya.com/uae/en/economy/story/One_year_of_Abraham_Accords_UAE_a_significant_partner_says_Israels_Head_of_Mission-SNG_233416000/

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/08/12/Abraham-Accords-A-year-of-faith-and-tolerance-between-UAE-Israel-say-Rabbis

https://preview.redd.it/19ylzkrq6rc71.png?width=1224&format=png&auto=webp&s=fbf4293aff334ffb70932f257e8cf7e3306391cd

Following Iceland, the United Arab Emirates has been named the world's second safest country. On top of that, the country has been doing everything possible to assist other countries in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic issue. The UAE's most recent assistance to the Comoros Islands has been wonderful. The country got another batch of 300,000 COVID-19 vaccine shots, which were supplied with enthusiasm by the UAE.

Even in these tough times, the Emirates have done a lot of nice and decent things, which is really praiseworthy. Despite this, the UAE continues to face hostility and false accusations, as well as allegations of complicity in hostile efforts. However, these factors do not prevent the UAE from being one of the world's most tranquil, improved, and commendable countries. To the giving and kind, empty statements are meaningless!

The UAE continues its progress towards the full recovery of the Emirati community for the safety of all of us and provides 111,779 doses of the Covid 19 vaccine

https://preview.redd.it/epms27r74qn61.png?width=700&format=png&auto=webp&s=04721dfdcc159de6f71e543002af3775d7d45726

The DIHAD International Scientific Advisory Board “DISAB” has conferred “The 2021 DIHAD International Personality Award for Humanitarian Relief” on His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, as an expression of international acknowledgement for His Highness’s unwavering support and committed participation in strengthening humanitarian assistance, most especially in COVID-19.

On account of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Putman-Cramer, Director of DIHAD International Scientific Advisory Board ‘DISAB’ awarded jointly to His Highness Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, on the margins of the Dubai International Humanitarian Assistance and Development Conference.

Source: https://www.wam.ae/en/details/1395302918537

ANDREAS KRIEG Divided Gulf The Anatomy of a Crisis PALGRAVE 2019

May 13, 2019 James M. Dorsey

Andreas Krieg’s edited volume, Divided Gulf: The Anatomy of a Crisis (Palgrave, 2019), brings together a group of prominent Gulf scholars to discuss the Gulf crisis that pits a Saudi-United Arab Emirates-led alliance against Qatar. The alliance’s economic and diplomatic boycott of Qatar since 2017 has implications that go far beyond the regional dispute. The book highlights the fact that strategies of the opposed parties are to a significant extent shaped by the evolution of information and cyber warfare. It also highlights the rise of nationalism in Gulf states that fundamentally changes the role of tribes and the nature of the Gulf state in the 21st century. The book argues that at the core of the Gulf struggle are fundamentally different visions of Saudi Arabia and the UAE on the one hand and Qatar on the other on how to ensure regime survival in an era of social and economic change in which autocratic governments increasingly have to efficiently deliver public goods and services. It projects the Gulf crisis as one more intractable Middle Eastern problem in which countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia see ensuring their survival in terms of security. In doing so, the book makes a significant contribution to the literature on a region that is key to global developments and increasingly plays a role in shaping a new world order. To listen to the full podcast, click here

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute.

Economic reform in the Gulf: Who benefits, really? India James M Dorsey Mar 29, 2019 15:54:04 IST FIRSTPOST PRINT EDITION

A podcast version of this story is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and Tumblr

For Gulf leaders, long-overdue economic reforms were never going to be easy. Leaders like the crown princes of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Salman and Mohammed bin Zayed, quickly discovered that copying China’s model of economic growth while tightening political control was easier said than done. They realised that rewriting social contracts funded by oil wealth was more difficult because Gulf Arabs had far more to lose than the average Chinese. The Gulf states’ social contracts had worked in ways China’s welfare programmes had not. The Gulf’s rentier state’s bargain—surrender of political and social rights for cradle-to-grave welfare—had produced a win-win situation for the longest time.

File image of Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. AP Moreover, Gulf leaders, struggling with mounting criticism of the Saudi-UAE-led war in Yemen and the fall-out of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, also lacked the political and economic clout that allowed China to largely silence or marginalise critics of its crackdown on Turkic Muslims in the troubled northwestern province of Xinjiang. The absence of a functioning welfare-based social contract in China allowed the government to powereconomic growth, lift millions out of poverty, and provide public goods without forcing ordinary citizens to suffer pain. As a result, China was able to push through with economic reforms without having to worry that reduced welfare benefits would spark a public backlash and potentially threaten the regime. Three years into Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 blueprint for diversification of the economy, Saudi businesses and consumers complain that they are feeling the pinch of utility price hikes and a recently introduced five per cent value-added tax with little confidence that the government will stay the course to ensure promised long-term benefit. The government’s commitment to cutting costs has been further called into question by annual handouts worth billions of dollars since the announcement of the reforms and unilateral rewriting of the social contract to cushion the impact of rising costs and quash criticism. In contrast to China, investment in the Gulf, whether it is domestic or foreign, comes from financial, technology and other services sector, the arms industry or governments. It is focused on services, infrastructure or enhancing the state’s capacities rather than on manufacturing, industrial development and the nurturing of private sector. With the exception of national oil companies, some state-run airlines and petrochemical companies, the bulk of Gulf investment is portfolios managed by sovereign wealth funds, trophies or investment designed to enhance a country’s prestige and soft power. By contrast, Asian economies such as China and India have used investment to fight poverty, foster a substantial middle class, and create an industrial base. To be sure, with small populations, Gulf states are more likely to ensure sustainability in services and oil and gas derivatives rather than in manufacturing and industry. China’s $1 trillion Belt and Road initiative may be the Asian exception that would come closest to some of the Gulf’s soft-power investments. Yet, the BRI, designed to alleviate domestic overcapacity by state-owned firms that are not beholden to shareholders’ short-term demands and/or geo-political gain, contributes to China’s domestic growth. Asian nations have been able to manage investors’ expectations in an environment of relative political stability. By contrast, Saudi Arabia damaged confidence in its ability to diversify its oil-based economy when after repeated delays it suspended plans to list five per cent of its national oil company, Saudi Arabian Oil Company, or Aramco, in what would have been the world’s largest initial public offering. To be sure, China is no less autocratic than the Gulf states, while Hindu nationalism in India fits a global trend towards civilisationalism, populism and illiberal democracy. What differentiates much of Asia from the Gulf and accounts for its economic success are policies that ensure a relatively stable environment. These policies are focused on social and economic enhancement rather than primarily on regime survival. That may be Asia’s lesson for Gulf rulers. (James M Dorsey is a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, adjunct senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute of Fan Culture)

Tuesday Special Requested Jobs Epaper Today

If you like my video please visit to my channel and subscribe for more updates