Cover Story

On the Cheap

Double-digit barrel prices are taking a toll on Middle East oil producers,
prompting debate about how they will cope.

{More»}

Perspectives

Business as Unusual»

Faced with a stock market slump, evaporating liquidity and a major financial institution in crisis, the Central Bank of Kuwait has its work cut out.

Special Report

Tunnel Vision»

It may be in the club of affluent Gulf states, but institutional problems have left Kuwait less prepared than its neighbors to weather the slump.

Business

Insurance

Insurance of Arabia»

While many people see Islamic insurance as a contradiction in terms,
the sector is taking off in Saudi Arabia.



Business, Media

Write Like an Egyptian»

Media in the land of the Pharoahs are pushing free speech, but they may be missing how the local newspaper market is changing.



Banking/finance, Trends

THE CONUNDRUM»

The World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) recent inaugural summit in Dubai represented the equivalent of an intellectual assault course for its delegates on a range of socioeconomic and geopolitical issues (68 in fact). And at the heart of it lies a puzzle.




Focus

An Unbalanced Scorecard»

Yemen is working urgently to ween itself off of the country’s dwindling oil output. But security, political and bureaucratic hurdles are getting in the way.



Bridging the Gulf»

Saudi Arabia must redraw its foreign policy to manage the region’s new geopolitical realities – and it faces significant hurdles along the way.



Pirates’ Eyl»

Gangs of seaborne bandits are plaguing a key international shipping route, but a showdown with the world’s navies looms.



Talk to the Boss»

Middle East consultant Reza Zia-Ebrahimi argues that relations with Iran need to focus on the right person – and it isn’t President Ahmadinejad.




Last Word

THE LAST WORD»

The associate dean and senior lecturer in finance and accounting at the School of Management, University of Bradford, was in Dubai recently to teach about corporate finance as part of the university’s executive MBA program – the oldest of its kind in the region. Jonathan Howell-Jones caught up with him to get an expert view of what the Middle East can expect from the financial meltdown.

http://www.certina.com