Author Archive

Bridging the Gulf

By admin • Dec 23rd, 2008 • Category: Focus

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



THE LAST WORD

By admin • Dec 17th, 2008 • Category: 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.



Write Like an Egyptian

By admin • Dec 16th, 2008 • Category: Business, Media

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



Talk to the Boss

By admin • Dec 14th, 2008 • Category: Focus

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



THE CONUNDRUM

By admin • Dec 14th, 2008 • Category: Banking/finance, Trends

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.



Labor Pains

By admin • Dec 11th, 2008 • Category: Cover Story

The financial crisis will affect the availability of jobs across the region,
and it won’t just be the non-skilled workers who will be in the line of fire.



Qatari royal battles Barclays in $78m Marbella fraud

By admin • Jul 3rd, 2008 • Category: Banking/finance

Incompetent’ Barclays embarrassed by allegations as it seeks Qatar Investment Authority help in raising $7.9bn.



Fast company

By admin • Jun 30th, 2008 • Category: Media

When MerchantBridge’s Samir A. Arab test-drove a Spyker car a few years ago, he was impressed. “How much?” he asked. “$250,000,” came the reply.



Lebanese T-shirt

By admin • Jun 26th, 2008 • Category: Trends

Dotcom-unity’s t-shirts with attitude show how slogans can sell - if you can laugh at hard times.



Saudi Minister flips burgers to sell McJobs to locals

By admin • Jun 25th, 2008 • Category: Trends

It comes to something when the Labor Minister has don overalls and serve burgers to convince Saudis that working in a fast food joint is better than being unemployed.
Saudi Arabia’s Labor Minister, Ghazi Algosaibi, was pictured yesterday, wearing overalls and serving burgers in fast food restaurant in Jeddah. His three hour stint was aimed at [...]