Political Geography: Saudi Arabia / Publication Year: within 3 Years

Author:: Paul Rivlin
Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
Abstract:: In our latest issue of Iqtisadi: The Middle East Economy, Paul Rivlin analyses the economic effects of having a zero-sum versus a win-win approach to problems. Increased bilateral trade since the Abraham Accords offer an example of a win-win scenario while the current Lebanese crisis shows how difficult it can be to escape a zero-sum game.
Topic:: Economy, Normalization, Abraham Accords, and Israeli–Palestinian Conflict
Political Geography:: Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, and United Arab Emirates

Author:: Paul Rivlin
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
Abstract:: In our latest issue of Iqtisadi Paul Rivlin analyses the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the Middle East and global energy markets.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Economy, COVID-19, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:: Turkey, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt

Author:: Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies
Abstract:: March saw an escalation in cross-border attacks between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, with Houthi missiles and drones targeting Saudi oil and gas infrastructure, and the kingdom responding with airstrikes on Houthi-held areas in northern Yemen. However, the month ended on a hopeful note, with the warring parties declaring that they were entering, for the first time in more than seven years of war, a nationwide cease-fire. The truce, which commenced on April 2, the first day Ramadan, is set to last two months and includes a halt to military operations and cross-border attacks, in addition to the easing of coalition restrictions that would reopen Sana’a airport to commercial flights and allow fuel tankers to resume deliveries to the Houthi-held port of Hudaydah. Despite multiple early accusations of violations, there is hope that the cease-fire will provide Yemenis a reprieve from both the fighting and the three-month long fuel crisis that has gripped the country. The cease-fire also provides breathing space for peace consultations among anti-Houthi parties, brought together in Riyadh in late March and early April under the auspices of the six-state Gulf Cooperation Council.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Houthis, and Armed Conflict
Political Geography:: Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Gulf Nations

Author:: Helen Lackner
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)
Abstract:: For eight years, Yemen has suffered a civil war, whose conduct has been exacerbated by outside powers, principally Saudi Arabia and the UAE on one side, while Iran has supported the other. Yemen is a politically, socially, geographically, and religiously fragmented country, including within the two broad areas controlled by the internationally recognised government and the Houthis respectively. Saudi Arabia and the UAE may soon decrease their military interference in Yemen – but their exit could expose divisions in both government and Houthi areas. Yemen was poor before the conflict, but a corrupt war economy has now taken hold, strengthening an array of local power holders, while the Yemeni people slip into ever-deeper destitution. Short-term measures introduced with the support of the international community have failed to stabilise the situation. Europeans should take a longer-term approach to Yemen. They should promote the country’s cause in their diplomacy with Gulf Arab states and make a commitment to economic support, a values-based approach, and an emphasis on human rights in Yemen.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Civil War, Diplomacy, Human Rights, and Armed Conflict
Political Geography:: Europe, Middle East, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, North Africa, and United Arab Emirates

Author:: Barclay Bram, Charlie Harris, and Christopher McKenna
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxford Centre for Global History
Abstract:: There are three stone pillars in the city of Mina, just east of Mecca. During the Hajj, pilgrims must strike one of the three jamraat with seven pebbles. In the subsequent days they must return and stone each of the pillars, with pebbles no greater than the size of a chickpea that they find in the plain nearby or in Mina itself. Pilgrims collect at least 49 such pebbles, keeping them in a small pouch as they perform their other religious duties. “The stoning of the devil” is a ritual that is a key part of the Hajj pilgrimage, which is a religious obligation all able-bodied Muslims who are capable of doing so must complete at least once in a lifetime.1 It is such an important act that some Muslims change their name afterwards, adding the honorific al-H or hajji. In parts of the Arab world families of returned hajjis paint murals on their homes to alert their neighbours to the pilgrim in their midst.2 Throwing the stones symbolises the actions of Ibrahim when he faced the trial of sacrificing his son, Ismail, upon the commandment of Allah. The pillars represent each of the three places in which the devil tried to dissuade Ibrahim from carrying out Allah’s will.
Topic:: Islam, Religion, Capitalism, and Management
Political Geography:: Saudi Arabia and Mecca

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