Contestation, Sectarianism, and Reconciliation in the Conflict of Yemen

Am 2. und 3. Dezember 2020 veranstaltete das Regionalprogramm Golfstaaten (RPG) in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Programm Sectarianism, Proxies, and De-Sectarianism (SEPAD) am Richardson Institute der Lancaster University einen Online-Workshop zum Konflikt im Jemen.

Towards a Regional Security Mechanism in the Gulf Region

The Gulf region requires a regional security mechanism, based on both conceptual and operational baskets, through which regional as well as relevant external actors can engage with one another. Building on recent calls for de-escalation, Europe in particular should take the lead given the various tool of conflict resolution that it can bring to the table.

Women Leadership in the Gulf States

A workshop series

Nach dem erfolgreichen Trainingsprogramm zu politischer Führung von Frauen und Kampagnen-Kno how für Frauen, die für ein öffentliches Amt kandidieren organisierte die kuwaitische Strategieagentur IBTKAR in Kooperation dem Regionalprogramm Golf-Staaten zehn Workshops zum Thema "Women Leadership in the Gulf States".

„Europa ist ein strategischer Partner für uns“

Saudischer Staatsminister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Dschubeir zu Gast in der KAS

Aktuell hält Saudi-Arabien den Vorsitz der G20 und wird in diesem Zusammenhang Gastgeber des G20-Gipfels am 21. und 22. November sein. Im Rahmen eines Besuchs in Berlin nahm der Staatsminister für Auswärtige Angelegenheiten des Königreichs, Adel bin Ahmed Al-Dschubeir, am Freitag an einer digitalen Gesprächsrunde der KAS mit politischen Entscheidungsträgern und Experten teil. Neben der saudischen G20-Präsidentschaft ging es dabei vor allem um die aktuellen Entwicklungen am Golf und die Rolle Europas in der Region.

Migration and The COVID-19 Pandemic in the Gulf

A Study of Foreign Expatriate Worker Communities' Coping Attitudes, Practices, and Future Prospects in Dubai and Jeddah

In this study, Dr. Fahad L. Alsharif from King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, and Froilan T. Malit from the University of Cambridge examine the impact of Covid-19 on a sample of foreign expatriates in Jeddah and Dubai. The study specifically explores how Covid19 has affected foreign workers’ economic and welfare status in both Gulf cities mainly on the working and living conditions, access to medical services and dispute resolution system, remittance contribution, and current and future employment and security perceptions both in the Gulf and home country’s labour markets.

Offensive Realism and Saudi Foreign Policy towards Iran

A zero-sum game?

The Arabian Gulf has long been one of the world’s tensest regions. Since 1980, three main wars occurred, and the region has undergone a military buildup ever since. Most of those in the Arabian Gulf states see the Iranian Revolution of 1979, which changed the face of the entire region, as the predominant causal factor for its instability. Since then, tensions and hostility have only increased between the two sides of the Gulf: the Arabian side, led by Saudi Arabia, and Iran. This article is an attempt to explain an iteration of this relationship between the two sides, via an examination of Saudi foreign policy (SFP) towards Iran.

Jemen - Entwicklungen im Schatten von Corona

112.000 Tote - so lauten Schätzungen zu Opferzahlen des Krieges im Jemen, der seit sechs Jahren anhält. Das ohnehin arme und von mehreren Krisen erschütterte Land steht für die schlimmste humanitäre Katastrophe unserer Zeit. Trotz der katastrophalen humanitären Lage und dem zusätzlichen Druck durch COVID-19 stagniert die internationale Hilfe. Derweil ist es trotz zahlreicher Bemühungen bis heute nicht gelungen, die militärische Eskalation zu beenden. Den nationalen Dialog zu fördern und lokale und nationale Strukturen zu stärken bzw. aufzubauen, könnten Elemente sein, um politische Verhandlungen und eine nachhaltige Konfliktlösung zu unterstützen.

The Evolution of State Capacity in the Gulf Region

For a long period of time, the Gulf States’ revenues were external resource rents from oil exports rather than being acquired through traditional taxation. Consequently, the Gulf States skipped a traditionally pivotal step in the state formation process, namely, building a capable bureaucracy that is able to penetrate the Gulf societies. However, the drop of oil prices in 2014, coupled with the diminished dependence of the U.S. on the Gulf oil due to the development of the production of shale oil, have led the Gulf States to consider taxation, rolling back subsidies and imposing fees on the employment of migrant workers. All these measures required the creation of professional and skilled bureaucracy to carry out them; a mission the Gulf States achieved in a short period of time. Thus when the outbreak of Covid-19 occurred, the Gulf States were ready to deal with it effectively.

Religious Discussions on Coronavirus in Yemen

This policy report focuses on the religious discourses surrounding the pandemic of COVID-19 in Yemen. It aims at discerning this diversification and to point out to some discursive and theological implications that has to do with the current political conflict in Yemen, secularization processes and the polemical debates between the established traditional religious elite and the emerging young public intellectuals. Based on the author’s analysis of the data, they classify the Yemeni religious debate into two main trends: plain religious discourse and rationalized one. Within both trends, they find different voices that belong to different sects and schools of thought in Yemen. Nevertheless, the sectarian and religious orientations of the main interlocutors of this debate are not ignored.

„Hypernationalismus“?

Identitäts- und Nationalismusdebatten am Golf

Wenige Regionen werden bezüglich ihrer wirtschaftlichen, gesellschaftlichen und sicherheitspolitischen Verfasstheit durch derart massive Veränderungen herausgefordert wie die Golfstaaten. Veränderungen, die auch zu einer Auflösung bisheriger identitätsbildender Faktoren führen. An ihre Stelle treten heute Nationalisierungsprojekte, mit denen der Vorwurf einhergeht, die Golfstaaten verfolgten einen aggressiven „Hypernationalismus“.