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~ This is a personal blog. All views expressed here however childish, intelligent, wrong, prescient, offensive or judicious are my own personal thoughts, prejudices, ideas, issues and assumptions. ~
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By the way, everything here is totally under my copyright. Any stealing of my stuff will result in instant legal dismemberment by a trained team of vicious lawyers.
The Gulf blog 
Good Day,
Because of your interest in the French military base in the UAE, and with war games set to start this weekend, I wanted to let you know that tomorrow, 2/28, The Issue (www.TheIssue.com) will be running a feature story on the war games, the ongoing debate over the military base in Abu Dhabi and western occupation in the middle east. As a reader of Sino Suadi, I think you and your readers will be interested in the feature.
Feel free to quote, respond, or comment to the feature.
Cheers,
Mike McGregor
The Issue| http://www.TheIssue.com
hey, i’m an American writer-journalist recently landed in Doha, you seem like a good chap to know, thought I’d give a shout hello, see if we could chat or meet up sometime.
best,
D
David – I just sent you an email…have a squizz.
Salam Aleikom
Keif al Hal?
I’ve been a follower of your blog for quite a few months. I believe you have studied International Relations, I plan to do the same in university.
What is your advice? How is the pay/benefits?
I’d greatly appreciate any advice.
Ahmed.
Ahlan w sahlan.
Advice on notions of pay and benefits after obtaining a degree in IR is exceedingly difficult to give. A degree in IR is – obviously enough – not really that vocational: i.e. it’s not like a degree in Accountancy or Engineering where there is a prescribed job path. True, some jobs require IR-type degrees, but your CV will have to be full of other good stuff before you can apply for those straight away, I’d have thought. These things also depend on what class of degree you obtain and, I suppose, where you get it from.
Sorry I can’t be of more use.
Unfortunately and despite all the “education” you have receive, you are still illiterate when it come to the historical and official geographical name for a very important part of the world that you pretend to know about. I am referring to the wrong name you are using for the Persian Gulf. For your information the “Gulf” does NOT exist.
Calm down my dear. Deep breaths.
TheGulfBlog.com is just a slightly snappier name than ThePersianGulfBlog.com which is a bit long winded. In a similar vein, I might have a blog called thestatesblog.com as opposed to theunitedstatesofamericablog.com . True, some literalist pedant such as yourself may well come along and say that “states” is not the name of a country, but for the sake of brevity and a snappier title, I could live with it.
All comments are welcome but are there no more pressing domestic and international Iranian issues to concentrate on?
Oh, and by the way it should be “have received” not “have receive”.
David, if you want people to respect your copyright, you should spell it right, not write. I mean, copyright, not copywrite. You have other typos, too.
Try making friends with a proofreader, if you can’t afford one… ; )
Gina
David, I hope my comment didn’t sound rude; it wasn’t meant to be!
Gina
You’re hired.
David, if you’re serious, contact me at spellinspector@gmail.com — as you can see from my email address, I really am a professional editor/proofreader.
Gina
Thanks. But unless you’re willing to work for approximately £0.50p per hour or 10p per spelling mistake found, I don’t think we can do business. Cheers though.
Daivd
So I’m fired, already?
Well, in this age of austerity when purse-strings are being yanked ever tighter, one must seek to limit one’s expenditure. However, I am not an unreasonable person and will thus improve my already substantial offer to a whopping 15p per incorrect word. Generosity is my middle name, after all. The ball is, as they say, in your court.
No, no, you fired me. I want my compensation package!
I’ll settle for one million. Dollars, not pesos, rupees or riales.
Gina
Cheque’s in the post. Been a pleasure doing business with you.
I see you made your own correction. You didn’t need me after all. Keep up the good work!
Gina
Hello,
Just to introduce myself, my name’s Ellie and I’m writing on behalf of the Global Peace Index (GPI).
First of all we would like to sincerely thank you for previously including the GPI in your blog in the past.
As you’ll be aware, the GPI is a ground-breaking piece of research in the study of peace, which not only ranks nations by their peacefulness but also seeks to identify the drivers of peace. Now in its fourth year, the Index is produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, a global think tank dedicated to the research and education of the relationship between economic development, business and peace. It is collated and calculated by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
We’re getting in touch to alert you to the fact that the next Global Peace Index will be launched on June 8th 2010. We’ll be providing you with further information closer to the time – unless you tell us that you’d rather not hear from us again – but thought you might appreciate the heads-up in the meantime.
You might want to join us on Facebook too:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Global-Peace-Index/92288319748?ref=ts
and follow us on Twitter
http://twitter.com/GlobPeaceIndex
If you’ve got any thought or questions about the Index, our methodology, or our organisation, please get in touch. We hope you find our research interesting and informative, and look forward to sharing this year’s findings with you in a few weeks’ time.
Best Wishes,
Ellie Kirby
Ellie.
Thanks for your message. Do keep me/us/everyone posted.
Hi David!
I am an avid reader of your blog, when I came across this website and thought it might be interesting to you and your other readers: http://www.olivetreenews.com.
It is unbiased, indepth coverage of Middle Eastern news. Additionally, you are able to contribute some of your own breaking news stories.. if you find some!
Thought you might want to check it out!
Thanks!
David, are you still in Doha or have you left as of July 2010? Please be in touch if you’re still in the region at my e-mail address.
Alas I’m back in London now, though I may return to Doha sometime in the spring. If so, I’ll let you know.
If you’re ever over this way…drop me a line.
ps. Your blog/website looks excellent.
Hello David
Interesting to note your field is International Relations .. I’m from KSA, and have recently started an executive masters program also in Int’l Relations of course with a bit of politics .. browsed a few of your posts .. noting your strong views .. what is your take on the region? What advise would you give to a Saudi gal as a thesis topic? I may not agree with you, but I appreciate people who make me think 😉
My take on the region? As a whole? All of it? That’s quite a question.
It seems to me that the key ‘question’ of the Gulf (aside from interesting Iranian related security issues) is whether its people will be able to escape the rentier cycle. Whether its people can accept that their current state of affairs – that of an exorbitantly generous welfare state, where there is relatively little (if any) real onus on nationals to actually do any work – is transient and not an immutable fact of their lives: simply “because I am Qatari/Emirati” etc.
Before you send me a terse reply at this point, clearly distinctions need to be made. A Bahraini’s life is significantly different from a Qataris whose life is different to a Saudi’s. Bahrain seems to be relatively far on the way to realising that ‘normal’ life and its economic realities will eventually intervene. KSA is also clearly in a vastly different place compared to the Emirates and Qatar: despite its riches with its large population it can’t afford the indulgences of olden times too much longer. Essentially, it’s all a question of the post-oil/gas future.
As for your thesis topic…it – obviously – depends.
There is a huge lacuna in international politics and even in Gulf studies of really good Gulfy scholars. They suffer, I suppose, from the typical Gulfy syndrome of not ‘wanting to rock the boat’ and a questionable work ethic. So first you need to decide what you want to do: forge a career in the West, taking a critical look at Saudi and the Gulf, or do something non controversial which can be done based in the Kingdom.
As I say, there is (a lot) of room for a critical [not ‘critical’ for the sake of being critical in a polemic-type way, but critical in an academic way: as a mantra; a tool that you bring to any and all of your scholarly endeavors] appraisal of Gulfy affairs by someone ‘from the inside’. A fascinating topic that would be of huge interest now would be some kind of study of Saudi succession: what will happen when the next generation takes power. How is it all worked out, what are the family politics involved etc. Of course, you’d need quite some access for this…so perhaps your thesis topic should simply be defined by the type of access that you can get: use your wasta for good and not evil.
If your family is in the…telecoms business, use this, perhaps. Don’t forget that if you’re after a topic that you’ll be studying for a year or so, that you’ll have to be very interested else it’ll be painful to force yourself to keep on reading, writing, redrafting etc.
Best of luck.
“an epic odyssey from Istanbul by car, boat, train, taxi, bus, bike, tractor and Llama to Shanghai via the ‘Stans”
By Llama? Perhaps you mean Bactrian or Dromedary Camel?
Dunno. Some 4 legged woolly thing that looked like a Llama.
Hi David,
I’m leaving in Doha since 2 years and I follow regularly yr blog. In the last few days I’ve read something about Qatar that surprised me and scared a little bit too. I quote hereunder:
“Report: Coup in Qatar Aborted
Reports on Monday said that an attempted military coup in the Gulf state of Qatar was aborted last week. A group reportedly sought to replace the country’s current leader, Sheikh Hamed Ben Khalifa, with his brother, Abdelaziz Ben Khalifa ben Hamed.
The coup coincided with a petition presented by the Qatari opposition, signed by 16 members of the ruling family, accusing Hamad of working “hand in hand with Israel and the United States.”The opposition groups posted the petition on Facebook, in an attempt to gain popular support for their efforts, but the army remained loyal to Hamad, the report said.”
What’s yr opinion as acute observer of the Region.
Rgrds,
In short: a load of rubbish. I think the author has maliciously and deliberately confused the facebook shenanigans that I’ve mentioned with some fictional plan for an Al Thani to return who hasn’t lived here for 15 years to take over as Emir. Silliness.
could you please pass me your e-mail as i want to ask you some questions regarding ad banners.
WordPress.com can’t do ad banners!
Hello
I have commented on this section before regarding the study of international relations. I have received an offer of admission to the premier undergraduate international relations program in the country of my residence (Canada). I am of Middle Eastern background and have a keen interest in the politics, economics, history and military balance in the MENA region. I also have the ability to read, write and speak in a few of the regions languages. The reason of my post aside from a rant is to ask about how difficult is it to get a posting in one of the think tanks and similar entities which focus on the region within the region. For me to study the region from across the world does not appear very “exciting”… and I believe that is a view similar to your own (according to what you have written above)
Thank you in advance
Hi. The key is to be different. ‘Everyone’ has degrees – often good ones – these days. Write a blog; go to conferences and meet everyone there giving out your business card like confetti; write for regional newspapers; learn arabic and or farsi: in this world you can, to a large degree, make yourself un-unemployable (you’re so good, they’ve just got to hire you). Best of luck
in Rome (Europe) same protesters assailed the embassy of Libya and destroied the green flag of Gheddafi Government, replacing it with the rebels flag, the triband red-black-green; it was interesting to see the crescent depicted on that flag with a simple chalk.
I’m writing on behalf of the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the international research institute which produces the Global Peace Index (GPI). As you have covered the GPI in the past, we thought you might be interested in knowing that this year it will be launched on May 25th 2011. We’d like to send you further information and the results at that time.
As you may recall, the GPI is the world’s only ranking of nations according to their peacefulness. Now in its fifth year, the Index not only measures the relative peacefulness of 153 countries but it also seeks to identify the drivers of peace. Comprising both qualitative and quantitative indicators, the GPI is collated and calculated for the Institute by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
If you’d like to speak to someone from the Institute of Economics and Peace about the GPI or interview them for your blog, do let us know and we would be happy to set this up for you.
If you’ve got any thoughts or questions about the Index, our methodology, or our organisation, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
GPI results, interactive maps, a video and charts will be available from May 25th at our comprehensive consumer website, http://www.visionofhumanity.org. We look forward to sharing this year’s findings with you soon.
Best wishes,
Hi there. Send over the info when it’s free and I’ll give it a look over. Best
I find it very scary that ‘not religiously forbidden’ supersedes ‘not morally forbidden’ and that enslaving women is preferable to adultery and corruption.
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MzQxNDA4NDA2
A good article which argues that the success of a revolution in a given country hinges on the nature of that country’s military-government relationship: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13941523
I’ve recently been noticing the prominence of what I call the “Qatarisation” of news on Al Jazeera; by this I mean that many, many news stories that seem to either directly or indirectly involve Qatar or Qataris – name dropping if you will. I am aware Al Jazeera is owned by the Qatari government and so on yet I find it strange that such a blunt, blatant, in-your-face tactic would be used by a government which has, at points, seemed quite keen to (at least publicly) distance itself from the news agency. Just wondering about your thoughts on the issue are? Just another way for Qatar to bask in the limelight it so desperately craves?…or am I imagining things!
Is this an example of confusing correlation with causation? As in you’re insinuating (not unreasonably) that the fact that Qatar pays for Al Jaz means that now Al Jaz is in someway shape or form promoting Qatar: causation.
But surely it’s equally possible that this is but correlation; that these days Qatar is involved everywhere: Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Libya, Gulf Affairs, Iran, Sudan, Mauritania, etc. If they’re going to report the news ipso facto they’re going to be reporting on Qatar’s deeds.
I think that truth lies somewhere in the middle, if not quite a bit nearer the latter and not the former. All conjecture though!
Dave I am doing some research on Kuwait and would like to ask you some questions if you have time.
Email address is above…
I think your ‘PHD’ is some sort of bullcrap…. You are so deluded and brainwashed with these retarded ‘opinions’ you made about every country you mentioned. Your blog is utter nonsense.
Judicious criticism, thanks.
the coalition’s aim of re-establishing control in the north will require it to win the support of allies of Al-Islah, Yemen’s biggest Sunni political party.
Members of Islah are concerned they will be enlisted to fight the Houthis, only to be later marginalised by Abu Dhabi because of their party’s alliance with the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which the UAE strongly opposes. Islah is likely to seek UAE assurances that it will be part of any postwar settlement before committing its supporters to a fight in the north.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0d895c96-45ae-11e5-b3b2-1672f710807b.html?siteedition=intl#axzz3jX2HuwMR
Are these fears real? … and what is the solution?