In June 2017, Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) was appointed as the new heir to the throne of Saudi Arabia. Before his appointment, little was known about MbS on the international stage. Many prominent Americans with Saudi ties were eager to frame him as a progressive modernising reformer. This could be said for certain surface-level reforms,[…]
13
May
May
France plays a leading role in global arms exports. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), from before the Arab Spring protests in 2011 up until today, France has been in the top-5 of global arms exporters. In 2017, France took over China’s place as the third-largest arms exporter. The latest SIPRI report[…]
12
May
May
12 May 2020 – On Saturday, Bahrain’s government forced the cancellation of an online symposium featuring speakers opposed to the normalisation of diplomatic ties between the Gulf States and Israel. The online broadcast was suspended shortly after it began, following a call to event organisers by Bahrain’s Ministry of Labour and Social Development with orders[…]
11
May
May
Impunity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is endemic, thanks to a pervasive culture of dispensation in the upper echelons of government. The UAE can be described as an autocratic police state, with widespread censorship laws and high surveillance. The ambiguity of its laws allows the leadership to easily justify the quashing of dissent or[…]
28
Apr
Apr
The Netherlands entered the top-10 of global arms export in the 2013-2017 period according to the Trends in international arms transfers by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). SIPRI uses a Trend Indicator Value (TIV) that attributes to surplus weapons a 40% value of their original cost and small arms and ammunition are not[…]
