Dirasat (KFCRIS Papers)


Number: 49
Author: Fahad Alsharif
This article seeks to trace the impact that gradual changes in higher education have had on women’s inclusion into the Saudi workforce. It focuses, in particular, on the early efforts to enhance the educational system, the nationalization of jobs, culminating with the Nitaqat system; the impact of the King Abdullah Scholarship Program (KASP); and the most recent Vision 2030 initiatives; all of which have left their imprint on the social role of women in Saudi society. This paper attempts to answer a wide array of interrelated questions, relying on a path-dependence assessment up to the present juncture, which aims at mirroring the nexuses between
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Number: 48
Author: Kyle Haddad - Fonda
This article investigates the experiences of Arab dignitaries, journalists,  youth groups, and trade envoys who have visited the People’s Republic of  China in an official or semiofficial capacity since China’s initial overtures to  Middle Eastern countries in 1955. First, it outlines the “standard itineraries”  given to Arab delegations touring China both in the 1950s and in the twenty first  century, demonstrating how the changes to this agenda reflect the  shifting priorities of the Chinese state. Second, it explores how the Chinese  government has refined
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Number: 47
Author: Paul Musgrave
Political polarization plays an increasingly prominent and formative role in American politics. Its effects are visible in how Americans feel about politics, how candidates for office win election, how compromises can (or, more often, cannot) be reached, and how U.S. institutions increasingly face risks in carrying out even ordinary functions, including periodic crises over shutdowns or defaults. Yet the meaning of political polarization for U.S. foreign policy has been overlooked. This report argues that polarization has begun to produce a great effect on how the United States makes policy, including policy toward allied and partner states. Since the
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Number: 46
Author: Mohammed Alrmizan
This article provides a historical overview of the development of the Turkish press since its beginning during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the Ottoman Empire and through various critical periods of the Turkish Republic. It explores, first, how the press and the printing houses developed during the last stages of the Ottoman Empire. Moreover, it reveals the abuses of the press, assassinations of many Turkish journalists and other important figures, and appearance of newspapers during times of critical transformations, like those of Tanzimat, Sultan Abdul Hamid II, and the Young Turks. Second, it offers a detailed account and analysis of th
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Number: 45
Author: WAN Lei
The Hui in China is a singular ethnic group. They speak Chinese but appear to have pursued a uniquely cultural evolution following immigration of its main grouping into China during the Mongol Yuan dynasty nearly eight centuries ago. But Hui societies only became evident in the first half of the 20th century, symbolizing Hui in–group consciousness; a nationwide semi–official China Huijiao [Islamic] Nation–Salvation Association was the national organization that played a significant part in uniting the Hui minority to support the Second Sino–Japanese War (The Resistance War against Japan) and in protecting the Hui minority in man
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Number: 44
Author: Andrew Leber
This Dirasat seeks to understand the present opposition in Congress and especially the Senate. First, it explains the indirect role that Congress can play in U.S. foreign policy, while highlighting the potential role of partisan polarization in U.S. foreign policy. Next, it provides context for the U.S.-Saudi relationship in Congress by examining past congressional actions with respect to the Kingdom. Finally, it examines congressional activity since the death of Jamal Khashoggi, focusing in particular on the coalition of senators that has formed to advance legislation critical of the Kingdom. &nbs
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Number: 43
Author: Mohammed Al-Sbitli
Massive protests in Algerian cities revealed the profoundness of a prolonged regime crisis. The candidacy of President Bouteflika for a fifth term ignited the eruption of intensified and escalated mass demonstrations since 22 February 2019, leading to unprecedented political and constitutional complexities in Algeria. This publication is currently not available in English
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Number: 42
Author: Abdullah bin Khaled Al Saud
In early 2016, an enormous amount of classified documents related to ISIS foreign terrorist fighters were leaked. It was later acquired by a limited number of media and academic institutions, including the International Center for the Study of Extremism at King's College London, where I spent a year and a half working as a visiting research fellow. This report examines deeply these leaked documents, with particular emphasis on citizens and residents came from Saudi Arabia. The English translation of this study is currently not available.
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Number: 41
Author: Mitchell Belfer - Khalid Alshaikh
The 1979 Iranian revolution continues to reverberate throughout the Middle East. While many of the more pronounced Iranian proxies, such as Lebanese Hezbollah and the Houthi militia in Yemen, are the focus of a wide assortment of terror-state explorations, it is important to look at some of the other organizations that Tehran utilizes in pursuit of its regional and international interests. Bahrain, has long been of a strategic interest to the Islamic Republic as it regards it as its Fourteenth Province and a stepping stone to a more direct confrontation with Saudi Arabia. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp prioritizes operations against Bahrain, for
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Number: 40
Author: Sarah Alotaibi
This study aims to describe the status of the renewable energy sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its development stages, by presenting the course of government's development policies in supporting and encouraging the spread of renewable energy uses since previous years until today. The study also tries to monitor the reality of the changes and challenges faced by this sector, and its impact on the restructuring of the sector, and some other relevant entities. In the second part, the study reviews the strategy of strengthening local content and policies to support local industries and export development. The study is also based, in its policies ana
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