Special Reports


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Author: Joseph A. Kéchichian
This brief study provides a broad examination of the negative assessments of Saudi Arabia published by several authors intrigued to explore, but never patient enough to understand, adjudicate, and empathize with the Saudi people. While not exhaustive, the research aims to identify problems, evaluates various arguments presented by four writers, and assesses the new political realities that confront the Kingdom. The five books selected for evaluation, by Pascal Menoret, Christine Ockrent, Jonathan Rugman, and Ben Hubbard, represent a fair and representative collection. Because recent books concentrate on Heir Apparent Muhammad bin Salman and the killing of Jamal Kha
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Author: Hanaa Almoaibed
This report suggests two approaches to elevate the status of TVET (technical and vocational education and training) in Saudi Arabia. First, toattract students both at the high school and postsecondary levels, TVET must be seen as a usefulfield of education that provides a pathway to employment. To bring about this transition, thequality of the TVET curricula must improve. In particular, the curriculum must better alignwith industry needs, which requires deeper stakeholder engagement. Second, to enhance theperformance of TVET students, effective strategies to improve student motivation must bedeveloped. Such strategies include the deployment of diverse performance indicators, withwhich stu
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Author: Freddie Neve
This report analyzes Saudi Arabia’s response to the COVID-19 Pandemic up to late May 2020.
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Author: Alanoud Alsabah & Mohammed Alsudairi
The report is the first in a series that will look at several China-linked park-port complexes in the GCC. This particular report investigates the historical origins, developmental trajectory, and current challenges facing the Silk City project in Kuwait. It is interested in gauging the extent to which Chinese actors – the state and economic entities -
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Author: Banafsheh Keynoush
In September 2018, the State of Eritrea and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia made a historic peace agreement that ended the twenty-year conflict between them. The agreement, otherwise known as the Jeddah Peace Pact, was finalized in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Concluded through international diplomatic efforts led by the African Union, the United States of America, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the pact succeeded in restoring peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia despite the failure of all previous international mediatory efforts. To sustain and consolidate the peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the Kingdom initiated strategies t
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Author: Barbara Kelemen
This commentary provides an overview of China’s engagement with the Houthi movement over the past few years. It compares Beijing’s relationship with the Houthis to that of another armed non-state actor, the Taliban, with an eye towards identifying the trajectory this engagement might take. The commentary also considers how this relationship, in addition to the developments taking place in Sino-Saudi relations, are shaping Chinese mediation efforts in Yemen since 2015.
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Author: .
Iran has a significant advantage in asymmetric military capabilities, which are based on terrorist agents and low-cost military technology. Although international sanctions have limited Iran’s ability to purchase or develop advanced technology in almost all sectors, it still has the basic electronic capacity to launch attacks on its opponents, which is also uses extensively for espionage and theft. Iran has been the subject of many devastating cyberattacks in the past, so it has learned the value of having its own electronic capability. This enabled Iran to use “electronic repression” to confront the protests that spread across the Internet
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Author: Mohammed Alrmizan
This report outlines the Azerbaijani-Saudi relationship from historical, economic and recent perspectives and developments like recent military agreements, economic exchanges, trade, and tourism while considering regional and international challenge issues in the Middle East. At first, the report briefs on the historical aspect of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and their mutual and bilateral relationship. Second, it focuses on economic values between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in terms of trade and tourism. Third, the report provides some analysis on regional and international implication
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Author: David Kenner
The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index is one of the most widely used global metrics for assessing a country’s regulatory performance. Saudi officials have frequently employed it to
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Author: Lama Khaiyat and Makio Yamada
With the latest technological changes such as the fourth Industrial Revolution and a new wave of automation, the “future of work and education” has been a major point of discussion around the world. It was also one of the key items on the agenda of the G20, which took place in Japan this year and will be hosted by Saudi Arabia in 2020. The T20 (Think20), an intellectual backbone of the G20, has been running a task force dedicated to this issue, where thinkers and researchers from its member states meet to discuss ways to address challenges posed to individuals, businesses, and governments in the digital age.  
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