Gulf & Energy Policy

Although Saudi Arabia is popularly perceived as the most religious of Arab countries, the question of who in the kingdom determines its dominant Islamic discourse has been the subject of controversy since the state's founding. The formation of Saudi Arabia in the early twentieth century involved the unique harnessing of

The November 18 signing of a pipeline accord in the Turkish port city of Istanbul, in the presence of President Clinton, gives further momentum to the oil export link project between Baku, the capital of the Caspian littoral state of Azerbaijan, and Ceyhan, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Another piece of

King Fahd returned to Saudi Arabia last week after spending more than two months at his palace in southern Spain on what was described as a vacation. Because he is quite old and in poor health, Fahd is no longer the sole top decision maker of the world’s largest oil

Turkish prime minister Bulent Ecevit's meeting with U.S. president Bill Clinton tomorrow will produce warm atmospherics but no major earthquake-related aid. Washington had planned to make loan guarantees the centerpiece of both its relief package and Ecevit's trip. Reportedly unhappy with what it considered a low figure, however, Ankara indicated

The U.S. Department of Commerce must rule by August 9 on whether a suit can proceed against Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela, and Iraq, accusing them of selling oil in the U.S. market at an unfairly low price. The suit was filed with little fanfare in early July by a consortium

Kuwait is in a region characterized by contradictions and dichotomies between young and old, state and society, religion and politics, and national identity and globalization. The Kuwaiti experiment is part of a regional experiment, and what takes place there has an impact on the Arab world, particularly on the other

Turkmenistan president Saparmurad Niyazov today signed an agreement with Turkey's energy and natural resources minister, Ziya Aktash, to supply Turkmen natural gas to Turkey via a trans-Caspian pipeline. Later this month, work will begin on a much-delayed oil pipeline to carry oil from fields operated by a Chevron-led consortium in

Recently, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced in Vienna its most substantial production cuts in years. But as important as this rare demonstration of solidarity -- and the resultant hike in long slumping oil prices -- is what the meeting reveals about the emerging Saudi-Iranian cooperation and

On March 8, 1999, Undersecretary of State Stuart Eizenstat delivered The Washington Institute's Third Les Aspin Memorial Lecture honoring the late chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, secretary of defense, and member of the Institute's Board of Advisors. The following is a rapporteur's summary of the forum's question-and-answer session