Gulf States

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia faces a grim economic future. Contrary to predictions in the late 1970s and early 1980s of rising prices for Middle Eastern oil, world oil demands and prices have followed a downward trend since 1981, resulting in a reduction in Saudi oil revenues. Since 1983 Saudi

On April 14, 1994, Dr. Eliyahu Kanovsky, a professor of economics at Bar Illan University and a leading authority on Middle East economics, addressed a session of The Washington Institute's Policy Forum. Dr. Kanovsky discussed Saudi Arabia's severe economic crisis, and its implications for domestic politics and stability. The following

Despite Iraq's surface stability, Saddam Hussein is struggling under the weight of the international sanctions regime, as evidenced by recent threats by Iraqi leaders of possible retaliatory attacks against the West unless the UN approves a clear procedure for lifting the sanctions. In addition to challenges from the northern Kurds

On January 25, 1994, His Excellency Sheikh bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani, foreign minister of Qatar, addressed an off the record session of The Washington Institute's Policy Forum on regional security in the Persian Gulf. The following is a rapporteur's summary of his remarks. Security Arrangements in the Gulf and

Though Iraq wreaked enormous devastation on Kuwait's oil industry toward the end of the war, Kuwaitis can hope for a fairly rapid recovery after an initial period of sorting out. What may not return to normal is Kuwait's relationship with its Palestinian community and with Jordan. Kuwait and other Gulf

With war in the Gulf increasingly probable the time has come to consider war goals with a long-term focus. Realization of such near-term objectives as military victory, decapitation of Iraq's military, restoration of Kuwaiti sovereignty and creation of a new security structure may actually accelerate radical processes in the Middle

A sanction-induced economic crisis cannot be counted on to force Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait, much less out of office. Iraq has good prospects of surviving sanctions through the end of 1991 by a combination of tightening consumer's belts and loosening the socialist tourniquet now tied around the Iraqi private

The growing linkage between Soviet domestic and foreign policy is producing dramatic changes in its Middle East positions. The Soviet regime is playing a key role on some aspects of the Gulf crisis, but its freedom of action is quite constrained in others because of the internal struggle for power

The Fifth Annual Policy Conference of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, held September 14-16, brought out a number of new ideas and perspectives on the Persian Gulf crisis. These included important points about administration strategy, the attitudes of Arab states and Israel, the time frame for various tactics