Reach for the sky: organisations in the Middle East are overhauling and revamping their IT strategies, thanks to an excess of cash for investment, together with an onslaught of consumer enthusiasm for the Internet and mobile technology.
What do soaring oil prices have in common with the Gulf construction boom, market deregulation and rising population figures? Answer: they're all factors in the spurt in ICT spending in the Middle East. The region has been on an IT spending spree, thanks to the Gulf economic...

A hollow victory lap.
Byline: The Register-Guard President Bush has embarked on a nine-day, six-nation diplomatic mission to the Middle East that will include stops in Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt as well as his first visit to Israel as president of the United States. Expectations...

National Day of Bahrain.
BAHRAIN celebrates its National Day today. Bahrain is an independent Arab nation in western Asia, part of the region known as the Middle East. It is made up of 36 islands on the western side of the Persian Gulf, between Saudi Arabia to the east and Qatar...

Closing the gap in the Middle East.
IT IS OFTEN argued that statistics can be used to prove anything and this year's survey of the Top 100 Companies in the Middle East is a case in point. The combined market capitalisation of the top three companies in this year's table is massively down on last year's...

100 top Arab banks special report: the momentum of globalisation and banking innovation is changing the landscape of the financial services industry in the energy-rich Middle East region, and posing new challenges and opportunities for banks and their clientele. Researched and written by economic analyst Moin Siddiqi.
BANKING ON INCREASED MARKET LIQUIDITY From the construction boom in the United Arab Emirates (led by dynamic Dubai) to upstream oil/gas expansion projects in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the evidence of buoyant economic conditions in a region swamped by the flood of petrodollars is easy to observe...

Anti-Americanism in the Islamic World.
ANTI-AMERICANISM IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD. By Sigrid Faath published by Hurst & Co ISBN 185065 789 0 price 25.00 [pounds sterling] paperback In 1988 Richard B. Parker, a former American ambassador to Algeria, Morocco, and Lebanon said it was "a miracle" that relations between the United States...

Iran and the next US president.
Byline: Francis N. Tolentino With less than a year to go before the 2008 US Presidential elections, several prominent Americans have expressed their interests in becoming the 44th President of the United States. Republicans and Democrats, as well as other less known political parties, have...

America's confrontation with Iran.
The Bush Doctrine, in line with the ideas of the neo-conservatives, suggests America's power, especially military power, is omnipotent, and that its values and institutions are universally desired and universally applicable; hence America's destiny--after the 9/ 11 event--requires it to use this immense power, pre-emptively and unilaterally if necessary,...

Middle East makes an impact on markets.
Byline: Arnav Pandya Happenings across the world can impact the equity market as countries across the globe are getting closer by the day. One area where developments are constantly under the scanner includes the Middle East where even small developments result in a direct impact on markets...

Qatar: the sky's the limit: Qatar ranks alongside Switzerland and Luxembourg as one of the richest countries in the world. In planning for the future, it has been reforming and diversifying the political and economic landscape and building on its hydrocarbon success.
The rapid rise of Qatar's liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector has attracted much international attention but the emirate is achieving tar broader economic success. While oil and gas revenues still account for 60% of total revenues, the government has realised that the best place to start economic diversification is...