Middle East Dossier

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has recently finalised a production cut of nearly 10 million barrels of oil due to the impact from the coronavirus pandemic. In this event, Dr Fereidun Fesharaki discusses the grim economic outlook for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and its implications for net oil-importing Asian countries.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, practitioners of Tablighi Jamaat, a transnational Islamic piety movement, continued their mass gatherings called Ijtimah. Taking reference from his extensive fieldwork with Pakistani Tablighi, Dr Arsalan Khan outlines how a ritualised form of face-to-face preaching, or dawat, creates a distinct pious sociality based on what he calls the “ethics of hierarchy”.

In contrast to the conventional wisdom that hostility between Iran and Saudi Arabia is inevitable, Dr Ibrahim Fraihat takes a critical but constructive approach to the reformation of conflict strategies between the two countries.

Dr Mark C Thompson explores the effects of socio-economic development and changing societal norms on Young men in Saudi Arabia, diving into phenomena like modernisation, socio-economic liberalisation, and the increasing role of Saudi women in society.

In the third podcast, Mr Doug Brooks, the founder of the International Stability Operations Association (ISOA) elaborates on the role of the US private military sector in the Middle East and beyond.

Listen to our panel of seven speakers dissect and unpack the rationale and motives behind the UAE’s foreign policy moves, and why it is becoming the centre of attention regionally and internationally.

Travelling by land is the best way to develop a deeper understanding of the differences between cultures and languages due to the richness of personal interactions, said Ms Juvena Huang who travelled solo on a motorbike around Asia and the Middle East.

How do complex geopolitical dynamics play out in the world’s oceans, which are theatres not under the sovereign control of any one actor but of great strategic importance to many? In this talk, MEI Chairman Mr Bilahari Kausikan, RSIS Research Fellow Dr Collin Koh and MEI Visiting Research Professor Dr Abdullah Baabood discuss security and maritime conflicts in the South China Sea, the Persian Gulf...

How has Saudi Arabia campaigned to propagate its brand of ultraconservative Islam worldwide after becoming oil-rich in the 20th century. In this lecture, journalist Krithika Varagur explores the Kingdom’s influence across the breadth of the Muslim World, from Nigeria to Indonesia to Kosovo.

In this second podcast, Mr Jamie Williamson, Executive Director of International Code of Conduct Association (ICoCA), joins us to examine the role of the ICoCA in promoting transparency and accountability for the private security sector.

How has the oil price war and demand slump as a result of Covid-19 affected the global economy? In this lecture, Dr John Sfakianakis and Professor Giacomo Luciani explore the economic implications for the Gulf economies in the aftermath of the crises.  

The Middle East and the global security architecture are undergoing rapid transitions that will change the future of war and conflict. In the first podcast of the series, Dr Sean McFate explains his theory of the world returning to a state of "durable disorder" and how private actors and mercenaries are replacing uniformed soldiers on the ground.

In his speech, Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, UAE's minister of state for higher education and advanced skills, examines whether the UAE, and other countries in the Middle East, can learn from East Asia, and his answer is a definitive yes. One of the biggest lessons is that of adaptability, he said, citing Singapore as an example of a nation-state that recognises when change is required and can quick...

Instead of solely relying on a university degree as a marker of success, there is a need for education systems to develop multiple pathways for progressions and achievement, argues Mr Ong Ye Kung, Singapore's education minister. Mr Ong was one of the keynote speakers on the second day of the MEI Annual Conference on 16 January 2020.

In his speech, Professor Ezra F Vogel outlines the main development tracks of five East Asian nations, identifying what he believes to be the critical turning points in their modernisation, and suggests the common strategies that enabled their success.

Delivering the first keynote speech at MEI’s Annual Conference, HE Nabil Fahmy, former Egyptian foreign minister, argues that Middle Eastern states must overcome foreign interference in the Middle East by taking charge of their own future in order to resolve the troubled affairs of their countries. He also talks about the three key challenges which he foresees will pose a threat to the stability o...

The fundamental shifts in the global environment have vast impact on how lessons from East Asia can be applied to the Middle East, says Guest of Honour, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore's senior minister and coordinating minister for social policies, at the MEI Annual Conference on 15 January 2020.

Beating the Odds Together is a book jointly published by the Middle East Institute at National University of Singapore and World Scientific Publishing to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Israel. Israel's ambassador to Singapore, His Excellency Sagi Karni, spoke at the book launch at The Arts House on 9 December. 

Beating the Odds Together is a book jointly published by the Middle East Institute at National University of Singapore and World Scientific Publishing to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Israel. Singapore's former Foreign Minister George Yeo, who wrote a chapter, officiated the book launch at The Arts House on 9 December. 

Iran will hold legislative (2020) and presidential elections (2021) under heavy unilateral sanctions imposed by the US after withdrawing from the JCPOA. The processes will serve to measure the capacity of the current pragmatic-reformist governmental coalition to remain in power in the midst of heightened international, regional and domestic tensions, resulting from the latest developments in the P...

The role of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf has been a topic that has become increasing polarising. In this lecture, Dr Courtney Freer examines the specific functions and ideologies of Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, as well as the ways in which they differ from Brotherhood affiliates elsewhere.

With China projected to surpass the United States as Israel’s top source of foreign direct investment in the near future, Israel, a key US ally in the Middle East, will face high stakes and hard choices as relations between the two giants become increasingly contentious. In this lecture, Dr Mercy Kuo discusses the strategic relevance of Israel’s role in US–China relations.

A robust private sector is crucial to achieve broad-based economic growth in the Middle East, argues Ms Rana Karadsheh, Regional Industry Director, Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services, Asia Pacific for the International Finance Corporation (IFC). In this ME 101 lecture, Ms Karadsheh discusses key challenges and mitigation in the Middle East, as well as potential technological opportunities to...

The current tech revolution is different from previous ones, argues Professor Eugene Kandel, CEO of Start-up Nation Central and former head of Israel’s National Economic Council. Find out how small advanced economies like Singapore and Israel can deal with today's uncertainties and future challenges in this year's S R Nathan Distinguished Lecture held on 17 October.

How do we explain the rise and fall of neo-Ottoman Turkey? Dr Serkan Yolaçan suggests shifting our focus from Erdogan to two ideologically distinct networks of the Anatolian Tigers and Fethullah Gülen in this lecture of the ME 101 series held on 16 October.