Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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Omani Oil Minister Mohamed bin Hamad Al Rumhi (far right) poses for a group photo with colleagues at a meeting of Gulf Arab oil ministers in Riyadh September 24, 2013

Debate: The GCC should move towards greater union

by Abdullah Al-Madani | Jun 23, 2014 | Debate

Many have questioned the idea of Arab unity and its prospects for success, especially after the failure of several pan-Arab projects and the unfulfilled hopes of these movements would help the Arab world overcome the great challenges it faced during the Cold War....

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Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) finance ministers attend the opening of a meeting of the six-nation GCC states on May 7, 2014, in Kuwait City. Kuwait’s Finance Minister Anas al-Saleh urged the energy-rich Gulf states to make “concessions” for the full implementation of a long-delayed customs union at the start of 2015. AFP PHOTO / YASSER […]

Debate: The GCC should not move towards greater union

by Salim Bin Ahmed Sahab | Jun 23, 2014 | Debate

First, I’m not sure that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) charter provides explicit guidelines on the political unification of member states. However, it seems to me that the GCC was born out of the idea of cooperation, not solidarity. The fact that the term...

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This Wednesday, May 2, 2012 file photo, shows a general view of the Interior ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) during their meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Debate: Gulf security is not under threat

by Jamal Al Marri | Jun 21, 2014 | Debate

The security of the Gulf, and particularly the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), is not structurally or ideologically under threat today. The current security landscape demonstrates that even the most dangerous of any potential threat is simply incapable of negatively...

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Saudi soldiers exercise before a military parade during preparations for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, at a military camp in Arafat, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. (AP)

Debate: Gulf security is under threat

by Salah Al-Saidi | Jun 21, 2014 | Debate

Ever since the Gulf States became the main suppliers of global energy, there has been a state of turmoil inherent in the region caused by regional and global powers due to a conflict of interest between the two. The driving forces behind this unrest are constantly...

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A handout picture released by UNAMID on April 7, 2014, shows a displaced women carrying firewood and other belongings into the UNAMID base in Khor Abeche, South Darfur. (AFP/Albert Gonzalez Farran)

Debate: The last 25 years have been a disaster for Sudan

by Shafie Al-Khedr | Jun 17, 2014 | Debate

Has the Sudanese government been successful over the past 25 years? My answer, without the slightest hesitation, is: No. I think that the vast majority of the Sudanese people share my sentiments. In 1989, an Islamist movement seized power in Sudan through a military...

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Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir addresses a crowd in North Khartoum, on June 8, 2013. (Reuters)

Debate: Sudan’s government has had many successes over the last 25 years

by Amin Hassan Omar | Jun 17, 2014 | Debate

From 1989 until today an Islamic movement known as the National Islamic Front (NIF) has ruled Sudan. There is no doubt that since the days of the Sennar Sultanate, there has been no genuinely national government in the history of Sudan that has been able to rule the...