Added on 23/01/2012
Crossroads Arabia
e-gate , Employment , Governor , Jeddah , Ministry of Labor , Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , Saudi government , Vocational Training Corporation

CROSSROADS ARABIA: These jobs are all critical to society – they are honest jobs. The one thing they don’t carry, however, is status.
Added on 17/01/2012
Crossroads Arabia
Abdullatif Al-Asheikh , Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice , Council of Senior Religious Scholars , Religious Police , Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , Saudi Gazette , Saudi Religious Police , special adviser , Women , Women's issues

CROSSROADS ARABIA: A well known supporter of the right of women to work Sheikh Abdullatif Al-Sheikh still has a traditional view of their place within Saudi society.
Added on 09/01/2012
Rob L. Wagner
Africa , ARAMCO , Asia , automobile manufacturing , Automobiles , Bloomberg , car parts , China , Food and Drink , Hyundai , irrigation systems , Isuzu Motors Ltd. , King Saud University , Kings College , Korea , minerals processing , North Africa , Oil , Oil and gas , oil exports , Oil revenues , plastics , Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , Saudi government , Saudis , School of Oriental and African Studies , Solar energy

ROB L. WAGNER: Saudi Arabia has been looking for more than 40 years for an export product that will minimize its dependency on oil. Have they found it?
Added on 06/01/2012
Ahmed-Al-Omran
Abdul Aziz Khoja , Activist , Al Qaeda , Al Watan , Cairo , Democracy , Marriott Hotel , minister of information and culture , Ministry of Culture and Information , Paris , Riyadh , Saleh Al-Shehi , Saudi Arabia , Social Media , Twitter , Women , Women's issues

AHMED AL OMRAN: The fallout from the ‘Marriott Foyer Incident’ continues. Is such debate an unnecessary diversion from the real issues facing the Kingdom?
Added on 03/01/2012
Rob L. Wagner
Al Watan , Amal Zahid , Amira Kashgari , Facebook , Fiction , Islam , Jeddah , King Abdullah , Kul Al Watan , Marriott Hotel , Ministry of Interior , Novelist , Online media , princess , Print media , Riyadh , Saleh Al-Shehi , Saudi Arabia , Saudi government , Saudi women , Twitter , Women's Rights

ROB L. WAGNER: An online battle between conservatives and reformers following the Saudi Intellectual Forum illuminates their diverging opinions…
Added on 24/12/2011
Eman-Al-Nafjan
Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz , Al Waleed Bin Talal , Al-Hayat , Democracy , Governor , Jeddah , Minister of Justice , Ministry of Information , Ministry of Justice , Mohammed Al Eissa , Riyadh , Salman bin Abdul Aziz , Saudi Arabia , Shura Council , Social Media , Spain , Women , Women's issues

EMAN AL NAFJAN: In September the King announced women could vote in municipal elections. Conservatives are fighting a rearguard action.
Added on 23/12/2011
Rob L. Wagner
Big Adventure , Christianity , Christians , Christmas , Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice , Eid Al- Fitr , Eid Al-Adha , Expatriates , Food and Drink , Information Technology , Jeddah , Jesus Christ , Massachusetts , New Year's Day , Red Sea , Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , United Kingdom , United States

ROB L. WAGNER: If you’re subtle you can enjoy a surprisingly festive Christmas in the Kingdom. Many Saudis also quietly acknowledge Christian friends’ celebration.
Added on 17/12/2011
Crossroads Arabia
Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , Saudi Gazette

CROSSROADS ARABIA: A young Saudi discovered he had been employed by a company about which he knew nothing and to which he had never applied
Added on 11/12/2011
Rob L. Wagner
Canada , Crime , France , Imam University , Interior Ministry , Middle East , Ministry of Interior , Ministry of Justice , Ohio , Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , United States , Western Europe

ROB L. WAGNER: The moves have been under-reported in the Kingdom but they mark a significant change in thinking about how to deal with petty crime.
Added on 01/11/2011
David Roberts
Bahrain , Darfur , Doha , Emir , GCC , Iran , Israel , Khalifah Al Thani , Kuwait , Libya , Prime Minister , Qatar , Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , Shura Council

DAVID ROBERTS: Another fascinating move from a fascinating country. Qatar has again seized the mantle of leadership in the Arab world…
Added on 31/10/2011
Crossroads Arabia
heart disease , Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , Saudi Gazette , Women , Women's issues

CROSSROADS ARABIA: Add a diet rich in fats and sugars to a lifestyle that actively discourages exercise and you end up with a catastrophic situation that’s only getting worse.
Added on 20/10/2011
Rob L. Wagner
Abu Dhabi , Ali Sabat , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Chechnya , Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice , Holy Qur'an , Indonesia , Morocco , Oman , Philips , Poet , Qatar , Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , Saudi Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice , Saudi court , Shoura Council , Sudan , Tara Umm Omar , Turkey , Yanbu , Yemen

ROB L. WAGNER: A recent ruling by the Shoura Council in Saudi Arabia has brought the issue of black magic to the fore again. Its influence is huge.
Added on 19/10/2011
David Roberts
Iran , Iranian parliament , Israel , Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , Tel Aviv , Washington DC

DAVID ROBERTS: Sometimes politicians say things of such breathtaking stupidity that it stops you completely in your tracks. Like this one from an Iranian member of parliament.
Added on 17/10/2011
Steve Royston
Bahrain , Beijing , Cairo , China , Cuba , Dubai , Egypt , Healthcare , Homs , Iraq , Jeddah , Lenin , Libya , London , Middle East , Moscow , New York , Ohio , Oil , Osama Bin Laden , Pennsylvania , Pentagon , Premier League , Riyadh , Ronald Reagan , Russia , Saudi Arabia , Shura Council , Soviet Union , Stalin , Syria , UN General Assembly , United Kingdom , United States , Yugoslavia

STEVE ROYSTON: Received wisdom portrays a backward, oppressive society, dominated by religious extremists and a monarchy whose main mission is self-preservation.
Added on 11/10/2011
Alexander McNabb
Dubai , Gitex , Middle East , Riyadh , Social Media , Technology , United Arab Emirates

ALEXANDER MCNABB: The miracle is that it’s still with us at all – all the other great horizontal computer shows barring Hanover’s CeBIT have tanked.
Added on 10/10/2011
Crossroads Arabia
Iran , Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , Syria

CROSSROADS ARABIA: The Saudi authorities have been very clear about who they believe was behind the riots in Al-Awamiyah last week.
Added on 05/10/2011
Rob L. Wagner
Abdullah , Al Watan , Australia , Canada , Conservatives , DC , Egypt , Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood , Ehsan Ahrari , Finance , Jeddah , Journalist , Middle East , Middle East Analyst , Ministry of Education , Ministry of Higher Education , Newcastle , Prophet Muhammad , Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , Saudi government , Security Council , Social Media , United Kingdom , United Nations , United States , Washington , Washington DC

ROB L. WAGNER: A new secondary school textbook highlights the struggle between liberals and conservatives within the Saudi Ministry for Education.
Added on 13/09/2011
Layla
Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh , Adel Fakieh , Employment , guard , Jeddah , Labor , Riyadh , Salesman , Saudi Arabia , Women

LAYLAH: “Are you sure it’s your size, we also have them in XL…,”the man says. ‘Does my arse look that big in this abaya?’, the woman thinks to herself…
Added on 12/09/2011
Crossroads Arabia
Electricity , London , Nuclear energy , Oil , Oil exporter , Oil revenues , peak oil , Reuters , Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , Saudi government , United States

CROSSROADS ARABIA: The current rate at which Saudis are consuming water is simply unsustainable. Drastic action needs to be taken. And soon.
Added on 11/09/2011
Rob L. Wagner
Abdullah , Activist , ARAMCO , ASBAR Center for Studies , Bahrain , Board of Grievances , Cairo , communication technology , Dammam , Egypt , Emir , European Union , Facebook , Fahd , Gamal Abdel Nasser , Grievances , Hamas , Hatton Al-Fassi , Holy Qur'an , Islam , Islamic Ennahda Party , Jeddah , John F Kennedy , Journalist , King Abdullah , King Saud University , King Saud University in Riyadh , Libya , London School of Economics , Madinah , Makkah , Middle East , Mohammed Fahad Al-Qahtani , Morocco , MTV , Muslim Brotherhood , Nadia Bakhurji , News media , Nora bint Abdullah Al-Fayez , North Africa , oil industry , Prophet Muhammad , Richard Nixon , Riyadh , Saud bin Abdul Aziz , Saudi Arabia , Saudi Council of Engineers , Saudi government , Shoura Council , Social Media , Syria , Tabuk , Tahrir Square , Tunisia , Tunisian government , Twitter , United States , Women's Rights , Yemen

ROB L. WAGNER: There has been a lot of criticism of Saudi Arabia’s upcoming municipal elections. Some groups, however, know how best to work the system.