Arab World – MENA Region – Page 9 – Iraqi Economists Network

Iran’s Iraqi Market. By TAMER BADAWI*

The rise of the Islamic State has created both challenges and opportunities for Iranian trade networks in Iraq. The rise of the Islamic State (IS) and its expansion in Iraqi territory has threatened trade routes between Iran and Iraq, which have thrived over the past decade because Iraqi markets remained mostly open at a time when sanctions closed off other potential

Saudi Arabia appointed an Ambassador to Iraq in December 2015, ending its 25 years of diplomatic boycott that followed the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Although the cause of the boycott, Saddam Hussein’s regime, was removed in 2003 at the hands of its American allies, Saudi Arabia resisted relentless efforts by the U.S. to restore its diplomatic relations with post-Saddam

Download PDF: This Isn't Saudi Arabia's First ISIS Problem. By Abbas Kadhim Since the appearance of the self-described Islamic State—formerly the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)—many analysts tried to trace its political, historical, and ideological genesis. In this article I will draw the attention to some striking parallels between ISIL and the Saudi Ikhwan, an

Is the fight over a gas pipeline fuelling the world’s bloodiest conflict? By : Charis Chang THE Syrian war often seems like a big confusing mess but one factor that is not often mentioned could be the key to unlocking the conflict. Some experts have pointed out that many of the key players have one thing in common: a billion-dollar gas pipeline. Factor in this detail an

The heir to the Saudi throne just pushed through a bold package of reforms designed to free the kingdom from oil addiction by 2030. Here’s why it could backfire, badly. The Saudi royal family has gambled its prestige on a bold economic reform plan, meant to revive an economy battered by sharply lower oil revenues. But the prescriptions of “Saudi Vision 2030” are fraught with