The venerable American University of Beirut (AUB) is preparing for a new spring of engendering broad leadership of civil societies in the countries of the Middle East. A recently announced…
Thomas Schellen
Thomas Schellen
Thomas Schellen is Executive's editor-at-large. He has been reporting on Middle Eastern business and economy for over 20 years. Send mail
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Until the eruption of the so-called ‘Arab Spring’, constructive Arab thinking in the mind of many observers appeared stifled and chained to the point of ineffectuality. This state of forced…
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The task of insurance sector supervision in Lebanon is the domain of the Insurance Control Commission, a body attached to the Ministry of Economy and Trade. The ICC team is…
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“The insurance industry has shown its resilience, because it is growing. When we drill down, we see that we have some very good professional companies that have good returns on…
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“[For the real estate market overall], 2012 was one of the most difficult years since 2005. People are used to ups and downs in this country and have learned to…
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The global disaster count was going so well. Throughout the first 10 months of 2012, the financial tally of natural catastrophes for international reinsurers and insurers was a fraction of…
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With the latest cycle of real estate activity, a new generation of developers has sprung up. Some of them have come to the excavation sites with approaches that could be…
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Screech! Honk! And a few polite words. That is what it takes for the 40-ton dump truck on a busy intersection at noontime in the middle of Beirut’s Ashrafieh district…
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Damas is the leading jewelry chain in the United Arab Emirates and a luxury venture that claims to have a 17 percent share of the domestic market. The roots of…
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Despite some corporate performance soft spots and pockets of socioeconomic discontent, the Gulf economies are a good bet for investors this year, and into the future. High oil prices conjoined…