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There is an apocryphal story that has circulated around Beirut in various versions and goes something like this: a Filipina woman is swimming in the pool of an elegant private …

When it comes to politics, Americans, much like everyone else, are terrible ingrates. People tend to forget how bad things were under the old regime and remember only the positive, …

Sanctions are one of those political issues that can make amiable dinner conversation turn unpleasant, as the battle lines are drawn down the table between those for and against.  Sanctions …

Based on recently released figures, Arab investors have been paying more attention to business in neighboring countries, while looking less at “traditional” Western markets. The size of inter-Arab direct investment …

One of the (many) economic paradoxes in Iraq today is the existence of considerable poverty in a country that was once, and could still become, among the most prosperous in …

Sitting on one of the world’s biggest reserves of oil, Iraq continues to be presented with a still difficult-to-answer question — are its vast hydrocarbon reserves an asset or a …

Ironically, Iran’s reformists have long feared a scenario in which a conservative government would first crush them and then reach an agreement with the United States and reap the domestic …

Cyprus is part of the European Union but its problems are very much tied to the Middle East. July 20 marked 35 years since the Turkish invasion, the result of …

Lebanon’s tourism advertising campaign presents the country as a paradise of pristine mountain landscapes, beautiful shorelines and night time cavorting. What the ads don’t show are the effects of the …

For business journalists, writing about the Gulf from 2004 to 2008 was often a repetitive process. Regardless of the sector being covered, the opening paragraph would invariably have a growth …