What Makes Bahrain Different? | The 5,000-Year Story No One Tells

Very recommendable! A melting pot and at the crossroads of major trading routes.

(242) What Makes Bahrain Different? | The 5,000-Year Story No One Tells | NOB - YouTube

What the United Kingdom can learn from the United Arab Emirates in terms of business environment and free markets

Very recommendable! An interesting country comparison that may well apply to other European countries as well (e.g. France, Germany)!

Arab merchants, businessmen/-women and traders make it possible!

A very well timed article to greet and inspire the new PM Andy Burnham!

"When British policymakers look to the Gulf, they often assume Dubai’s rise was built on limitless oil wealth. That misses the more interesting lesson. Dubai’s free-trade instincts go back to 1901, when its rulers scrapped import and export taxes to attract merchants from more restrictive neighbouring ports.

Today, oil accounts for less than 1 per cent of Dubai’s GDP. The emirate has prospered by becoming what might be called a ‘platform city’: a stable, business-friendly hub that provides the infrastructure, light-touch rules, and predictability private enterprise needs to grow. ...

Dubai treats residents and businesses less as subjects to be managed and more as customers to be served. Government performance is regularly judged by the quality and speed of delivery. There is a local saying that the government “works at the speed of business”, and that mindset matters.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, this agility helped Dubai reopen safely and quickly, attracting global talent from countries with more rigid restrictions. For the UK, a similar customer-service culture in Whitehall would be a serious shift: a state that sees its role as enabling enterprise, rather than slowing it down through bureaucracy.

Free markets depend on trust. Dubai has turned social order into a real competitive advantage. Its low crime rates and strong culture of civic responsibility create a sense of security that is hard to measure but easy to value. Residents routinely leave valuables unattended with little fear of theft. [This used to common in the UK decades ago, if I am not mistaken.]

For a global financial centre, this matters. Trust reduces friction, lowers costs, and makes a city more attractive to investors, entrepreneurs and families looking for stability. ...

One of Dubai’s most effective tools has been its network of free zones, which historically offered 100 per cent foreign ownership and zero taxes. Just as importantly, these zones have acted as testing grounds for more liberal rules before they are applied more widely.

The Dubai International Financial Centre is the clearest example. It operates under its own English common law framework, with independent courts and a regulatory system designed for international finance.

Dubai actively competes for skilled people. Its Golden Visas, remote working schemes and Green Visas give professionals, entrepreneurs, and investors clear routes to live and work there without being tied to traditional employer sponsorship. ..."

What Britain can learn from Dubai

As Iran Strikes Gulf With Missiles, Drones, Could UAE Join Trump’s War?

Recommendable! A critical discussion of the pros and cons of the Arab gulf states and their relation with the US.

(481) As Iran Strikes Gulf With Missiles, Drones, Could UAE Join Trump’s War? | Vantage on Firstpost | 4K - YouTube

President Trump said holds off on a planned U.S. attack on Iran at the request of Gulf leaders

Good news! Good to know that the Arab Gulf States are involved in the negotiations!

"President Trump said he would hold off on a planned U.S. attack on Iran at the request of Gulf leaders to make room for talks with Tehran over a prospective deal to end the war.

 

He said the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. asked him to pause the attack set for tomorrow because “serious negotiations are now taking place.” A day earlier, he’d warned that the “clock is ticking” and that if Iran didn’t move on peace negotiations “there won’t be anything left of them.” Tehran has refused to meet U.S. demands that it dismantle key parts of its nuclear program and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz."

Wall Street Journal What's news

Iran's very dubious claim of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz

It seems to be an outrageous claim by the fanatic theocratic dictatorship and major global state sponsor of terrorism!

What about the the state of Oman or the United Arab Emirates?

All Western countries and beyond would be well advised to firmly reject this claim!

Take the Strait of Gibraltar as an example:

"The Strait of Gibraltar is classified under international law as a strait used for international navigation. Its legal status is primarily governed by the transit passage regime established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

This regime guarantees all ships and aircraft the right of free, continuous, and expeditious transit between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, even when traversing the territorial waters of Spain, Morocco, or the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar." (Google AI)

Source

An Iranian missile struck a Saudi Arabian air base, damaging several U.S. refueling aircraft

How is this possible? Why was it not prevented? Why are Iranian missiles able to hit multiple targets in the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia.

Have the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia not been buying the latest US weapons for decades?

"The attack also involved unmanned aerial vehicles, they said. Check out what other U.S. military assets have been damaged or lost. Meanwhile, Marco Rubio said ... the war would continue for two to four weeks. ..."

Wall Street Journal What's news

Ukraine deploys specialist units to 5 Middle East countries to intercept drones

Good news!

"Ukraine has deployed specialist teams to five Middle Eastern countries to help intercept drones and advise on air-defense measures, with officials saying they expect to conclude several significant agreements.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said teams had been sent to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan, states that have come under fire during the Iran war. ...

adding that 228 Ukrainian specialists were now in the region. ..."

Ukraine deploys units to 5 Middle East countries to intercept drones

Iranian Drones attack Gulf States Data Centers

Recommendable! Nice description of events!

I think it was a pretty stupid decision by Iran to attack these data centers of the Gulf States!

"Iran hit at least three Amazon data centers in the Middle East, an indicator of AI’s critical role in the United States’ war against Iran and possibly the first time such facilities have been targeted during warfare.

What happened: Iranian drones damaged an Amazon Web Services (AWS) facility in Bahrain and two in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), disrupting online services including banking, payments, ride sharing, food delivery, and business software. The U.S. military uses AWS to run the unclassified version of Anthropic Claude and possibly other computing systems, but it didn’t disclose whether the attacks affected its operations.

Drone attacks: Early on March 1, drones struck two AWS data centers in the UAE, and the Bahrain data center suffered damage shortly afterward. Amazon said the Bahrain attack was “a drone strike in close proximity to one of our facilities,” while Iran said it had targeted the facility “to identify the role of these centers in supporting the enemy’s military and intelligence activities,” according to Iran’s state-controlled Fars News Agency via the messaging service Telegram. 

The data centers suffered structural damage, power disruptions, and water damage caused by firefighters, which resulted in service outages and higher-than-normal error rates. As of March 3, Amazon recommended that its cloud-computing customers back up data and move workloads from AWS Middle East Region to the U.S., Europe, or Asia Pacific.

The attacks put at risk trillions of dollars of investments to build AI hubs in the Persian Gulf region, The New York Times reported. 

Member nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council, an economic union and military alliance that includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, host 2.0 gigawatts of data center capacity, with an additional 0.4 gigawatts planned, Business Insider reported.

Behind the news: The risk to data centers mirrors a rise in AI’s role in warfare. Despite the U.S. military’s recent decision to ban defense uses of Anthropic’s Claude large language model, U.S. forces routinely use Claude and other systems for a variety of purposes in Iran and elsewhere. For its part, Iran uses weaponized drones that have some degree of autonomy.

Claude was part of a system that helped select more than 1,000 targets during the initial 24 hours of the U.S. war on Iran, enabling U.S. forces to vastly accelerate the pace of strikes, The Washington Post reported. Claude is integrated with Maven Smart System (MSS), a system for targeting and logistics built by Palantir. ..."

Attacks On Data Centers, Qwen3.5 In All Sizes, DeepSeek’s Huawei Play, and more...

Iranian attacks U.S. data centers in two Gulf states, a first in war

 Bad news!

"Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched coordinated drone attacks on Amazon Web Services data centers across the UAE and Bahrain early Sunday morning, striking what appears to be the first deliberate military targeting of commercial datacenter infrastructure. An Iranian Shahed 136 drone hit an AWS facility in the UAE, triggering a devastating fire and power shutdown; follow-up strikes hit additional datacenters. The attacks disrupted services for millions of residents—payment apps, food delivery, and banking systems failed across Dubai and Abu Dhabi, although the military impact remains unclear. Iranian state media claimed the strikes targeted facilities supporting US military and intelligence operations. ..."

The Batch, Data Points

Disclaimer:
I am currently blogging from behind the Great Firewall of China.
My Internet service in China is very spotty. Thus, I am not able to blog as usual.

When Gulf Allies Saudi Arabia and UAE Fall Out over Yemen

Bad news! Recommendable! How far will the dispute go?

"The new year opened with a question mark over Gulf stability as tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE erupted into an open dispute over Yemen with the potential to reshape the regional order. Even if the two Gulf powers reconcile, the damage from their public feud will undermine trust and affect countries that rely on them ...

Weeks of simmering tensions came to a head on December 30 when Saudi Arabia bombed what it described as an arms shipment from the Emirates bound for separatists in Yemen. ...

A complex history of rivalries and rapprochements underpins the UAE-Saudi relationship. ..."

When Gulf Allies Fall Out - by Olivia Cuthbert "A public dispute over Yemen has exposed deepening rifts between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, raising questions about Gulf cohesion and regional stability at a moment of widespread turmoil."

Will Arab Gulf States Pick Iran or Israel? with Palki Sharma

Very recommendable! A crucial question! Palki indicates that for mostly  business reasons and the Arab countries may side with Iran.

Dubai Husband Purchases $50 Million Island for Wife's Bikini Privacy

For some individuals this is pocket change and it buys some fame!

United Arab Emirates: Record-breaking $1-billion skyscraper hosts highest internal rainforest

Good news! 

Since the Amazon rainforest is shrinking bring the rainforest indoors! Caution: satire!

Record-breaking $1-billion skyscraper hosts highest internal rainforest

The Tiger Sky Tower is an ambitious supertall skyscraper currently under construction in Dubai that will reach a height of 532 m (1,745 ft)

Why more Chinese tourists choose to go to the Middle East

Good news! Because it is Western Asia! Just kidding! It's cheap! Visa free access.

The sights and sounds

Chinese New Year messages on the face of the iconic tower

Qatar Becomes First Gulf State and 42nd state in US Visa Waiver Programme on October 1. Qatar reciprocated with similar program for U.S. citizen

Good news! Bring people together!

Houthis knock out underwater cables linking Europe, Gulf States to Asia, India - report

The Wests and the Rest of the Worlds inability to effectively deal with a bunch of terrorists operating out of Yemen is shocking!

"Four underwater communications cables between Saudi Arabia and Djibouti have been struck out of commission in recent months, presumably as a result of attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, according to an exclusive report in the Israeli news site Globes.

The successful targeting of the four cables, which are believed to belong to the AAE-1, Seacom, EIG, and TGN systems, marks a serious disruption of communications between Europe and Asia.

Most of the immediate harm will be absorbed by the Gulf states and India, Globes said. ..."

Houthis knock out underwater cables linking Europe to Asia - report - The Jerusalem Post The successful targeting of the four cables, which are believed to belong to the AAE-1, Seacom, EIG, and TGN systems, marks a serious disruption of communications between Europe and Asia.

How the Abraham Accords are transforming business in the Middle East

Recommendable! I have blogged here multiple times about the Abraham Accords (click on label below). Blessed are the peacemakers!

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” William Shakespeare

Meet Ms. Noa Gastfreund (her German last name means hospitality) 

"... An example of one such catalyst is Noa Gastfreund, VP of Business Development at UNIPaaS and cofounder of the UAE-IL Tech Zone. This organization developed out of The Hybrid accelerator program for Arab-led Israeli startups. ..."

How the Abraham Accords are transforming business  - ISRAEL21c Two years on, the accords are creating endless opportunities for B2B companies in the MENA region and building a pro-business environment.

Noa Gastfreund of the UAE-IL Tech Zone

Gulf countries eye economic opportunities in Africa

Good news! Taking advantage of the recent African Continental Free Trade Agreement!

Three Gulf states reach out to Israel for help battling COVID-19 pandemic

Good news! Peace by other means! The Yiddish Mensch lives on!

Three Gulf states reach out to Israel for help battling COVID-19 pandemic | The Times of Israel UAE and Bahrain have been in touch with Ramat Gan’s Sheba hospital for months; now a third country — likely Kuwait — has asked for help erecting telemedicine facilities

Speculating About Trump's Approach To The Arab Israeli Conflict

Posted: 5/29/2017

I will be very brief! I have followed the Arab Israeli conflict for decades. This might be the time to get it finally right!

A viable approach would be:

1. First and foremost: Most Arab countries (incl. West Bank, Gaza) sign a long overdue, sincere peace treaties with Israel. All previous trade restrictions etc. imposed by Arab countries against Israel are immediately dropped
2. Negotiations about land & statehood etc. may begin
3. Perhaps an economic and military alliance between these states will emerge