Building Intercultural Understanding

A “thought-leader” dinner on the Middle East featured former President Carter and Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, as the capstone of a two-day gathering at Harvard of global scholars on Islam and the West from the six Prince Alwaleed Centers for Intercultural Understanding at leading universities across the world, including Harvard, Georgetown, Edinburgh, Cambridge, American University in Cairo and American University of Beirut. Topics addressed during this event included the global issue of bridging understanding among diverse religions in an environment increasingly marked by distrust, the recent momentous developments in the Arab world and their impact on American and Arab Foreign Policy in the Middle East, and the future of relations between Islam and The West.

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Saudi Arabia in the New Middle East: Gause, Jones

In an exclusive interview provided to you last week Professor F. Gregory Gause of the University of Vermont discussed his Council on Foreign Relations Special Report “Saudi Arabia in the New Middle East” with SUSRIS Editor in Chief Patrick Ryan. They also talked about Gause’s Foreign Policy article, “Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There,” which examined U.S. policy challenges in the Gulf.

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A Perspective on Regional Issues: Prince Al-Waleed

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal was interviewed by CNN International’s John Defterios recently on the Marketplace Middle East program. They started the brief interview with Prince Al-Waleed providing his perspective on whether countries where Islamic factions were on the rise, like Egypt and Tunisia, would remain open to foreign investment. He also addressed the outlook for reform in Saudi Arabia; the prospects for action against Iran; and Saudi oil production policy in a time where global supplies may be squeezed but the Iran crisis.

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KFUPM, from Jabal Al Dhahran to Pasadena’s JPL

To this day, it is easy to recognize a KFUPM student from others attending different universities in the Kingdom. KFUPM to Saudi education is like Pan American Airways for America’s aviation. Pan Am had more influence than a lot of people know. Pan Am simply took the world aviation to different levels. The same can be said for KFUPM, it had an influence on Saudi Arabia that most people didn’t know. It supplied the Saudi job market with the most skilled engineers. And during the historic takeover of Aramco by the Saudi Government, it was KFUPM who made the transition easy with the talented graduates of KFUPM to work for Saudi Aramco.

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Art Exhibit Hosted by Ambassador Smith Connects Families

American Ambassador James B. Smith, the top U.S. diplomat in Riyadh hosted an “Art in Embassies” exhibit in his home on January 29, 2012, which attracted American and Saudi artists and works. The U.S. State Department created the cultural program to share American artwork abroad in 1963…

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Economic Imperatives – Prince Turki

This week the 6th Annual Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh addressed the theme, “The Entrepreneurship Imperative.” Organized by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), the GCM2012 featured a keynote address by Prince Turki Al Faisal on the second day of the three day event. In his remarks he touched on entrepreneurship including the implications of risk and failure and a comprehensive examination of the Saudi and global economic environments.

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New Commerce Minister Hits Ground Running

Last month King Abdullah named Dr. Tawfiq al-Rabiah as Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Commerce and Industry succeeding Abdullah A. Zainel Alireza who had served in the post since March 2008. Dr. Rabiah has quickly stepped into an active role promoting business on behalf of the Kingdom. He has already led delegations from Saudi Arabia to India and Switzerland, according to Arab media reports, and has held meet with visiting foreign delegations in the Kingdom.

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Saudi Oil 30-Year Output High Amid Gulf Tensions

Saudi Arabia’s monthly crude oil production jumped 7.3% in November topping 10.04 million barrels per day, a 30-year high mark, according to data compiled by JODI.

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The Expatriate Who Forgot His Home Address

…We do understand the rules in Saudi Arabia regarding the naturalization process, and it is very difficult to get the Saudi nationality. And as a Saudi, I respect the rules of naturalization. But, it is very important to study this issue on a case-to-case basis. Some of these expatriates have a lot to offer to the Kingdom…

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2012 Gulf Competitiveness Forum Opens

The 6th Annual Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF) organized by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) opened January 22. With the overriding theme being“The Entrepreneurship Imperative,” the two-day forum will touch on all forms of entrepreneurship, according to the GCF Web site, “from social entrepreneurship to government; corporate and intrapreneruship to the importance of failure, the value of risk as well as the anatomy of an entrepreneur, amongst many more.” Speakers at the event include Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, Minister of Education and Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. Today we bring you the Forum’s opening announcement provided by SAGIA.

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