In a small multi-sectarian country, such as Lebanon, highlighting religious and sectarian factors appear to be the most appealing and logical explanation to political and eocnomic woes. In reality, Lebanese sectarian diversity paved the way to a ruling class that took advantage of the national economic structure to pursue its own interests, leading to the […]
Laura Sayah, Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies/
One effect of the rift between Qatar and its GCC neighbours Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE has been the exportation of this division since 2017. Emirati and Saudi allies Eritrea, Comoros, Mauritania, and Senegal in the Red Sea severed diplomatic ties with Qatar at the beginning of the crisis, and cross-regional divisions only became […]
For 25 years after independence in 1991, Uzbekistan was ruled by the former First Secretary of the Uzbek Soviet Republic, Islam Karimov. Karimov’s rule was characterized by ruthless political leadership and gradual economic reform. While some commentators lauded the economic achievements under Karimov, a more common view was that the economy had underperformed in improving […]
