In mid-November terrorists active in the northern Sinai Peninsula blew up and thus shut down the Arab Gas Pipeline that provides Egyptian natural gas to Israel and Jordan. The saboteurs had been forced to dig a deep hole in order to reach the … [Read more...] about Egypt: Natural Gas, Pipelines, And The Gas Exporting Countries Forum
Contributor: J. Millard Burr
Saudi Arabia: Coping With Indigenous Unemployment And The Nitaqat Program.
December 20, 2011 In May 2011 the Saudi Arabia Minister of Labor Adel Fakieh announced that his Ministry would very soon introduce a program (the Nitaqat) that would drastically reduce the overall number of sponsorship visas (the Iqama) granted to … [Read more...] about Saudi Arabia: Coping With Indigenous Unemployment And The Nitaqat Program.
Egypt's Trade-Off
November 30, 2011 Egypt’s Trade-Off By J. Millard Burr* It is sad to find that Egypt's tourist economy and the tourism giant Thomas Cook & Sons have simultaneously hit rock bottom. Since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, and Cook's … [Read more...] about Egypt's Trade-Off
Egypt's Economy: Falling Leaves
HEADLINE, OCTOBER 27, 2011: Egypt had its government bond ratings cut for the third time this year by Moody's Investors Service, which cited ongoing economic weakness' after the revolt that ousted President Hosni Mubarak. (Bloomberg) Prior to the … [Read more...] about Egypt's Economy: Falling Leaves
Alexandria'S Islamist Activists: Then And Now
On the third day following the outbreak of war in the Sinai, all was chaos in Alexandria. The Israeli Airforce was known to have destroyed the Egyptian airbases in both the Western Desert and the Cairo region, and Israeli planes controlled the … [Read more...] about Alexandria'S Islamist Activists: Then And Now
Egyptian Tourism And The American Dollar
(September 13, 2011) In August Mohamed Saad al-Katatny, Secretary General of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood-dominated Freedom and Justice Party, sent a shiver of fear through his nation's tourist sector when he announced, "We need to place regulations … [Read more...] about Egyptian Tourism And The American Dollar
The Sinai Situation
(September 7, 2011: This is the second report on the Sinai prepared by J. Millard Burr*) Israel Prim Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reported to have made it clear to attendees at a Likud party forum held on 28 August that despite recent incidents … [Read more...] about The Sinai Situation
Obama's Curious Silence
On August 10, President Obama signed into law HR2765 entitled "Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage Act." This Act received unanimous approval in both the House and the Senate. In the latter case, before … [Read more...] about Obama's Curious Silence