http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/ No holds barred en-us Copyright 2009 ABQ Zawya Ltd. All rights reserved. Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT 29 http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/081221084138/ It is said, although the origin of the phrase is sometimes disputed, that the 18th-century Anglo-Irish statesman Edmund Burke once pointed to the Press Gallery in the House of Commons and declared: "Yonder sits the Fourth Estate, and they are more important than them all" (the first three accepted... Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20081221120000081221084138 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/081214081214/ Baghdad, Monday, February 29, 2010, almost 15 months in the future, and Israel has attacked Iran's nuclear facilities. What might the consequences be? The shutting down by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard of all maritime traffic crossing the Straits of Hormuz, through which 17 million barrels of... Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20081214120000081214081214 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/081207170655/ Imagine if Dubai had been too timid to build... While many observers seem to be preoccupied with the future of Dubai and the UAE, it might be prudent to draw their attention to where the country actually stands today. The credit crunch, in fact, serves as a perfect opportunity for us to show the world... Sun, 07 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20081207120000081207170655 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/081130084454/ "They knock on my door aggressively but I don't open it, I stay very quiet." The caller pauses briefly before continuing. "But I am fine." These were the words of UAE national Rashid al Owais, a 40-year-old marble trader whose business took him to Mumbai last week.Rashid, a Muslim and an Arab, was... Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20081130120000081130084454 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/081123083503/ Since Dubai has taken a front seat in the international limelight, we in the UAE have grown used to welcoming journalists from across the world. Recently, though, there has been a slew of reporters coming hoping to uncover a "dark side". Thankfully, the UAE has largely ignored this negative... Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20081123120000081123083503 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/081116084415/ "If it lasted with others it would never have reached you." The first time I read this Arabic saying about authority was when I visited Kuwait several years ago; it can be found atop the magnificent gate of Al-Seef Palace by the shore of the Gulf and dates back about 1337 Hijri, or 1918 AD, to remind the country's emir of his finite mandate. In contradiction... Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20081116120000081116084415 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/081102053211/ The first memory I have of Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak was in Ajman many years ago, when I asked my late father who was the charismatic person being repeatedly greeted at the wedding of the son of a prominent personality there. Little did I know that the person who so impressed me then would have one of the strongest positive impacts on both UAE society... Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20081102120000081102053211 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/081003043336/ An investment lesson for allWhen William Browder speaks, the investment world listens. You get that kind of power when you administer more than US$8.5 billion of assets under management.1 Bill Browder founded The Hermitage Fund, an asset management company that specialises in the Russian market, in 1996. According to Dow Jones, since the fund started... Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20081003120000081003043336 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080928074726/ In the United States this autumn, the elite financiers of September 15 succeeded in doing what the elite terrorists of September 11 failed to do: bring the US economy to its knees. But they're not the only nincompoops in charge in the US.According to The New York Times, the Bush administration initially estimated the cost of the Iraq war at $50 billion,... Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080928120000080928074726 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080914061843/ On the seventh anniversary of the tragedy of September 11 and the 20th anniversary of the even bigger tragedy of the founding of al Qa'eda it is safe to say that the network has seen better days. In the 1990s, al Qa'eda was a force to be reckoned with, its members had been instrumental in the fight against the Russian invaders in Afghanistan that culminated... Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080914120000080914061843 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080907135320/     The accusations of corruption within the ruling Egyptian National Democratic Party (NDP) manifested themselves in two very different ways this summer. In July an Egyptian court stunned the Arab world when it acquitted NDP member Mamdouh Ismail, the owner of the 35-year-old ferry boat, Salam Boccacio 98, that sank off the shore of Egypt killing one... Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080907120000080907135320 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080803083412/ It's a frightening statistic: according to a Jordan-based agency called the Knowledge World Centre for Polls, 98 per cent of political science and media professors in the Arab world claim to watch at least three hours of Al-Jazeera daily, labelling it as the "the most respected news agency". What is frightening about that number... Sun, 03 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080803120000080803083412 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080727090817/ At 84 years old, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is not a young man, but the rest of the world should hope that he has many years left in him. His desert kingdom, roughly the size of Western Europe, hosts the two holiest Muslim shrines and about a quarter of a trillion barrels of oil, equivalent to 25 per cent of known global oil reserves.Since officially... Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080727120000080727090817 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080714082704/       In its spring issue, Foreign Policy, a US-based political magazine, published a list of the world's 100 top public intellectuals in alphabetical order. The magazine then asked its readers to vote for those they deemed most deserving of the highest honours - 500,000 public votes later, an interesting fact emerged: the top 10 was dominated by intellectuals... Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080714120000080714082704 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080630035533/ Inflation and the Dutch Disease of the Gulf For over a year now the hottest topics in many cities of the GCC have been the rising cost of living and the depreciating value and purchasing power of the local currency, both of which link directly to the issue of inflation. But why is any one surprised? This is a most natural phenomenon in a region know... Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080630120000080630035533 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080623191231/ The numbers are staggering. Not in their wildest dreams did the Arab Gulf states, known by the acronym GCC, expect to rack-up such large revenues. Their GDP, the value of all goods and services produced in a year, has crossed the $1 trillion mark, according to the International Monetary Fund, and their foreign assets, which increase by $1 billion per... Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080623120000080623191231 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080530225205/ There are generally three accepted kinds of corruption[1] that are standard in the world today, organised corruption which includes gangs and criminals, petty corruption which involves small amounts of money and business or political corruption which in the Gulf is yet to be officially recognised as a crime. Some GCC countries have ranked quite well... Fri, 30 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080530120000080530225205 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080518212108/    There is a community of 1.3 million Arabs living within Israel but outside the Arab world. They have been neglected, ignored and often looked down upon by their fellow Arabs as traitors who have stayed behind while many Palestinian Arabs fled the violence of the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. Upon the founding of the state of Israel, hundreds of... Sun, 18 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080518120000080518212108 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080513100431/ Do you believe in heroes? Not the kind found in animated comics but those who really exist. Heroes who risk their lives for the betterment of man, who leave behind safe environments, their families and their homes to travel to war zones to give others - people they have never met and possibly will not meet again - a better life. They change into special... Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080513120000080513100431 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080504111244/ The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word ghost as "a faint shadowy trace" which brings to mind several stocks that are apparently listed on the Gulf stock markets. There are two kinds of ghost stocks in the Gulf, those that are actually listed but whose equity is so tightly controlled by a single family or two therefore are rarely traded if ever... Sun, 04 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080504120000080504111244 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080428223209/ Many of us have heard of the famous advertising empire known as Saatchi and Saatchi, laughed at the jokes of Jerry Seinfeld, tapped our feet to the beats of Paula Abdul and shopped at Max Azria's BCBG stores. So what do all these successful people from various industries have in common? They are all of Arab origins.The Jewish presence in what is now... Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080428120000080428223209 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080421092216/ A quiet revolution is taking place in the Arab states of the Gulf, but this one needs no demonstrators, slogans or weapons. It is being undertaken by the pen, the book and the abaya. In what are supposed to be some of the most patriarchal societies in the world, women are taking the helm with and without the consent of men.At colleges and universities... Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080421120000080421092216 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080402073325/ It seems like not a single day can pass without yet another extravagant announcement of a new real estate project that defies gravity, the law of nature and the laws of finance. There is something to be said about the lack of government supervision that extends from allowing firms to issue press releases that are clearly stretching the truth to broken... Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080402120000080402073325 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080304081547/ It was the stuff that dreams, or nightmares, are made of, depending which side of the fence you sit on. Kuwait finally caved in to the demands of hundreds of citizens to write off hundreds of millions of dollars worth of loans that they have accumulated in mortgages, personal loans and car loans. To any GCC pundit this shouldn't come as a surprise.... Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080304120000080304081547 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080129111315/ It was a proud moment in the financial history of the UAE, finally an equity market of international standards right at our doorstep. A market that would allow us to forget the sorry state of the other two stock exchanges with their minimal transparency and corporate governance, heralding the dawn of a new era. Alas, it was a moment that came and went... Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20080129120000080129111315 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/071231083538/ Since Kuwait took the pioneering step in establishing the world's first Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) in 1953 followed by Abu Dhabi with its Investment Authority (ADIA) in 1977, along with their Norwegian and Singaporean counterparts, government owned firms have been investing their excess funds, mostly from oil, in the western world capital and real... Mon, 31 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20071231120000071231083538 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/071226051808/ Officially, we are a listed company on a GCC bourse; our activities are clear although we have a $500M portfolio in the local stock market which contradicts our stated activities. Our board and shareholding structure is dominated by a single family (or two) which could also be the government (technically still a family). Our CEO seldom appears in the... Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20071226120000071226051808 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/071121063621/ According to the IMF, the GDP of the GCC in 2007 will reach a whopping $750 Billion[1], placing it roughly above Australia as the 16th largest economy in the world[2]. And yet this number does little more than aggregate the economies of six geographically close countries that practically might as well be on six different continents. It is inconceivable... Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20071121120000071121063621 Open http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/071112112645/ One of the latest additions to such urban legends as the Loch Ness monster, UFO's and environmentally friendly land reclamation is what is now known as Islamic Finance. A new scam that started in the second half of the twentieth century and only really took off in the last three decades. One could wonder why the Islamic world needed 1,400 years to invent... Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Zawya 20071112120000071112112645 Open