Middle East Viewpoint: Obama’s Foreign Policy Legacy (Amir Taheri, Arab News)

As US President Barack Obama draws closer to exit, speculation is rife about likely changes in US foreign policy under his successor. Guesswork on that score isn’t easy.

http://www.eurasiareview.com/01052016-middle-east-viewpoint-obamas-foreign-policy-legacy-oped/

Green Card: A ray of hope for expats (Abdulateef Al-Mulhim, Arab News)

Emad is an Egyptian engineer. Ahmed is a Syrian accountant. Both are very close friends and their families are like one big family. Both the friends have been living in Saudi Arabia for the past 35 years. Their children grew up together. All their childhood memories were formed in Saudi Arabia and all their friends are in this country not in their respective home countries.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/916331

GCC-US Summit and the enduring partnership (Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg, Arab News)

On April 21, Riyadh hosted the second GCC-US summit. By all reasonable measures, the Riyadh summit was even a greater success than Camp David Summit last May, as it had the benefit of eleven months of extensive meetings between officials and experts on a wide range of security issues, including several ministerial meetings, and as such there was quite a bit of substance on the leaders’ agenda.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/916326

Securing Saudi future (Sabria S. Jawhar, Arab News)

For many year — decades, really, — the need for a comprehensive national plan was badly felt. We were the most crucial player in the Middle East, but to the international community we were just another Arab country.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/916321

Modi govt’s performance (Rajeev Sharma, Arab News)

The BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just completed two years in office — or shall we say that it has finished 40 percent of its five-year tenure?

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/916311

The New Saudi Arabia (Mohammed Fahad Al-Harthi, Arab News)

Saudi Arabia is on a new trajectory of growth. The new vision outlines the future of the country. This week, the Kingdom revealed its post-oil plans and introduced a clear road map for its future. That road map prepares for change in a new Saudi Arabia in line with modern times. It has the potential for not only economic achievements but also political, social and military ones.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/916051

Saudi Arabia’s future vision (Ala Alghamdi, Arab News)

In today’s globalized world, we cannot rely on the political concepts of the past. It is necessary to mold national policies according to the changing geopolitical scenario. We should remember that it is not necessary that policies that might have worked in the past will continue to remain effective in future as well. Challenges have to be met looking forward, not backward.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/915991

Undermining Syrian opposition (Osama Al Sharif, Arab News)

It is not surprising that the Geneva peace talks on Syria are on the brink of collapse following the opposition’s suspension of its participation and the regime’s refusal to discuss a transitional ruling authority with full powers.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/915986

Where there’s a Will (Mahir Ali, Arab News)

If all the world’s a stage, it could coherently be argued that William Shakespeare’s stature at its center owes a great deal to the cultural imperialism inculcated by the British empire.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/915981

On the playing fields of Eton (Neil Berry, Arab News)

The outgoing mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is incensed that US President Barack Obama has advised British people to vote to “remain” in the referendum on UK membership of the European Union on June 23.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/915976

Saudi Arabia’s future (Mohammed Fahad Al-Harthi, Arab News)

It was an exceptional day for Saudi Arabia yesterday. The Royal Court was packed with Saudi and foreign journalists and writers. Their eyes were fixated on the declaration of the Saudi Vision 2030 — a new road map that charts a new future for Saudi Arabia.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/915611

Saudi Vision 2030: Dawn of a new era (Abdulateef Al-Mulhim, Arab News)

Whether you believe it or not, I just realized that in order for me to see ancient Islamic artifacts, works of Islamic art, archaeology, coins and books, I would have to visit a neighboring country or to travel as far as Europe to find some museum housing such treasures.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/915606

A new strategy for Palestine (Linda S. Heard, Arab News)

The hardships and humiliations suffered by Palestinians are well known. Social media is swamped with videos of Palestinian women and children being roughed-up or killed by Israel’s so-called Defense Forces. Watching the homes of traumatized families being bulldozed makes for difficult viewing but no longer have shock value when such incidents are more the norm than the exception.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/915601

A path strewn with thorns (S.N.M Abdi, Arab News)

The gunning down of five civilians by army men after the mysterious molestation of a young girl in broad daylight and the unending curfew highlight the grim reality confronting Mehbooba Mufti who has just been sworn in as the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/915596

Our shared responsibilities (Ramesh Jaura, Arab News)

It is an open secret that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has put his heart into the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit set for May 23 and 24 in Istanbul.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/915591

Riyadh metro: No pain, no gain (Talal Alharbi, Arab News)

In Riyadh today, we are going through intolerable traffic congestion with many closures and detours. They all are adding pressure to our daily life. These problems are due to the ongoing work on the Riyadh Metro Project. However, what is important is that we have reached the point of coexisting easily with this status quo. When the project was launched first, many said that we would not be able to adapt to the situation, but they were wrong. In fact, this temporary adaptation is an indication that the policy of preparing the society was a very successful one. Today, everyone has either to manage his time in a proper way, or leave the city to live somewhere else.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/915346

Tomorrow will be better than yesterday (Saad Al-Dosari, Arab News)

Today is a historical day for Saudi Arabia. It is a day on which the country is laying the foundation of its long-term plans for the future — its vision of the days to come. It is an important day for us and for our future generations.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/915341

Balancing US Mideast policies (Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, Arab News)

US President Barack Obama’s recent visit to Riyadh, where he met Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders, may be his last as president of the United States. The US-GCC summit held during Obama’s visit to the Kingdom represents the second chapter of the Camp David meeting when Obama hosted Gulf leaders about a year ago prior to signing an agreement with Iran over its controversial nuclear program.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/915336

Accountability for all (Muhammad Waqas, Arab News)

For too long, the so-called public representatives, politicians and their cronies in Pakistan have been abusing political powers to promote personal interests at the cost of the nation.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/915331

The true face of Iran (Amir Taheri, Arab News)

It is now weeks that Iran’s political-clerical circles are abuzz about an “open letter” written to President Hassan Rouhani by Mehdi Karrubi, a former Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis) who has been under house arrest since 2009 after challenging the results of the 2009 presidential election.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/914801