Fares Braizat

The writer is chairman of NAMA Strategic Intelligence Solutions

Doing what is expected to achieve EMV

The Economic Modernization Vision (EMV) 2033 came about through the wide consensus of over 500 experts, including active government ministers and public sector leaders. As such, only through the genuine cooperation of all Jordanians can it be implemented and achieve the expected outcomes.

The appeal of countries to Jordanians

In the context of the current overt global competition between China and the US for global dominance, it is interesting to gauge the extent to which they could be successful in winning hearts and minds globally, and particularly in the Middle East, where emotions often run high due to political reasons.

Tourism’s change and evolution

The contribution of international tourism to the total value of services and commodities of the Jordanian economy increased from an average of 26.1 percent in 2000-2005 to 41.8 percent in 2019. Although this growth is mirrored in other sectors, tourism remains the most promising in terms of growth and employment opportunities as it recovers steadily and the number of arrivals increases exponentially, nearing 2019 numbers.

The Middle East between US and China

In the October 2022 unclassified version of the Department of Defense (DoD) National Defense Strategy (NDS) (the previous one was published 2018), the DoD, while recognizing “the persistence of security threats” from Iran, North Korea, and terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and daesh, focuses on China and Russia. For the DoD, China constitute “a longer-term threat” and in order to face that threat, the Pentagon will continue to coordinate with the State Department to expand US access in the region, as the NDS stipulates.

Red Sea-level geopolitics

The strategic importance of the Red Sea for regional and international actors is being reshaped by a renewed set of influencing factors. These include, inter alia, changed global posture of super and great powers in the region, emerging roles of regional powers (through delegation of roles by the super and great powers), expansion in the number and size of fixed and mobile military bases on and off the shores of the Red Sea, and a set of maritime threats to oil and trade routes, such as piracy and illegal trafficking.

From ‘oil for security’ to what?

The OPEC+ decision to reduce production by two million barrels a day is rooted in a shift of the world view of influential members of the cartel, as well as in commercial calculations.

The not so silent revolution in Saudi Arabia

When the term “silent revolution” was coined in social sciences decades ago, it referred to undercurrents of change of value systems in societies, mainly moving from traditional value systems to more modernization-generated value systems. These undercurrents are not usually seen clearly, and sophisticated modeling methods are required to uncover and track them over time.

The hidden gems of Jordan; seeing is believing

When we share with friends some of the activities we routinely do around the country, often times we get a response like “there are many hidden gems in this country, but why do we not know about them?”

Power distribution audit of the Middle East

Who are the winners and losers of the changing economic power dynamics in the Middle East? One of the best indicators to answer the question is to look at the GDP increase over the years, in current prices, as documented by the World Bank data.

The transformation races in the region

Moving from the ad hoc, and centralized, time-centered development plans of the 1960s and 1970s to future visions that stretch to 2040, the Gulf states have become global competitors and seek to diversify their economies to match the ever-changing regional and global realities.