Saudis In, UAE Out? Why Djibouti Has Become The Gulf’s Indispensable Outpost
January 8th, 2026
Via The Africa Report, commentary on how – in the high-stakes game of influence across the Red Sea – Djibouti is playing the Arabian Peninsula’s rival powers off one another to secure its own sovereignty – and its future: “Officially, Djibouti has no quarrel with the United Arab Emirates, nor with Dubai,” insists a government […]
Read more »Saudi’s AI Ambitions May Run Through Syria
November 5th, 2025
Via Semafor, a look at how Saudi’s AI ambitions may run through Syria: Courtesy of TeleGeography. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Saudi Arabia and Syria are in talks to build data cables connecting the kingdom to Europe, a move seen as a crucial part of Riyadh’s plan to become a global artificial intelligence hub. Syria […]
Read more »India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor: Promise, Peril, and the Politics of Connectivity
October 22nd, 2025
Via Modern Diplomacy, a look at the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) which was announced as a transformative connectivity framework which aims to link India, the Arabian Peninsula, and Europe through maritime, rail, energy, and digital networks: Source: Siasat.com During a recent meeting of Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in […]
Read more »Algeria Clinches $5.4 billion Oil and Gas Deal with Saudi Arabia
October 17th, 2025
Via Business Insider, an article on how Algeria has secured a $5.4 billion production-sharing agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Midad Energy to explore and develop oil and gas reserves in the Illizi Basin, marking a major step in the North African country’s energy expansion and foreign investment strategy: Saudi Arabia’s Midad Energy signed a $5.4 billion […]
Read more »Saudi Arabia is Betting Big on Egypt
October 6th, 2025
Via Semafor, a report on how Saudi Arabia is betting big on Egypt: Saudi Arabia pledged to invest $5 billion in Egypt, a vote of confidence in Cairo’s efforts to address its fiscal and investment policies as well as a signal of shifting Gulf attitudes towards plowing cash into flailing regional economies. Saudi Crown Prince […]
Read more »How Saudi Arabia Became a Video-Game Superpower
October 5th, 2025
Via The Economist, a look at how Electronic Arts is part of a multi-billion-dollar bid by Saudi Arabia to dominate gaming: “Assassin’s Creed”, a sneak-up-and-kill gaming franchise, is getting an unexpected update this autumn. Ubisoft, its French developer, recently announced a new set of missions set in Saudi Arabia (see picture below). The news followed […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.