United Arab Emirates

Gulf countries are at the center of an emerging regional economic infrastructure expansion, but the implications will be global in nature.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar are each anchoring a different piece in the rebuilding of Syria’s infrastructure, turning investment and reconstruction into an informal division of labor.

Talli Circle, a new platform highlighting a traditional Emirati form of weaving, is reconnecting young Emirati women with their culture, heritage, and mothers and grandmothers.

After building highly successful restaurants in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Emirati pastry chef Hind Al Mulla plans to take the Home Bakery group global while providing a platform for other Emirati entrepreneurs.

The Gulf states want to reduce their dependence on expatriates without losing the professionals they still need for economic diversification. Pension reform is becoming part of that bargain.

Saudi-Emirati public reconciliation, a result of hard-earned lessons about the difficulty of going it alone, bodes well for a region at war and under attack, but there are still issues left to resolve.

The outbreak of the Iran war has halted the deepening of the economic relationship between the United States and the Gulf countries. While likely temporary, it could take some time before the upward trajectory is restored.

A brief reopening of oil exports in June suggested the path ahead for the United Arab Emirates.