Sabena Siddiqi

Leaving behind decades-old social rules, Saudi Arabia is at a turning point for the first time since 1979 when conservative laws and norms were initially enforced. Nowadays, families in Saudi Arabia look forward to going to the movies as the first of planned 2,000 cinemas is due to open in March. As described in the Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman's Vision 2030, things are moving ahead. Discussing the significance of these steps, the Saudi Culture Minister Awwad Alawwad  explained, "This is a watershed in the development of the cultural economy in the kingdom. Opening cinemas will act as a catalyst for economic growth and diversification. "By developing the broader cultural sector, we will create new employment and training opportunities, as well as enriching the kingdom's entertainment options." Diversifying the Saudi economy had also become a necessity, keeping in mind the plunge in global oil prices since 2014. With "Vision 2030," Saudi Ar...

Venturing to replace the U.S. dollar with the Chinese yuan for bilateral trade between Pakistan and China, the State Bank of Pakistan recently announced that all arrangements for the change-over were already in place.  Having considered the Chinese proposal to use the renminbi for some time, a comprehensive bank policy was prepared whereby public and private enterprises in both countries can carry out financial activities in CNY.  According to the official notification, "As per current foreign exchange regulations, the Chinese Yuan (CNY) is an approved foreign currency […] on a par with other international currencies such as the USD, Euro and JPY." Considering the ongoing massive Chinese infrastructure project in Pakistan, the new facility would "yield long-term benefits for both the countries," the announcement added. From now on, Pakistan's imports from China can be paid for in yuan rather than dollars. Not only that, Chinese companies investing in p...

After more than two decades, Washington wants to splurge on a flag-waving, chest-thumping military parade this year.  Usually held on a more moderate scale on occasions such as the Fourth of July, Veterans Day and Memorial Day, the last grand parade was a "victory celebration" over the first Gulf War in 1991. Nearly 200,000 spectators watched 8,000 troops march past along with Navy and Marine bands performing loudly, and jets and helicopters flying overhead.  Ever since assuming office, President Trump has wished to revive traditions like the parade as a symbolic statement of "America First." Having a grand parade was mulled over even at the time of the Trump inaugural ceremony, but displaying military equipment on the occasion was considered somewhat incongruous by the organizing committee. At that time, domestic critics worried it might send out an excessively "authoritarian" message instead of being simply a tribute to the military, so the plan ...

In the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreed in 2015, Iran was described as a  “nuclear threshold state”  that could be cleared to continue its nuclear program after remaining under observation for some years. Devising the preliminary framework to pursue this objective, various world powers – the US, the UK, Russia, France, China, Germany and the European Union – had negotiated with Iran for two years to achieve this breakthrough. After defining a roadmap between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran’s nuclear program seemed to be in safe hands. Not satisfied with the mechanism, however, the US withdrew from the JCPOA in May last year as it wished to “ make a new and lasting deal ,” in the words of President Donald Trump. Notwithstanding IAEA assertions that Iran was complying and implementing its nuclear-related commitments, the US wanted to negotiate a new deal and announced sanctions against Iran. Plausibly, restricting the forma...

Why Saudi Arabia Joining CPEC Matters The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, while a bilateral project, has ample space for additional partners to invest. By  Sabena Siddiqui February 02, 2019               From the beginning, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been a strictly bilateral project between Pakistan and China. Even though other countries have been invited to join in at various times, control of the project remained with the original partners. According to the contracts, other countries can join CPEC-related projects but the policymaking and implementation is to remain a bilateral arrangement between China and Pakistan. In the past, Pakistan had invited both Iran and the United States to join CPEC as well, so in that sense inviting Saudi Arabia  is nothing new .  Becoming an important  stakeholder  in the Pakistani seaport of Gwadar in the province of Baloch...

Providing real-time location data, the global positioning system (GPS), which has both civil and military uses, is the largest and most reliable direction finder in the world. Since the US Air Force launched the very first satellite to make global observations of the Earth’s oceans into space in 1978, the GPS network gas dominated the market. Several other countries established similar networks over the years, but remained far behind the American GPS system. Russia’s GLONASS, China’s Beidou and the European Space Agency’s Galileo networks tried to keep up with the US, but were unable to dislodge GPS from the top spot. However, in the last couple of years, China’s Beidou network has been making rapid progress and is now on its way to becoming the largest satellite network. Having launched more than 40 satellites into space, China has now outstripped GPS, which runs on 31 satellites, while Russia’s GLONASS operates 24. China has its sights set on “serving the entire globe by the y...

I n the year ahead, artificial intelligence (AI) is set to move into the mainstream as many new high-tech innovations are ready to make their debut. Creating a well-planned infrastructure for these high-tech products is essential for ensuring they have favorable outcomes and become major drivers of economic growth. Expected to yield benefits in terms of labor productivity and time-saving, AI could drive up the world’s gross domestic product if it is strategically implemented in accordance with consumer demand. Redefining the way we live in ways never thought possible, many AI applications, such as self-driving cars and facial or speech recognition, have already been introduced. Having reached the level of sophistication needed for widespread implementation, in the months ahead many more such technologies will be employed for public use. As it is a virtual step into the unknown, it is time to evaluate the prospective impacts of some of these applications. First, AI c...