Beyond oil: Google’s big bet on Saudi Arabia’s AI future
In a landmark move signaling the growing importance of the Middle East in the global tech landscape, Google has entered into a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund. The partnership underscores the “growing interlink” between AI and energy, as Saudi Arabia — along with the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states — uses its energy surplus to power data centers, a critical pillar of AI infrastructure.
Over the past month, Iran and its regional network of allies and proxies – The Axis of Resistance – has suffered a string of dramatic losses and defeats. What is the future of the Axis and its members, and what can the US and its allies do to confront and disrupt this Iranian-led network?
Director of MEI’s Arabian Peninsula Program Gerald Feierstein speaks to scholars Nadwa Al-Dawsari and Fatima Abo Alasrar as they reflect on the tenth anniversary of Yemen’s civil war.
It’s been ten years since the Houthis seized control of the capital of Sanaa, beginning a cycle of fighting that continues on and off to this day. What happened, what is the current state of the conflict, and where might the country be headed?
With the Middle East on the brink, how can the US recalibrate its response?
The Middle East teeters on the precipice of a substantial escalation, threatening to more fully draw in Lebanon, Iran, and perhaps other countries. What happens in the coming days, along with the decisions made by adversaries and allies alike, will determine if that happens.
As the Middle East becomes more autonomous and empowered domestically, the leaders in the region might consider more synergetic relations with each other and prepare national long-term plans that provide a balanced and integrated approach to social, technological, environmental, economic, and political development and progress.
Pakistan and the Middle East’s evolving approach to Afghanistan
Afghanistan has long been an arena for proxy contestations by regional powers, which have adopted rather divergent Afghan policies over the past several decades of foreign occupation and are doing so again now when the country is in the vicelike grip of a resurgent Taliban.
Special Briefing: The regional impact of Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination
In a new special briefing, scholars from across MEI weigh in with their thoughts on the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and the potential regional impact.
On July 16, the United States and Saudi Arabia announced a new framework for space collaboration and civil aeronautics that shakes up the space race. The agreement marks a turning point for the US-Saudi Arabia bilateral relationship, gearing it more toward scientific cooperation and demonstrating the pivotal role that emerging space powers, particularly in the Middle East, are poised to play in the Second Space Age.
