In March 1507, Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, found himself isolated and surrounded by enemies near the town of Vianna 80 miles south of Bilbao. He was 31 but had already enjoyed a glittering career. A bishop at…
History no guide as Riyadh pounds the oil price
Commentators are turning to the past to help forecast the effect of Saudi Arabia’s decision to slash oil prices and the arrest last week of senior members of the Al-Saud family But history is being echoed in these events, not…
Jerusalem in 1917, the end of the British Empire and Brexit
A memorial in Allenby Square in west Jerusalem marks the spot where British General John Shea accepted the surrender of the Holy City on the morning of 9 December 1917. On 12 December 2019, British voters elected a Conservative government…
Saudi Aramco CEO says the right things in London but investors remain cautious
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser delivered a robustly comprehensive defence of his company’s claim to foreign investment and capacity to maintain production despite the September oil asset attacks at the Oil & Money conference in London this morning. But investors…
Turning point for Saudi Arabia
There’s plenty that’s attracted criticism of Saudi Arabian policy since King Salman succeeded to the kingdom’s throne almost five years ago and made his son Mohammed Bin Salman, now crown prince, a cabinet minister. There’s the war in Yemen and…
Saudi Arabia is a nation with the influence of a superpower in oil, finance and the Muslim world
The storm about the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi after he entered the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in October is unlikely to pass soon. If murder has been committed, it is unforgivable. But Saudi Arabia’s status as a small nation…