Dale Gavlak

Riyadh and Baghdad see regional realignment as impetus to improve relations

Observers add that elections slated for next year also are not considered pivotal or having any real bearing on changing shattered country’s future

The United States is expected to shift focus to renewable energy under a Biden administration

Election has highest ever number of women candidates vying for parliament seats in a bid to tackle kingdom’s pressing issues and challenge traditional norms

Analysts expect President-elect Joe Biden to take tougher stand on human rights issues - especially in Persian Gulf region

US-Brokered negotiations aim to resolve competing claims to potentially energy-rich parts of the eastern Mediterranean

Government says country’s economy shrank 3.6-percent in second quarter due to pandemic, making it the sharpest economic contraction in two decades

Concern rise over Iran, Turkey, Russia and China influence contesting US power in Middle East

Many Arab countries, like Jordan, do not have the financial cushion that oil producers can draw on at this time

Serious banking reforms, capital controls, limits on Hezbollah’s border and customs controls needed, economists warn