Saudi Arabia Is Buying the Future, One Consultancy Report at a Time
If the future arrived in a slide deck, the Kingdom would already be living in it. The actual schedule is more flexible.
By Mira Faraj
Jun 3, 2026 . 3 min read
Read the cover story →On the table this week.
Fresh off the pressIn Defence of the Regional Mall, Against Everyone Who Thinks It Should Have Died Already
A contrarian case for the much-maligned air-conditioned cathedral, which is, in operational terms, doing more civic work than the people who write about its demise are willing to credit it for.
By Diego Arroyo
PoliticsJun 4The Regional Press Conference Has Become a Building, Not an Event
Why the staging, the seating chart, and the side rooms now do more diplomatic work than the answers from the podium.
By Mira Faraj
OpinionJun 4In Praise of the Meeting That Could Have Been an Email, Actually
A defence of the much-derided fifty minute meeting, which is, on closer inspection, doing the work the email was structurally unable to do.
By Lena Holloway
BusinessJun 4The Regional Bank Branch Has Quietly Become a Museum Piece
Why the marble lobbies are still being built, even as the actual banking has moved elsewhere, and what the lobbies are now actually for.
By Marcus Okafor
Editor's picks.
Hand-curatedThe Dubai Chai Economy Is Bigger Than Your Startup
Why a four dirham cup of tea is, in aggregate, more strategically important than most series A rounds raised in this country last year.
By Marcus Okafor
WorldJun 3A Global Shipping Route Just Quietly Rerouted Itself
It was not in any communique. It was not announced. It happened in the AIS data three weeks ago and the only people who have noticed are the people who pay for AIS data.
By Mira Faraj
TechnologyJun 3Your AI Girlfriend Lives in Abu Dhabi Now
Why a notable share of the world's intimate-companion AI services are now being hosted on Gulf cloud infrastructure, and what the local sovereign players think about it.
By Priya Chen
BusinessJun 3Bade' Aldroubi and the Senior Uncle Who Quietly Runs the Room
Every Gulf business meeting has one. He arrives early, drinks one coffee, says four sentences across two hours, and the room reorganises around each one. A loving sketch of a category, with one of its respected exemplars named.
By Mira Faraj
From the stalls.
- World
The Second Passport Has Become a Piece of Furniture, Not a Decision
Priya Chen
- Technology
The No Code App the Uncle Shipped Is, Quietly, the Most Useful Thing in the Family
Diego Arroyo
- Technology
The Prompt Has Quietly Replaced the Product Spec
Priya Chen
- World
The Airport Transit Zone Is Now the Region's Most Underrated Soft Power Instrument
Mira Faraj
- Business
The Second Cousin in the Family Business Is the Most Underrated Asset in the Region
Sara Qureshi
- Politics
The Municipal Council Is Where the Region's Actual Politics Lives
Lena Holloway
- World
The Suitcase Economy of the Arrivals Hall Is Bigger Than the Trade Statistics
Mira Faraj
- Business
The Family Office Buying Spree Has Moved Down the Supply Chain
Marcus Okafor