All Policy Analysis by Simon Henderson

Last night's truck bomb, which devastated an apartment block housing U.S. personnel near the Dhahran air base, is an horrific reminder of the potential vulnerability of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian security arrangement. The explosion in Riyadh last November which killed four Americans and then this latest outrage serve to focus public

Day-by-day events of the Middle East -- from conflict in South Lebanon, to terrorism in Cairo, to elections in Israel -- obscure already well-established, longer-running economic trends that are having a profound impact on the shape of the region for years to come. Increasing populations, declining oil revenues and the

Speculation about the health of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia has been rife ever since the news last week that he had been taken into the hospital for "some ordinary medical check-ups." The absence of any information of what might be wrong was matched by a flurry of goodwill messages

The ruling family of Saudi Arabia, one of the United States' most important allies in the Middle East, is heading for a crisis of leadership. Despite its modern infrastructure, paid for by huge revenues from oil exports, the kingdom's political system remains rooted in tribal structures that have scarcely evolved

The capture last week of the port city of Aden by forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen marked the end of the short-lived rebellion by secessionist supporters of Vice President Ali Salem al-Beidh. The outcome is a shock to the balance of power in the Arabian peninsula