Authoritative, Accessible Middle East Research Sources
Breaking News
Al Arabiya News
www.english.alarabiya.net
Al Arabiya News is the online arm of the Dubai-based Al Arabiya News Channel, which was created to be a direct competitor of Qatar's Al Jazeera network. The site was launched in August 2007 and is designed for an international audience in order to promote a more comprehensive understanding of Middle Eastern societies and cultures. Browsing categories include Middle East news, Analysis, Opinion, Business, Technology, Art & Culture, World news, and Variety.
According to the site, the majority of its audience is from Saudi Arabia, followed by the U.S., the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Canada, the U.K., Germany, Morocco, Syria, and Kuwait. Al Arabiya News offers an RSS feed, newsletters, a Twitter feed, and short message service (SMS) news alerts.
Al Jazeera America
america.aljazeera.com
Al Jazeera has a high level of name recognition in the U.S. The 24-hour Middle Eastern news channel was the first in the region to broadcast internationally and currently reaches 220 million households in more than 100 countries. It has close to 70 news bureaus worldwide—including in Washington, D.C.—and its credibility and reputation for quality reporting remain sound. In 2011, then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Al Jazeera's news coverage was more informative and less opinion-driven than that of its American counterparts.
As we were going to press Al Jazeera announced it is shutting down its Al Jazeera America cable and digital news site on April 30. Reportedly, it is expanding its digital services across various platforms.
Al-Monitor
al-monitor.com/pulse/home.html
This Middle Eastern news site was launched in 2012. It employs a staff of journalists and experts in the Middle East to offer commentary on key trends and developments in the region and is geared to academic, media, and business leaders. It focuses a good deal on the political developments in the region and gathers much of its data via partnerships with selected daily newspapers from several countries located in the Middle East.
AMEinfo
ameinfo.com
AMEinfo bills itself as "the ultimate Middle East business resource." Its offerings include daily newswires, editorial columns, reports, video, radio shows, and special feature articles. Its site promotes its posting of more than 1,500 stories per week, in both English and Arabic, across 15 verticals.
Financial Times: Middle East & North Africa
ft.com/world/mideast
Although the U.K.'s Financial Times is a business-focused publication, the frequently updated Middle East section of its website also offers political and cultural news, editorials, and analysis. Free registration allows users to view up to eight articles per month. Additional articles can be accessed with a paid subscription.
MEMRI
memri.org
MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1998 to inform the debate on U.S.–Middle East policy. Its website offers translations of Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Pashtu, Dari, Hindi, and Turkish media, as well as original analysis of political, social, and cultural trends in the Middle East. Much of the written content in the Special Dispatch and Inquiry & Analysis sections contains citations and references.
MEMRI—which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and maintains offices in London, Rome, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Shanghai, and Tokyo—primarily focuses on interviews and other programming originally broadcast via Middle Eastern media. Although the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor is accessible by subscription only, the site's other sections are available at no charge.
MEED
meed.com
Established in 1957, MEED (Middle East Business Intelligence) is a subscription-based business intelligence service covering countries in the Middle East. Through company profiles, news alerts, and sector-specific newsletters, business owners can obtain information about strengthening and enhancing their corporate presence in the region. While most of the site's content is subscription-only, some of the more succinct articles are accessible for free (see Figure 1), as is MEED's Twitter feed at twitter.com/meeddubai.
The Media Line
themedialine.org
This nonprofit organization aims to balance Middle Eastern media coverage and promote independent reporting in the region. It employs several different vehicles for delivering information, including articles, audio, video, a podcast, social media accounts, and blogs. Media outlets that have used The Media Line as a source include the BBC World Service, National Public Radio, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and ABC and CBS affiliates.
World-Newspapers.com
world-newspapers.com/east.html
At World-Newspapers.com, researchers can browse and locate individual English-language Middle Eastern online newspapers. In addition to its 35 "general" Middle East news links, the site also has a subcategory for each of the countries in the region.
us.kompass.com
Kompass stores basic contact information for about 5 million companies worldwide, including those in Middle Eastern countries. Visitors can search by keyword, company name, executive name, classification code, or trade name. They may also browse by individual country at kompass.com/selectcountry. Profiles contain the company's contact information, services description, founding date, board of directors roster, number of employees, and executive listings.
RIME
rimeib.com
RIME was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Cyprus. It offers a range of company reports and credit rating data on companies located in the Middle East, North Africa, and the East Mediterranean region. It also provides on-demand consulting and investigative services to clients.
Zawya
zawya.com/cm/analytics
Not only is detailed news and company information available for free from Zawya, but you can also use the Build Company List feature to screen nearly 30,000 companies in the region on a wide range of criteria (size, employees, region, etc.) and get a listing and profiles of Middle Eastern companies that have investments in other countries around the world. (See Figure 2.) Much more detailed information—such as a company's size, growth rate, and board of directors—requires a Zawya membership to view. (We have been informed that in the near future, Zawya will be phased out as a standalone site and will be integrated into Eikon, Thomson Reuters' desktop platform service for financial services professionals.)
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles
This section of the BBC News site describes the history, politics, and economic background of each Middle Eastern nation. It also includes profiles of governmental leaders, analysis of the country's media capacity, and a timeline of key historical events.
EMIS Professional
securities.com/emis/professional
Previously known as ISI Emerging Markets, EMIS Professional offers a wide range of data, research, and publications on countries and the companies based there, including those in the Middle East. Its full breadth of coverage provides more than 1.3 million public and private company profiles; more than 540,000 research reports; and statistics for more than 250 industry sectors, with news, forecasts, macroeconomic statistics, data on financial markets, and more.
U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets
state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn
The U.S. State Department's U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets now focus more on U.S. relations with each country rather than the profile data that had been featured in its previous incarnation as the popular Background Notes. However, each country's Fact Sheet includes links to other sources, both from the State Department and elsewhere, that provide facts about its land, people, history, government, economy, and foreign relations.
Country Insights
www.intercultures.ca/cil-cai/zone-08-eng.asp
This site was created by the Centre for Intercultural Learning, a part of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. It is different from the other resources we have discussed; in addition to historical, economic, and cultural links to other sites, most country profiles also have a Cultural Information section that offers guidance and advice on cultural norms from a Canadian perspective. Categories include Display of Emotion, Hierarchy and Decision-Making, Communication Styles, Privileges and Favouritism, Conflicts in the Workplace, and other related topics.
Economist Intelligence Unit's countries guide
country.eiu.com/AllCountries.aspx
An independent business within The Economist Group, Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) offers economic-centered analysis for 187 countries. Profile information varies depending on the country, but reports may include a fact sheet, political analysis and forecasts, an economic long-term outlook, credit risk data, a market assessment, trade policy, business environment information, and more. Although some of the data is available only by subscription, most sections are freely accessible.
CIA's The World Factbook
cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/wfbExt/region_mde.html
These authoritative profiles include data on a country's economy, government, society, transportation, military, and communications capabilities.
globalEDGE's Country Insights
globaledge.msu.edu/Global-Insights/By/country
globalEDGE supplies detailed profiles that have been compiled from original sources (including some listed in this article). Statistical data and information are available on each country's economy, history, government, culture, risk, corporations, trade statistics, rankings, resources, and other substantive characteristics.
International agencies and nongovernmental organizations publish some of the most comprehensive and authorized country information available. The following are a few of our selections.
International Monetary Fund
imf.org/external/country/index.htm
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Country Information section offers research on matters related to financial growth and economics. The site also hosts working papers; statistical appendixes; and Selected Issues reports on exchange rates, fiscal policy, government expenditures, monetary policy, and other financial data.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
oecd.org/countries
OECD promotes policies to enrich the economic and social well-being of people around the world. Its site's reports tend to focus on social trends and the formation of policy centers, conferences, and initiatives.
Eldis' Regional and Country Profiles: Middle East and North Africa
eldis.org/go/country-profiles®ion=27
Eldis, the Institute of Development Studies' policy development organization, offers company profiles, news articles, and resource guides.
The World Bank's Middle East & North Africa: Publications & Reports
tinyurl.com/37zfyhh
Although this section of the World Bank's site focuses primarily on financial analysis, it also contains reports and publications on economic, social, and political issues for Middle Eastern countries.
The University of Auckland Library's Country Information
library.auckland.ac.nz/subject-guides/bus/infosources/country.htm
This site provides links to databases and websites that offer country profiles.
Al Arabiya News
www.english.alarabiya.net
Al Arabiya News is the online arm of the Dubai-based Al Arabiya News Channel, which was created to be a direct competitor of Qatar's Al Jazeera network. The site was launched in August 2007 and is designed for an international audience in order to promote a more comprehensive understanding of Middle Eastern societies and cultures. Browsing categories include Middle East news, Analysis, Opinion, Business, Technology, Art & Culture, World news, and Variety.
According to the site, the majority of its audience is from Saudi Arabia, followed by the U.S., the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Canada, the U.K., Germany, Morocco, Syria, and Kuwait. Al Arabiya News offers an RSS feed, newsletters, a Twitter feed, and short message service (SMS) news alerts.
Al Jazeera America
america.aljazeera.com
Al Jazeera has a high level of name recognition in the U.S. The 24-hour Middle Eastern news channel was the first in the region to broadcast internationally and currently reaches 220 million households in more than 100 countries. It has close to 70 news bureaus worldwide—including in Washington, D.C.—and its credibility and reputation for quality reporting remain sound. In 2011, then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Al Jazeera's news coverage was more informative and less opinion-driven than that of its American counterparts.
As we were going to press Al Jazeera announced it is shutting down its Al Jazeera America cable and digital news site on April 30. Reportedly, it is expanding its digital services across various platforms.
Al-Monitor
al-monitor.com/pulse/home.html
This Middle Eastern news site was launched in 2012. It employs a staff of journalists and experts in the Middle East to offer commentary on key trends and developments in the region and is geared to academic, media, and business leaders. It focuses a good deal on the political developments in the region and gathers much of its data via partnerships with selected daily newspapers from several countries located in the Middle East.
AMEinfo
ameinfo.com
AMEinfo bills itself as "the ultimate Middle East business resource." Its offerings include daily newswires, editorial columns, reports, video, radio shows, and special feature articles. Its site promotes its posting of more than 1,500 stories per week, in both English and Arabic, across 15 verticals.
Financial Times: Middle East & North Africa
ft.com/world/mideast
Although the U.K.'s Financial Times is a business-focused publication, the frequently updated Middle East section of its website also offers political and cultural news, editorials, and analysis. Free registration allows users to view up to eight articles per month. Additional articles can be accessed with a paid subscription.
MEMRI
memri.org
MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1998 to inform the debate on U.S.–Middle East policy. Its website offers translations of Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Pashtu, Dari, Hindi, and Turkish media, as well as original analysis of political, social, and cultural trends in the Middle East. Much of the written content in the Special Dispatch and Inquiry & Analysis sections contains citations and references.
MEMRI—which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and maintains offices in London, Rome, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Shanghai, and Tokyo—primarily focuses on interviews and other programming originally broadcast via Middle Eastern media. Although the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor is accessible by subscription only, the site's other sections are available at no charge.
MEED
meed.com
Established in 1957, MEED (Middle East Business Intelligence) is a subscription-based business intelligence service covering countries in the Middle East. Through company profiles, news alerts, and sector-specific newsletters, business owners can obtain information about strengthening and enhancing their corporate presence in the region. While most of the site's content is subscription-only, some of the more succinct articles are accessible for free (see Figure 1), as is MEED's Twitter feed at twitter.com/meeddubai.
The Media Line
themedialine.org
This nonprofit organization aims to balance Middle Eastern media coverage and promote independent reporting in the region. It employs several different vehicles for delivering information, including articles, audio, video, a podcast, social media accounts, and blogs. Media outlets that have used The Media Line as a source include the BBC World Service, National Public Radio, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and ABC and CBS affiliates.
World-Newspapers.com
world-newspapers.com/east.html
At World-Newspapers.com, researchers can browse and locate individual English-language Middle Eastern online newspapers. In addition to its 35 "general" Middle East news links, the site also has a subcategory for each of the countries in the region.
Company Directories
Kompassus.kompass.com
Kompass stores basic contact information for about 5 million companies worldwide, including those in Middle Eastern countries. Visitors can search by keyword, company name, executive name, classification code, or trade name. They may also browse by individual country at kompass.com/selectcountry. Profiles contain the company's contact information, services description, founding date, board of directors roster, number of employees, and executive listings.
RIME
rimeib.com
RIME was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Cyprus. It offers a range of company reports and credit rating data on companies located in the Middle East, North Africa, and the East Mediterranean region. It also provides on-demand consulting and investigative services to clients.
Zawya
zawya.com/cm/analytics
Not only is detailed news and company information available for free from Zawya, but you can also use the Build Company List feature to screen nearly 30,000 companies in the region on a wide range of criteria (size, employees, region, etc.) and get a listing and profiles of Middle Eastern companies that have investments in other countries around the world. (See Figure 2.) Much more detailed information—such as a company's size, growth rate, and board of directors—requires a Zawya membership to view. (We have been informed that in the near future, Zawya will be phased out as a standalone site and will be integrated into Eikon, Thomson Reuters' desktop platform service for financial services professionals.)
Country Profiles and Aggregator Sites
The web has many online country profile sites available, but we believe the following are some of the best resources for obtaining authoritative information on those in the Middle East.
BBC News' Country Profilesnews.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles
This section of the BBC News site describes the history, politics, and economic background of each Middle Eastern nation. It also includes profiles of governmental leaders, analysis of the country's media capacity, and a timeline of key historical events.
EMIS Professional
securities.com/emis/professional
Previously known as ISI Emerging Markets, EMIS Professional offers a wide range of data, research, and publications on countries and the companies based there, including those in the Middle East. Its full breadth of coverage provides more than 1.3 million public and private company profiles; more than 540,000 research reports; and statistics for more than 250 industry sectors, with news, forecasts, macroeconomic statistics, data on financial markets, and more.
U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets
state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn
The U.S. State Department's U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets now focus more on U.S. relations with each country rather than the profile data that had been featured in its previous incarnation as the popular Background Notes. However, each country's Fact Sheet includes links to other sources, both from the State Department and elsewhere, that provide facts about its land, people, history, government, economy, and foreign relations.
Country Insights
www.intercultures.ca/cil-cai/zone-08-eng.asp
This site was created by the Centre for Intercultural Learning, a part of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. It is different from the other resources we have discussed; in addition to historical, economic, and cultural links to other sites, most country profiles also have a Cultural Information section that offers guidance and advice on cultural norms from a Canadian perspective. Categories include Display of Emotion, Hierarchy and Decision-Making, Communication Styles, Privileges and Favouritism, Conflicts in the Workplace, and other related topics.
Economist Intelligence Unit's countries guide
country.eiu.com/AllCountries.aspx
An independent business within The Economist Group, Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) offers economic-centered analysis for 187 countries. Profile information varies depending on the country, but reports may include a fact sheet, political analysis and forecasts, an economic long-term outlook, credit risk data, a market assessment, trade policy, business environment information, and more. Although some of the data is available only by subscription, most sections are freely accessible.
CIA's The World Factbook
cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/wfbExt/region_mde.html
These authoritative profiles include data on a country's economy, government, society, transportation, military, and communications capabilities.
globalEDGE's Country Insights
globaledge.msu.edu/Global-Insights/By/country
globalEDGE supplies detailed profiles that have been compiled from original sources (including some listed in this article). Statistical data and information are available on each country's economy, history, government, culture, risk, corporations, trade statistics, rankings, resources, and other substantive characteristics.
International agencies and nongovernmental organizations publish some of the most comprehensive and authorized country information available. The following are a few of our selections.
International Monetary Fund
imf.org/external/country/index.htm
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Country Information section offers research on matters related to financial growth and economics. The site also hosts working papers; statistical appendixes; and Selected Issues reports on exchange rates, fiscal policy, government expenditures, monetary policy, and other financial data.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
oecd.org/countries
OECD promotes policies to enrich the economic and social well-being of people around the world. Its site's reports tend to focus on social trends and the formation of policy centers, conferences, and initiatives.
Eldis' Regional and Country Profiles: Middle East and North Africa
eldis.org/go/country-profiles®ion=27
Eldis, the Institute of Development Studies' policy development organization, offers company profiles, news articles, and resource guides.
The World Bank's Middle East & North Africa: Publications & Reports
tinyurl.com/37zfyhh
Although this section of the World Bank's site focuses primarily on financial analysis, it also contains reports and publications on economic, social, and political issues for Middle Eastern countries.
The University of Auckland Library's Country Information
library.auckland.ac.nz/subject-guides/bus/infosources/country.htm
This site provides links to databases and websites that offer country profiles.