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Omar Al-Ubaydli

Omar Al-Ubaydli

Columnist
Omar Al-Ubaydli is director of economics and energy studies at Derasat in Bahrain and a columnist for The National. He is also an affiliated associate professor of economics at George Mason University; and an affiliated senior research fellow at the Mercatus Centre. His research interests include political economy, experimental economics and the economics of the GCC countries. Omar served as a member of the Commonwealth of Virginia's Joint Advisory Board of Economists and a visiting professor of economics at the University of Chicago.
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As AI tools continue to improve, the rough edges around this process will be further smoothened, making scientific discoveries executable in minutes. Getty
AI is changing the future of research, but not in the way we think

The technology is already reviving the notion that humans remain the best tool for studying humans

May 14, 2025
The first EU-GCC summit was held in Brussels last October. The EU and GCC have been successful in many regards. However, both continue to face challenges, some of them shared. Reuters
The GCC and EU have much to learn from each other

Europe lacks consensus while the Gulf states have a deficit in defence and security integration. Swapping experiences and ideas could benefit both blocs

May 02, 2025
Educating a child takes 12 years, and so modifying the education system in any given country means waiting at least 10 years for the effects to be tangible. Chris Whiteoak / The National
How AI can help transform the Gulf's education systems

Reforms to primary and secondary education, which otherwise take decades to materialise, can be fast-tracked

April 16, 2025
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and US President Donald Trump. AFP
Trump's tactics with Canada are pushing the prize of an Iran nuclear deal further away

Iranian elites will wonder what purpose a deal with the US serves if the US itself doesn’t stick to deals

March 25, 2025
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks to Keith Kellogg, the US Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, at the EU headquarters in Brussels last week. Getty
Europe once ‘carved up’ Africa - now, the shoe is on the other foot

The continent must draw the right lessons from its exclusion at key talks concerning the future of Ukraine

February 25, 2025
While Donald Trump announced his intention to establish Doge under Elon Musk's leadership, voters ultimately voted for him for a wide range of reasons. Reuters
With Doge, Elon Musk is doing the right thing the wrong way

His efforts to streamline the US federal government risk becoming a Soviet-style purge

February 19, 2025
Referee Michael Oliver surrounded by Arsenal players after sending off Myles Lewis-Skelly (right) on January 25. PA Wire
Bad football decisions can cause ripple effects beyond the game

Last month’s Premier League game between Arsenal and Wolverhampton is a case in point

February 05, 2025
Reconciliation centres opened up in various cities across Syria last month to give former conscripts of the Assad government a chance to clear their names of any wrong doing. Getty
For Syria to attract investment, it needs the rule of law

There is research to prove that high levels of constitutional compliance are directly proportional to high levels of FDI

January 22, 2025
The cost of rebuilding Syria could run into hundreds of billions of dollars. AP
Syria's economy needs remittances even more than it needs aid

The country has no shortage of skilled workers, and the world can harness their talent as a way of helping

January 08, 2025
Javier Milei, Argentina's president, in Rome, Italy, on a state visit this month. Bloomberg
Argentina's unexpected trailblazing deserves a closer look

There's value even for Middle Eastern countries in studying the Argentine experiment of its President, Javier Milei

December 25, 2024
The Syrian economy has suffered over the decades-long rule of the Assad dynasty. AFP
How Baathist economics wrecked Syria and Iraq

Western sanctions alone did not cause their decline. The ideology itself was flawed and unsustainable

December 12, 2024
Containers are unloaded from a ship from Jebel Ali at the Port of Valencia in Spain. The EU and GCC are working towards securing a free trade agreement. Bloomberg
Gulf countries need to study Europe to secure a free trade agreement

The EU’s complex systems require academic rigour and a methodical accumulation of knowledge

November 13, 2024
An international technology conference at Adnec in Abu Dhabi. Antonie Robertson / The National
What Gulf economies can learn from Britain's Industrial Revolution

Countries need to ensure that technological advancements in one sector spawn innovations in other sectors

October 30, 2024
A woman enters the the Swedish Academy ahead of the announcement of the laureate of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 10. AFP
Why do more Arabs not win the Nobel Prize?

As a proud Arab and a Muslim, I am hurt that people who share my identity are underrepresented among the Prize winners

October 25, 2024
An aircraft delivers pallets of water and food to Mirebalais, Haiti, in January 2010. US Air Force
Islamic diplomacy can take a leaf out of the late Pope John Paul II's book

Wealthy Muslim-majority countries often help their poorer counterparts with financial aid. It's time to shift gears

October 02, 2024