Qatar's domestic and foreign policy since the 1990s has developed along three main lines: The emirate has expanded its gas production and supplies liquefied gas to as many countries as possible; it assures itself of US military protection by providing bases; and it conducts a "soft power"...

Germany and the EU plan to import hydrogen and its derivatives from the Arab Gulf states. Although Germany has signed a joint declaration of intent with the Sultanate of Oman to this end, its efforts focus primarily on Oman's larger neighbours. However, it would be a mistake to overlook Oman's...

Over the past 10 years, the de facto alliance of the governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has exercised significant influence over developments in the Middle East. The common goal has been to prevent democratic transformation, stop the rise of political Islam and...

This article looks into global central bank messaging on the Twitter social media platform. At the end of 2021, a total of 122 central banks and monetary authorities had registered accounts on Twitter At that time, approximately two-thirds of world's central banks and monetary author- ities were...

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the global and each national economy, and also people's well-being and individual livelihoods. Vulnerable groups have been hit particularly hard, given their often precarious and dependent financial situation coupled with inadequate social protection...

The COVID-19 crisis intensified decade-long debates on the interaction between intellectual property rights (IPRs), competition law and access to affordable life-saving treatments and vaccines. Compulsory licensing of patented medicines is a tried-and-tested method to expand access, particularly...

The negotiations on the Pandemic Agreement offered a key opportunity for the World Health Organization's (WHO) 194 Member States to address the weaknesses of existing international regulations governing global health - and to adopt a new legal instrument at the Seventy-seventh World Health...

The Scottish Government's Budget for 2024-25 takes place at a time of particular uncertainty about the future funding environment. UK government spending plans both for the coming year and for later years seem likely to be topped up, but when and by how much is unclear. The current UK government...

We describe how the size and shape of the state have changed since the mid 1950s and over the 2019-24 parliament, and discuss the future outlook.

Health is the largest single area of Scottish Government spending, making up 35% of the Scottish Government's total discretionary budget in 2024-25 and 39% of its non-benefit budget.2 Its share of spending has grown significantly over time, driven by large increases in health spending in the...