Credit must be given where credit is due: statesmen in the Gulf have a sense of long-term strategy. Fully aware that the oil blessing would one day tap out, all the Gulf States have long been preparing the future and equipping their countries with all components of modern states, including capacity for self-defense. HE Dr. Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, who heads the Qatari Defense ministry, is currently getting the emirate’s armed forces shipshape, with state-of-the-art equipment and top-of-the-line training.

The tax authorities of various countries are increasingly concerned with the problem of tax shortfall and falling revenues from the shadow activities of market participants, the World Bank (WB) report says. The organization believes that one of the effective mechanisms to combat it is the access of tax authorities to banking data, as well as reduction of the share of cash payments in the economy...

The Scottish government believes that the scandal with Cambridge Analytica may lead to a criminal investigation and cause a second referendum in the EU. The Scottish Minister for Brexit, Michael Russell, said that the accusations of incorrect vote counting, linked by Vote Leave, the official Brexit campaign, and the disgraced analysis company Cambridge Analytica, suggest a "big scandal" that...

Israel is a country that, due to the lack of natural resources and primary materials, built its economy mainly on post-processing industries. However, after the discovery of large offshore natural gas fields, the tiny Mediterranean state plans to radically change the situation. Karish and Tanin fields were discovered in the exclusive economic waters; their reserves are estimated at about 2...

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is trying to re-establish relations with the EU and the IMF, the major creditors of his country. One of the reasons for this step is that Athens is likely to complete the current bailout program in August, on time. Another thing is that the economy is growing, although slower than expected. Yet, Tsipras is sensing growing pressure within the country. His...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) opened an official expert discussion on the need to create "central fiscal stabilization mechanism" in the euro area, simply put, a rainy-day fund. The IMF believes that it is necessary to deduct 0.35% of the GDP of the euro area countries per year. This step could be an alternative to the idea of the euro zone budget, formed from the taxes of EU countries in...

The Spanish authorities opened a new campaign against supporters of independent Catalonia. On Sunday, the former head of the Generalitat (Parliament of Catalonia) Carles Puigdemont was arrested in Germany at the request of the Spanish Supreme Court. The court also issued a warrant for the arrest of four ministers who fled the country together with Mr. Puigdemont. In Spain, five regional...

A global report suggests that since protectionism becomes the key slogan of governments, companies are looking for various ways to overcome any obstacles to trade. Of the 6,000 firms surveyed by HSBC, 61% said that governments have become even more protective of their domestic economy. This sentiment was the strongest among companies in the Middle East and North Africa (70%) and the Asia-Pacific...

The EU is waiting for the final decision of the US administration on the issue of steel and aluminum customs duties. If they are introduced to products from the EU, retaliatory measures will follow, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on the night of the first day of the EU summit. "We cannot yet say what the decision will be," she said, "We believe that it was important to look for ways for...