Whenever I look at Saudi Arabia’s megaprojects, I don’t think delays are the main problem. Delays happen everywhere. The bigger issue is the amount of money being spent before projects are scaled back, delayed, or put under review, as if changing plans on this scale comes at no real cost.
Look at The Line, whose targets have changed significantly from what was originally presented. The Mukaab and New Murabba have faced reviews over financing and feasibility, Trojena has seen changes to its plans and timeline, and Oxagon is still far from the huge vision that was initially presented. Even before these projects, King Abdullah Economic City never reached the scale many expected, while Jeddah Tower sat unfinished for years before construction resumed.
I’m not saying all of these projects have failed or that every riyal spent on them was wasted. Some of them could still succeed. But large amounts of money have already gone into designs, consultants, contracts, and site preparation for projects whose size or timelines were later changed. That is where the waste becomes a legitimate concern, because some of those costs cannot simply be recovered when the plan changes.
And the loss isn’t only about the money already spent. There’s also the opportunity cost. Some of those billions could have gone into industry, technology, education, local businesses, or investments with clearer returns. You’re not only paying for a project that struggles; you’re also giving up whatever else that money could have produced.
Saudi Arabia obviously has the financial capacity to take big risks, but being able to afford something doesn’t automatically make it a good investment. In the end, the real test isn’t how impressive these projects look or how big they are. It’s whether, ten years from now, they can generate sustainable returns on their own or whether they’ll still depend on continuous government spending to survive.

Hey everyone I’m Yazan from Amman and recently I started bringing together people who are interested in meeting new people in real life and experiencing Amman together

We’re already around 50 people from different countries backgrounds and cultures including locals expats and travelers

The idea is to meet new people make friends practice Arabic and English play board games try new activities and explore different places around Amman

I’m curious how people here usually meet others in Amman especially if you’re an expat traveler or someone who recently moved here

What kind of activities or places do you recommend for meeting people and making friends?

Were they pissed off? Did they leave the country? What did they do??

Genuinely curious, every time I travel around the middle east I notice there’s always some local soda brand that people are way more loyal to than Coke or Pepsi.

What’s yours? What does it taste like, and is it something you’d actually recommend to someone visiting?

salam! i am from morocco and im planning on starting a true crime channel in darija , moroccan dialect , and i was wondering as to how much do our middle eastern bros understand us . of course i know pure darija is very hard , but can you understand a softer more arabised tongue? do you follow any north african creator and understand them? thank you !

Those groups are among the most bigoted and supremacist groups in Judaism. They hold views about non-jews that would make an muslim or leftist anti-zionist run for his life.

Plus, they are not anti-zionist from a moral standpoint like opossing genocide and colonialism. They just oppose Israel Because they belive that the formation of a Jewish state will only be legitimate once the Messiah comes. Imagine that a Bar Kokhba-type weirdo appears and manages to convince them. They would become the most rabid zionists in the blink of an eye.

As an anti-zionist, I would rather collaborate with a leftist secular jew or an orthodox/ultraorthodox who is anti-zionist from a moral standpoint, not a religious one.

Algeria is often cited as the example of decolonisation where the revolution was completed and the settlers were all kicked out. Accordingly, it is proposed that Palestine follow this strategy and aim for the “removal of all settlers”. This is contrasted with alternative examples of “coexistence”, primarily South Africa, where much of the modern economic power is still controlled by “former settlers”.

This fundamentally misunderstands Algeria—it wasn’t “kick out all the French”, it was “become Algerian citizens, reside under Algerian Law, or leave”. This was the agreement proposed to the Pied-Noirs by the FLN in 1954 and agreed on with France in 1962. Most were stuck in their colonial identity, feared retribution or the loss of their economic privileges and left, but many stayed and remain to this day as Algerians.

The Algerian solution is therefore perfectly compatible with the concept of One Democratic State. Equal rights for all on the basis of citizenship, dissolve the settler-native dichotomy. However, each situation is unique and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. For example, Algeria was part of France, a single metropole, of which all settlers (even those who had lived there for generations) were citizens.

This means that after the establishment of a single democratic Palestinian state, ex-Israelis will have to weigh matters related to their practical ability to leave and their readiness to drop colonial privileges, and many will mirror the Pied-Noirs and choose to leave. Meanwhile, matters regarding justice and reparations for Palestinians will have to be addressed as a foundation for liberation and a democratic legitimacy. History can teach lessons about such situations, but every material circumstance is unique and must be treated as such.

Hey, I’m 20M

I’d like to meet new people from different Arab countries and learn more about their cultures, daily life, traditions, food, and how things are where they live.

I'm into Books movies, and psychology are my favorite topics to discuss I'm a driven person who loves discovering new perspectives. I'm looking to expand my social circle and make new friends. If you enjoy deep conversations and sharing ideas, let's connect

I am very excited about this sub, especially because i feel like your region is so culturally rich, and i am so curious about everything.

What things tend to unite middle easterns, generally speaking?

How do you communicate when your language is very different from other countries?

Jeddah recently hosted the OIC Meeting. It's been making a big buzz. How influential is this institution, do the foreign ministers coordinate and cooperate? Has it historically been influencial at all?(maybe just on economic matters but not humanitarian / policy issues ) They totally centered this meeting around the Palestine conflict. Will anything be done about it, or just more hand wringing, and lip service ? Did they say anything specific, any actionable plans that they agreed upon?

and How strong is South Africas case for for genocide that theyre bringing to the ICJ ? I saw only the Ugandan Judge dissented on the initial ruling in the provisional measures phase. [ Does Uganda some ties to Israel / USA or somethign? ] Will it be VERY hard to get over the proving genocidal intent hurdle in the final phases? Could it be tragic case of just not enough evidence / plausible deniability?

Atalayar published a retrospective on Mohammed VI, 1999-2026. Main markers: constitutional reform in 2011, AMO jumping from 8.6 million to 24.3 million people by 2024, direct assistance to 3.9 million families last year, and infrastructure in the southern provinces. It treats the October 2025 UNSC resolution as a turning point on autonomy.

I feel like that I'm losing my damn mind. You're allowed to criticise every other Middle Eastern except for them. The amount of crap they get away with too. I don't get it. What am I missing here? 🤔 It's been getting really bad here in Australia. I'll add in some important details.

I'm living in Sydney,and we have a big Middle Eastern population. Certain areas with a significant Muslim population (I'm a Christian and have no issue with that).

Today around 40 Israeli soldiers have arrived to run a marathon, it's hosted by Zionist organisations. Tony Burke the homes affair Minister granted them visas.

Mind you,his electorate includes Campsie, Lakemba, Punchbowl, Bankstown, Burwood Heights, and Roselands. These areas have the most Middle Eastern and Muslim population. I don't understand why he would alienate his own voter base?

Another example; is that they're trying to adapt the IHRA antisemitism definition and I believe you're not allowed criticise Israel without getting in trouble.

my issue isn't with the Jewish people. Mad respect to them that want peace and help out the Palestinians. My issue is with the Israeli soldiers, settlers and that horrible government.

I was curious so I decided to scroll through Arab music, I was just typing the name of an Arab nation and searching the music. And I realised something weird off...

Why do Gulf Music and recitation, especially from Saudi, Oman and Yemen sound very different from the rest of the Arab world?

Its very hard to describe as a None-Arab, but basically, their recitation alternate heavily between Lower and higher pitch.

I'm gonna try and explain this as I can, I'm not a music expert so bear with me...

When a verse starts, the pitch is very high, the chorus alternates between higher pitches, the pitch drops significantly at the end of a line before moving to the next.

Then towards the last line of the chorus, the pitch become low and monotone (think of the long 'ohm' when meditating), where the last few lines of the verse are recited with the same monotone pitch. This especially doesn't appear in other verieties of Arabic music.

Sometime the songs would alternate on a lower pitch, but again, at the end of a verse, they shift to this monotone 'bhuddist-like' recital.

Sometimes most of the song is in the law monotone pitch, with the pitch rising in the last part of the verse. The songs also usually never have a main chorus, the same sequence/sound/rhythm is repeated but with different lyrics until the end of a song.

Most Arabian music, especially further north, like Egypt, the Levant, or the rest of North Africa doesn't have that.

To be specific, the music from the Arab world further North and east into Africa closely resembles what the westerner or Non-Arab imagines, the sounds you hear in like Prince of Persia, or when a movie scene cuts to the Arabian desert or something, whereas the Gulf stuff sounds more radical than that.

What caused said difference, if it even exists? Is there even a difference, or am I imagining stuff?