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Contents

CurrenT affairs

Comment 5 Enter the tiger and the dragon 6

Gaza: Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose 12

Egypt: In Cairo cafés – smoke, mirrors and rumour 14

Join in the chorus 16

All eyes on Aden 18

Iran’s great leap 20

Sarkozy’s Middle East stratagem 24

The absent arsenal 28

inTerview

The TME Business Interview: Mohamed El-Erian 30

Business and finanCe

Gulf Super Rich seek secure home for trilliondollar assets 32 Regional banking: Riding out the storm 38

Jordan: Microfinance 40

Saudi Arabia aims high with four new economic cities 42

Is Qatar’s economy recession-proof ? 46

Regional: Where does the aid go? 48

UAE faces global headwinds to emerge stronger 50

MosaiC

Dubai: International Poetry Festival 54

Palestine: Money makes the world go round 58

Bahrain, a cultural hub 61

Good health and good living: Is exercise worth the efort? 62

Book reviews 64

The last word 66

Wealthy clientele demand services like portfolio risk management, dynamic asset allocation and shrewd investment advice from fund managers

The Middle easT APRIL 2009 3