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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