Human stories from the communities at the heart of the region's transformation.
Regional Voices: Everyday people caught in the geopolitics of energy. The scent of diesel hangs heavy in the air around the port of Jebel Ali in Dubai. Old Man Hassan, a lorry driver for over thirty years, wipes sweat from his brow as he queues for fuel. He’s been waiting for hours. “It used to […]
Regional Voices: Fear and frustration as defence budgets shift. Old Man Tariq sits mending fishing nets in the port of Jask, on Iran’s Gulf of Oman coast. The midday sun beats down, reflecting off the turquoise water, but his face is etched with worry. “We hear the news, of course,” he says, his hands moving […]
Regional Voices: Whispers of escalation, fears for the future. Old Man Tariq sips sweet tea in his Amman cafe, the midday sun bleaching the chipped Formica tables. He glances at the muted news on the television – another story about tensions with Iran, another mention of RAF Fairford. “Fairford…it feels so far away, and yet, […]
Regional Voices: A family’s grief echoes a collective longing for return. Omar al-Hassayna sits in a small Cairo apartment, the scent of strong Arabic coffee barely masking the weight of memories. Three years ago, he fled Gaza, escaping the relentless bombardment that stole everything. Not just his home, but his wife, four sons, and four […]
Regional Voices: A chilling reminder of fragility, and a shared desire for calm. The scent of cardamom coffee hangs heavy in Abu Dhabi’s Khalidiya Park. Old men sit playing tawla (backgammon), their faces etched with years of sun and stories. But today, the usual relaxed chatter is subdued. “We heard about the plane,” says Hassan, […]
Regional Voices: Shared vulnerability transcends political divides. The scent of cardamom coffee hangs heavy in Umm Kulthum’s small tea shop, a favourite haunt for mechanics and drivers just outside Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia. Yesterday, it was filled with a different kind of tension. “Everyone was talking about the plane,” Umm Kulthum tells me, stirring […]
Regional Voices: A pilot’s courage ripples across borders and beliefs. The scent of jasmine hung heavy in the air as old Manzur adjusted his prayer rug in his small Riyadh shop. He barely glanced at the television showing rolling news coverage of the flydubai incident – the struggle in the cockpit, the Israeli passengers, the […]
Regional Voices: Fear, Relief, and a Fragile New Normal Old Man Khalil sat nursing sweet tea outside his shop in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, watching the infrequent traffic hum along the desert highway. He’d seen a lot in his eighty years – the rise and fall of oil fortunes, the shifting sands of political alliances. But […]
Regional Voices: Fear and Fatigue in a Proxy War’s Wake Old Man Hemmings, a lifetime farmer just outside RAF Fairford, still remembers the Cold War. “We were used to seeing things come and go then, you see,” he says, adjusting his cap. “Big planes, strange folk. But this… this felt different. Not a threat from […]
Regional Voices: A fisherman’s quiet dread for what comes next. Old Man Hassan adjusted the netting on his dhow, the salt spray misting his face. He’d been fishing these waters off the coast of Basra for over sixty years, a lifetime spent understanding the subtle shifts in the currents, the moods of the Gulf. But […]
