The 29th annual conference of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) opened yesterday in Washington DC with a wide range of panel discussions by scholars, academicians and specialists from all over the world, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).   During its three-day deliberations, a number of committees are reviewing political, cultural and social issues of concern to the Middle East region.

One of today’s discussions was entitled: ‘Saudi Arabia:  Islam, Novelty and Development’.   Participating in this were Dr. Ibrahim Al-Jubair from the Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh;   Dr. Abdulrahman Otaishan and Dr. Othman Al-Rawaf, both from King Saud University in Riyadh;   and Abdul Aziz Al-Fayez, a member of the Saudi Consultative Council.   Their addresses focused on a number of topics related to Saudi Arabia including the establishment of the Consultative Council (Majlis Al-Shourah), the progress of the Saudi economy and the challenges facing it, and the role of the Kingdom in regional and international arenas.

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