The tumultuous Middle East will end 2008 with a bang – quite literally - and begin 2009 with another bang. Or rather several hundreds of them; and the prospect for the coming year is downright perilous, as the region seems to be heading toward outright disaster.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long been on the receiving end of severe criticism for not doing enough to combat the scourge of terrorism. Indeed, some have even accused the Saudis of outright supporting certain Islamist groups who engaged in terrorism.

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents foreign journalists in Israel, is taking the Israeli government to court. Israel has refused to allow the foreign media into Gaza to report first hand on the escalating humanitarian crisis there as Israel continues to keep the coastal territory sealed from the outside world for the third consecutive week.

Saudi Arabia may be the world's largest oil producer and one of the richest countries on the globe, but when it comes to getting their message across and engaging in public relations – something they very badly need – the kingdom trails far behind smaller nations emerging from decades of totalitarianism.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Thomas L. Friedman, the New York Times columnist and author, is one of those writers who inspire admiration and indignation in equal measure. You may not always agree with him but you can't put him down either.

The global oil price, which peaked at $147 per barrel, has now cascaded down to below $70 a barrel. On Thursday morning, it hit $68 a barrel, and there is no end in sight, but this may be a dark cloud with some silver linings.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia stated in a recent speech that Muslims cannot keep on remaining silent while other Muslims continue to cause harm to Islam. Abu Dhabi's Al-Ittihad newspaper followed up Monday with an opinion piece expanding on the king's speech in an article titled, "Who is Harming Islam?"

All the hard work and good will demonstrated by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in his efforts to bridge the worrisome schism pitting radical Islam and other religions dissipates like a desert mirage when ridiculous religious edicts, or fatwas as they are called in Arabic, are issued by preposterous religious zealots in the kingdom.

As election time in the United States and Israel draws nearer, the public discourse regarding the "Iranian nuclear threat" is intensifying. Both candidates vying for the U.S. presidency, and a few who would like to win the Israeli prime ministership, have been portraying Iran as a live bomb and an immediate threat to world peace. Indeed, Iran is not a paragon of virtue. Its aspirations exceed by far those that were described in the December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, which turned around a previous assessment from 2005.

The extraordinary European Union summit that French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for Monday looks likely to decide not simply Europe's policy toward a resurgent and aggressive Russia which is talking of a new Cold War, but also the degree to which the world's richest economy will in future seek to play a diplomatic role to match its wealth.