Adel Al Toraifi (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: عادل الطريفي; born 1979) is a Saudi journalist and a specialist in Middle Eastern affairs, focusing on Saudi-Iranian relations and foreign policy decision making in the

Arab states of the Persian Gulf The Arab states of the Persian Gulf, also known as the Gulf Arab states (), refers to a group of Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi ...

. He was the minister of culture and information of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

from January 2015 to April 2017.

Early life and education

Al Toraifi was born in 1979. He received a master's degree in international conflict in 2008 from

Kingston University Kingston University London is a Public university, public research university located within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, in South London, South West London, England. Its roots go back to the Kingston Technical Institute, founded ...

, London. He finished his PhD studies in

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

at the

London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public university, public research university in London, England, and a member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the University ...

in 2012. The title of his thesis is "Understanding the role of state identity in foreign policy decision-making: the rise of Saudi-Iranian rapprochement (1997-2009)".

Career

Al Toraifi began his journalism career at the beginning of the 2000s as an opinion writer and commentator for many Arabic and foreign newspapers. He published weekly political opinions in '' Al Riyadh'' newspaper. He also wrote for '' Al Watan'' in 2003. Then he began to write weekly for the opinion pages of ''

Asharq Al-Awsat ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' (, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted for its distinctive green-tinted pages. Although pu ...

''. In 2010, he became editor-in-chief of ''

The Majalla ''The Majalla'', often directly transliterated as ''Al Majalla'' (Arabic:المجلة, "the magazine") is a Saudi-owned, London-based political news journal published in Arabic, English and Persian. The magazine's headquarters in Saudi Arabia i ...

''. In addition to this post, he began to serve as the deputy editor-in-chief for ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' in July 2012. Al Toraifi was named as the

chief editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's Editing, editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is hel ...

of ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' on 11 December 2012 with effect from 1 January 2013, replacing

Tariq Alhomayed Tariq Alhomayed is a journalist and former Editor-in-Chief of the Arabic-language newspaper ''Asharq Alawsat'', the youngest person to be appointed that position. a host of Almooqf TV show on the Saudi TV. Alhomyed has been a guest analyst and c ...

in the post. He also held his post as editor-in-chief of ''The Majalla''. One of his main achievements as the editor-in-chief of ''The Majalla'' was the launching of the digital version of the magazine in

, English and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. On 1 July 2014 he left the post of editor in chief of ''Asharq Al-Awsat''. Al Toraifi then joined the

Al Arabiya Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group. The channel is a flagship of the media c ...

television news channel as deputy general manager. On 22 November 2014, he was appointed general manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, replacing Abdulrahman Al Rashed in the post. On 29 January 2015 Al Toraifi was appointed minister of culture and information of Saudi Arabia. His term ended on 22 April 2017 when

Awwad Alawwad Awwad S. Alawwad (Arabic: عواد العواد; born 11 April 1972) is a Saudi politician and senior government official. He served as Minister of Culture and Information from April 2017 to December 2018, and as Ambassador to Germany from 2015 t ...

was named as the minister of culture and information.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toraifi, Adel Zaid 20th-century Saudi Arabian people 21st-century Saudi Arabian politicians 1979 births Alumni of Kingston University Alumni of the London School of Economics Culture ministers of Saudi Arabia Living people Information ministers of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian journalists