Kuwaiti newspaper to launch Arabic edition of US Foreign Policy magazine

Published November 12th, 2002 - 03:00 GMT

Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Watan will launch on Wednesday the first Arabic edition of the United States-based magazine Foreign Policy, which will also be distributed throughout the Middle East region.

Al-Watan, which signed the agreement back in the month of June to publish the magazine in the Arabic language, will distribute the new edition in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen, a statement released by the US magazine said.

In addition, the magazine will be distributed in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

"The Arabic edition will expose Arab readers in their home language to international policy perspectives and to cutting-edge analysis, emanating primarily from outside Arab nations, of the events that are shaping the world today," Al-Watan editor Mohammad al-Jassim said in the statement.

Jassim will oversee the editorial content of the magazine's Arabic edition.

"The launch of the Arabic edition is an important part of our efforts to increase readership in the Arab world," said Foreign Policy editor and publisher Moises Naim.

The Arabic version will be published by Al-Watan in cooperation with Morocco's Tariq bin Ziyad Center for Research and Studies.

Foreign Policy magazine, published every two months, already circulates in 128 countries, with editions in Greek, Italian, Spanish and Turkish.

The launch brings the magazine's worldwide foreign edition circulation to 75,000, the statement added.

Al-Watan already prints and distributes an Arabic edition of Newsweek for the Gulf, Middle East, North Africa and several European countries. (Albawaba.com)