Improved Turkish-US relations may only be temporary

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Subject Turkish-US relations under a Trump presidency. Significance The election of Donald Trump adds another unprecedented dynamic to the complex US-Turkish relationship. So far, both sides have made cautious overtures to each other in the hope of a ‘reset’, after the relationship greatly deteriorated under Barack Obama. Impacts Erdogan wants a bigger role for Turkey in the Middle East and will be looking for Trump’s support to achieve this. Ankara will work with Washington to counter Tehran’s influence in Iraq. Turkey is unlikely to go along with a broader anti-Iranian effort in the region for fear of damaging its strategic ties with Tehran. If Trump and Erdogan fail to reset the relationship, Ankara may tilt even more towards Moscow.

scholarly journals Impact of governance structures on environmental disclosures in the Middle East and Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 739-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erhan Kilincarslan ◽  
Mohamed H. Elmagrhi ◽  
Zezeng Li
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Disclosures ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of corporate governance structures on environmental disclosure practices in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). Design/methodology/approach The research model uses a panel data set of 121 publicly listed (non-financial and non-utility) firms from 11 MEA countries over the period 2010-2017, uses alternative dependent variables and regression techniques and is applied to various sub-groups to improve robustness. Findings The empirical results strongly indicate that MEA firms with high governance disclosures tend to have better environmental disclosure practices. The board characteristics of gender diversity, size, CEO/chairperson duality and audit committee size impact positively on MEA firms’ voluntary environmental disclosures, whereas board independence has a negative influence. Research limitations/implications This study advances research on the relationship between corporate governance structures and environmental disclosure practices in MEA countries, but is limited to firms for which data are available from Bloomberg. Practical implications The results have important practical implications for MEA policymakers and regulators. The positive impact of board gender diversity on firms’ environmental disclosures, policy reforms should aim to increase female directors. MEA corporations aiming to be more environmentally friendly should recruit women to top managerial positions. Originality/value This is thought to be the first study to provide insights from the efficiency and legitimation perspectives of neo-institutional theory to explain the relationship between MEA firms’ internal governance structures and environmental disclosures.

Imran Khan is likely to become Pakistan prime minister

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Main Challenge ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Military

Significance The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s five-year term ended on May 31. PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif faces a tough fight to become prime minister, with the main challenge set to come from Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and further opposition provided by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Impacts With Khan as prime minister, the military would likely have free rein to pursue an anti-India foreign policy. Khan would step up his criticisms of the war in Afghanistan and likely have a difficult relationship with US President Donald Trump. Pakistan under any government will pursue balanced diplomacy in the Middle East, seeking good ties with both Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Iran-US nuclear deal revival efforts will face hurdles

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
National Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Medical Supplies ◽  
President Elect ◽  
National Security Adviser

Significance US President-elect Joe Biden supports the agreement, from which his predecessor Donald Trump withdrew, and has named as his national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who under former President Barack Obama began the secret outreach that fostered the JCPOA. Impacts Biden will immediately lower the temperature by facilitating trade in medical supplies to fight COVID-19. An end to the ‘Muslim ban’ will likely mean Iranian citizens can again travel to the United States, pandemic permitting. Iran may halt or slow steps that violate JCPOA limits, such as the installation of advanced centrifuges.

Worsening US relations weigh on Cuba tourism prospects

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
Window Of Opportunity ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Government

Subject Cuba tourism challenges. Significance The US State Department in March reduced tourist visas for Cuban nationals, in a further sign of cooling bilateral relations. Under US President Donald Trump, several confidence-building bilateral measures introduced under former President Barack Obama have been rolled back, with limits on tourist visits and investment in Cuba by US firms reinstated. This is set to have a major impact on the tourism industry, one of the main drivers of Cuba’s economic growth and a key sector for investment by US companies. Impacts The Venezuela crisis will exacerbate Cuba-US tensions, with Washington blaming Havana for supporting Caracas. The government will prioritise tourism investment over social spending, potentially reducing incomes for Cubans. Conversely, tighter US rules may trigger a brief surge in US tourism to Cuba, for fear that the window of opportunity to visit is closing.

Spiritualism versus materialism: can religiosity reduce conspicuous consumption?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Ramazani ◽  
Mahdi Kermani
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Religious Commitment ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Conspicuous Consumption ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Muslim Countries ◽  
Islamic Republic Of Iran ◽  
Rich Countries ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Due to economic growth and increasing the population of Islamic societies in the world, marketing studies have become more essential in these societies. This paper aims to study the relationship between Islamic religiosity and conspicuous consumption in Mashhad, the second-most populous city in the Islamic Republic of Iran, as a case of Islamic societies in the Middle East. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected by a survey of 534 respondents in Mashhad and stratified random sampling was applied. Findings Unlike the majority of former investigations, the results showed that there is a positive relationship between Islamic religious commitment and conspicuous consumption. Furthermore, gender, social media and income are important factors in explaining the extent of conspicuous consumption. Practical implications Luxury companies can use the results of this research to invest in Islamic countries where there is a great demand for luxury items. Additionally, it is recommended for these companies to use the potential opportunity of social media which is extremely popular in Muslim countries to advertise their products to a large population at a low price. Originality/value The results of this study can challenge the conventional understanding of the relationship between Islamic religiosity and conspicuous consumption. According to the results of this paper, in the Middle East Islamic rich countries, it seems that Muslims have a positive attitude toward conspicuous consumption, although Islam disapproves consuming excessively by the notion of Israf.

scholarly journals The Obama Legacy in the Middle East and the Trump Challenge

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert O. Freedman
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
Military Assistance ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
President Obama ◽  
Obama Administration ◽  
The Us ◽  
Un Security Council

During the second term of President Barack Obama, US-Israeli relations sharply deteriorated. After a positive visit by President Obama to Israel in March 2013, major disagreements erupted over the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, over the nuclear deal with Iran and, especially, over the construction of Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Making matters worse, personal recriminations crept into the Israeli-American dialogue on the disputes. While the two countries signed a major military assistance agreement in September 2016, Israeli settlement expansion after the election of Donald Trump as the US President in November 2016 led to a further deterioration of relations between the Obama Administration and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, which was demonstrated by the Obama Administration’s failure to veto a UN Security Council Resolution condemning Israeli settlements.

US policy toward Syria between the Obama and Trump administrations .. Transformation and determinants

2019 ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Muthanna Faeq Merie
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
The United States ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
Donald Trump

The United States has its own policy towards Syria and the developments and events that directly affect its interests in the Middle East, and has been keen to invest what is happening in Syria to achieve these interests, or at the very least to ensure that its repercussions do not affect its vital interests and its allies in Syria itself. However, this policy has not been the same because of the continuation of the conflict in the Syrian arena since March 2011, which coincided with the reigns of the Democratic administrations of Barack Obama and Donald Trump Republican and thus different trends in US policies internally and externally. Mrakih of the importance and influence the course of events and the conflict in Syria and its future and its impact on the regional and international oceans, will follow the nature of this policy and its transformations between the administrations of Barack Obama and Donald Trump and the determinants that have affected them.

Politics will check scope of US retrenchment abroad

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Free Riding ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
State Collapse ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Eu

Significance President Barack Obama has drawn criticism from traditional US allies over a series of interviews with Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic magazine entitled 'The Obama Doctrine', in which the president described his foreign policy views and frustration with perceived 'free riding' by European and Gulf security partners. Impacts Washington will take a tougher line on authoritarian moves by Turkey than the EU. US attention may return to the Middle East in the event of state collapse or unchecked territorial advances by jihadist groups. Israeli settlement expansions will place a ceiling on post-Obama improvements to relations.

Battles ahead over US executive orders used to reform

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Regulation ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
Border Security ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Executive Orders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Legal Challenge

Significance President Donald Trump is a keen advocate of executive orders, as were former Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama. However, executive orders can be legally dubious. Impacts There will be uncertainty over whether Trump’s executive orders to tackle COVID-19 can survive legal challenge. Biden would use executive orders to unpick Trump’s legacy on environmental regulation. There will be further executive orders on immigration reform and border security, and these will be legally challenged.

Russia will opt for caution while Trump settles in

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Desire To Change

Subject Moscow's evolving response to Donald Trump's election win. Significance Incoming US President Donald Trump has made clear his desire to change policy on Russia in both style and substance. However, the relationship is constrained on both sides by domestic political factors and conflicting national interests. Satisfaction in Moscow at Trump's victory and Hillary Clinton's defeat is tempered by sober calculations about whether expressions of goodwill will translate into positive shifts in a troubled relationship. Impacts Political discourse in Russia must adapt to the new reality of a US leader who says he wants dialogue. Moscow will refrain from hasty, potentially provocative moves during the US transition. Fears about US intentions may push Ukraine and NATO's eastern members to harden military postures against Russia.

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