Nuclear energy will diversify Middle Eastern ties

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nuclear Material ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Nuclear Arms Race ◽  
Political Leverage

Significance Rosatom’s nuclear energy contracts with Iran, Egypt, Turkey and Jordan signal a growth in Russian soft power in the region. Meanwhile, the United States is conspicuous by its absence in both reactor sales and nuclear cooperation. Impacts Russian hegemony in regional uranium supplies could offer political leverage. Nuclear energy programmes will give leaders further justification to strengthen state security mechanisms. The presence of nuclear material in the Middle East region will increase Western concerns over regime security and survival. Civil nuclear power could contribute to anxieties over a nuclear arms race. US disengagement from civil nuclear power in the Middle East may weaken its influence over non-proliferation.

Technical hurdles may block China nuclear power plans

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
International Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Electricity Supply ◽  
Energy Capacity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Nuclear Plants

Subject China's nuclear programme. Significance China has the world's largest fleet of new nuclear plants and plans to increase its nuclear energy capacity more than fivefold over the next 15 years. It is one of the few countries to be adding to capacity, while expansion has largely stalled in Europe, the United States and Japan. Chinese companies have also started to sign deals with other countries to build plants there. Impacts Nuclear energy will enhance security of electricity supply in the economically crucial coastal provinces. Success in its domestic programme would position China to rival Russia in the international market. Nuclear power will help China tackle air pollution, currently a greater political liability than concerns about nuclear safety. Public opinion seems unlikely to become a barrier to expansion unless there is a serious nuclear accident.

US-China competition will create Middle East dilemmas

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
The United States ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Key Sectors ◽  
History Of ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

Significance The Middle East has long been polarised between US allies and enemies, while Beijing has historically retained a comparatively smaller footprint and rejected taking sides in regional political and security disputes. However, its economic interests are increasing. Impacts The United States will maintain a comparative advantage from its long history of political, military and economic cooperation in the region. Beijing could leverage its control over large industrial conglomerates in key sectors such as energy, infrastructure and biotechnology. The Belt and Road Initiative will be an attractive project for all Middle Eastern countries, maximising their geographical advantages.

Middle East luxury retail sector – opportunities or uncertainties in the future?

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
Roger Moser ◽  
Gopalakrishnan Narayanamurthy
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
International Business ◽  
Market Entry ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Retail Sector ◽  
Senior Executive ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Future

Subject area The subject area is international business and global operations. Study level/applicability The study includes BSc, MSc and MBA students and management trainees who are interested in learning how an industry can be assessed to make a decision on market entry/expansion. Even senior management teams could be targeted in executive education programs, as this case provides a detailed procedure and methodology that is also used by companies (multinational corporations and small- and medium-sized enterprises) to develop strategies on corporate and functional levels. Case overview A group of five senior executive teams of different Swiss luxury and lifestyle companies wanted to enter the Middle East market. To figure out the optimal market entry and operating strategies, the senior executive team approached the Head of the Swiss Business Hub Middle East of Switzerland Global Enterprise, Thomas Meier, in December 2012. Although being marked with great potential and an over-proportional growth, the Middle Eastern luxury market contained impediments that international firms had to take into consideration. Therefore, Thomas had to analyze the future outlook for this segment of the Middle East retail sector to develop potential strategies for the five different Swiss luxury and lifestyle companies to potentially operate successfully in the Middle East luxury and lifestyle market. Expected learning outcomes The study identifies barriers and operations challenges especially for Swiss and other foreign luxury and lifestyle retailers in the Middle East, understands the future (2017) institutional environment of the luxury and lifestyle retail sector in the Middle East and applies the institutions-resources matrix in the context of a Swiss company to evaluate the uncertainties prevailing in the Middle East luxury and lifestyle retail sector. It helps in turning insights about future developments in an industry (segment) into consequences for the corporate and functional strategies of a company. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or e-mail [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 5: International Business.

Misusing historical analogies limits US policy options

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Content Type ◽  
White House ◽  
Decision To Leave ◽  
Us Military ◽  
The Future

Significance The Vietnam analogy implies that President Joe Biden’s decision to leave Afghanistan will have deeply negative consequences for the United States. However, Afghanistan is not Vietnam and the Biden withdrawal needs to be considered within the wider context of his administration’s review of US commitments abroad. Impacts The White House will be pressured to clarify the future of other US military commitments, particularly in Iraq. Biden will seek to reassure allies, particularly those in NATO, that his commitment to multilateralism will not diminish. Biden may seek an opportunity for a military show of force, possibly in the Middle East, to refute accusations of weakness.

Comparative CSR decision-making in the Middle East: an exploratory study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre El Haddad ◽  
Alexandre Anatolievich Bachkirov ◽  
Olga Grishina
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Managerial Decision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Nodal Model ◽  
Comparative Csr ◽  
High Level ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose This study aims to explore the commonalities and differences of corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions among business leaders in Oman and Lebanon, two Middle Eastern countries forming a comparative dyad with a high level of cultural variance within the Arab cluster. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit qualitative data that were analyzed by means of multilevel analysis. Findings The findings provide empirical evidence that CSR is a powerful factor in managerial decision-making in the Middle East with the national cultures of Oman and Lebanon exerting partially differing effects on CSR decision-making. Practical implications The study enlightens practicing managers and policymakers in terms of the salience of multiple actors’ influence on CSR decision-making processes and the responses they may receive when developing and implementing CSR initiatives in the Middle East. Originality/value The study proposes a seven nodal model, which captures the flow of CSR decision-making in the research contexts.

Abu Dhabi will pivot to ‘soft power’ security policies

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
Security Policies ◽  
Abu Dhabi ◽  
Special Forces ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Military Engagement

Significance UAE military engagement abroad since the 1990s has earned it the nickname ‘Little Sparta’. Its activities included a lengthy mission alongside NATO forces in Afghanistan and special forces-led interventions in Libya and Yemen. Impacts Increased COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy could be an important component of the Emirati soft power approach. UAE purchases of expensive weapons and maintenance of Red Sea basing options will focus on the Iran threat. Defence industrial ties will strengthen with the United States and Israel.

Turkish society will become more Islamic under AKP

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
The United States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
Business Partners ◽  
Turkish Constitution ◽  
Turkish Society

Subject The future of secularism in of Turkey. Significance The speaker of the Grand National Assembly, Ismail Kahraman, provoked uproar on April 25 when he called for secularism to be dropped from the proposed (but as yet unpublished) new constitution. There were instant protests and demonstrations by middle-class opponents and, perhaps more surprisingly, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Both rejected the idea that secularism -- which has featured in the Turkish constitution since 1928 -- should be discarded. Impacts Society's pro-Western orientation is being slowly eroded, and latent hostility to the United States and United Kingdom is growing. Turkey's main secular universities -- Bosphorus (Bogazici) and Middle East Technical -- are under increasing pressure to change. Government preference for Middle Eastern, especially Saudi and Qatari, business partners and investors will continue.

Obama's push on nuclear arms control faces hurdles

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Arms Control ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nuclear Material ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High Profile ◽  
The Us ◽  
Nuclear Security ◽  
Nuclear Opacity ◽  
Nuclear Arms Control

Subject The US arms control agenda. Significance Despite having less than a year in office, President Barack Obama's administration is sustaining a high-profile arms control agenda in 2016. The administration wants to restore several damaged treaties with Russia, broaden Russia-China-US cooperation on various non-proliferation issues and leave Obama's successor a firm nuclear security architecture. Arms control is a consultative, long-term diplomatic process, and is susceptible to the political imperatives of more immediate regional crises. Impacts Tacit US support of Israeli nuclear opacity will undermine arms control efforts in the Middle East. Post-Obama arms control efforts are likely to focus on the security of nuclear material, rather than strategic arms reductions. Senate retirements will undermine US arms control advocacy in Congress. The United States will retain its nuclear arsenal indefinitely despite criticism from its allies.

Iran deal will not relaunch nuclear power globally

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Power Generation ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Nuclear Power Generation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Safety Risks ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Prices

Subject Impact of the Iran deal on civil nuclear energy. Significance The deal between Iran and the P5+1 powers (five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) will have little effect on the global deployment of nuclear power technology. The agreement could pave the way for new civil nuclear power generation in Iran. Elsewhere, civil nuclear power's prospects are restrained by high costs compared to alternatives, safety risks and political acceptance. Impacts Advanced nuclear power countries will encourage newcomers to meet their needs for nuclear fuel by relying on existing suppliers. Countries investing in new civil nuclear power are unlikely to also seek weapons capability. Low oil and carbon prices and the apparent reluctance of countries to mitigate climate change will constrain nuclear power investment.

Israel will strengthen its ties with the Gulf

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Public Knowledge ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Opportunities ◽  
The Past ◽  
Gulf States ◽  
Middle East Policy

Significance In October, Netanyahu travelled to Oman -- the first visit there by an Israeli premier in decades. In the past few years, relations between Israel and most of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states have warmed, but this has not been publicised. More recently, GCC states have become less concerned whether their relations with Israel become public knowledge. Meanwhile, the United States is encouraging rapprochement as one of the anchors of its Middle East policy. Impacts Netanyahu may soon visit Bahrain, the first public visit by an Israeli leader to the country. Relations with Qatar will follow a separate track to other Gulf states. A political opening would create economic opportunities.

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