Algerian leadership will head off military threat

Subject President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's grip on power in Algeria. Significance In the past three months, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has dismissed ten generals in the armed forces and police. The scale of the turnover is unusual, as is the way in which the changes have been effected. The media have advanced various explanations: a cocaine-smuggling scandal, corruption charges or a routine rotation of officers. Questions have also arisen about what impact the dismissal of powerful security figures might have on the presidency itself, as Bouteflika’s supporters prepare the ground for him to secure a fifth term in an election scheduled for April 2019. Impacts A fifth term for Bouteflika will not lay to rest rivalries among powerful interest groups over the eventual succession. Activists and civil society members will organise more protests to express discontent with the presidency. If the cocaine smuggling claim is true, it may point to mafia-style networks deep within the security establishment.

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Tupman

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess what an overview of theoretical literature and case study material can tell us about the different ways crime has been organised in the past in different cultures and whether this has any impact on the ways in which crime may be organised in the present and the future. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on an examination of Mcintyre’s work on how crime is organised and later political, economic and civil society views of criminality. Brief discussion of case studies involving the UK, The Netherlands, the Arab world, Ethiopia and Russia is used to see how crime was organised there in the past. Findings – There is a greater variety of variables in the way crime was organised historically than McIntyre suggests, and an examination of civil society might pay greater dividends than even looking at politics or economic aspects of organised crime. Research limitations/implications – The study is preliminary. More historical case study material needs to be accessed. Originality/value – There are many research case studies, particularly at PhD level and in subjects other than criminology, such as history, language studies and cultural studies generally, which have not been brought together to present an overall picture. This paper is a first step in that direction.


2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 183-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
James To

The overseas Chinese (OC) form a vast network of powerful interest groups and important political actors capable of shaping the future of China from abroad by transmitting values back to their ancestral homeland (Tu 1991). While the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) welcomes and actively seeks to foster relations with the OC in order to advance China's national interests, some cohorts may be hostile to the regime. In accordance with their distinct demographic and ethnic profiles, the CCP's qiaowu ([Formula: see text], OC affairs) infrastructure serves to entice, co-opt, or isolate various OC groupings. This article summarises the policies for managing different subsets of OC over the past three decades, and argues that through qiaowu, the CCP has successfully unified cooperative groups for China's benefit, while preventing discordant ones from eroding its grip on power.


Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miftachul Huda ◽  
Azmil Hashim

PurposeMedia literacy education is knowingly contributed to give insights in facilitating the interaction and communication, and thus enabling to understand the way we look at the world around us. However, the challenging issues emerged around need to take serious consent towards engaging the professional and ethical balance in the context of application strategy on media literacy education. This paper attempts to examine in addressing the ability with substantial foundation to recognize and understand between its benefit and its impacts assigned with analysing and evaluating the media engagement.Design/methodology/approachThis paper proposes the theoretical framework guideline with particular emphasis on empowering both professional and ethical dimensions relating to the media literacy and education to be keenly adhered to as a golden rule in media literacy, education and practice.FindingsThe findings reveal that such a marriage between the ethical dimensions and professional skills would promote the good of individuals, groups and broader society by addressing the inherent negative effects of media technology and practice. Consequently, the model would contribute to broader societal goodness and peaceful coexistence.Originality/valueThe professional and ethical balance being proposed here is necessary to reconsider the way and manner along with media technology tools utilized across different cultures with expressing the purpose of promoting appropriate and wise usage for the sustainable positive benefit of mankind at all times.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 416-431
Author(s):  
Myriam Martí-Sánchez ◽  
Desamparados Cervantes-Zacarés ◽  
Arturo Ortigosa-Blanch

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse how the media addresses entrepreneurship and to identify the attributes linked to this phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach The sample is defined in terms of a linguistic corpus comprised of content related to entrepreneurship drawn from the digital editions of the three most important Spanish economic newspapers for the period 2010–2017. Word association and co-occurrence analyses were carried out. Further, a non-supervised clustering process was used as the basis for a thematic analysis. Findings Correspondence between social and media patterns related to the entrepreneurship phenomenon is revealed by the results. It is shown how attributes such as “success”, “innovation”, “ecosystem” and “woman” appear as very relevant and are linked to different co-occurrence scenarios. Relevant thematic groups are also identified related to lexical associations such as innovation, digital economy and public policies linked to entrepreneurship. Research limitations/implications It is important to emphasise that this study has identified and explored relationships between words, but not their evolution. Furthermore, conclusions cannot be drawn concerning whether there are differences in how each newspaper has dealt with entrepreneurship because of the way the corpus was constructed. Originality/value The study provides empirical evidence that helps to identify the way media approaches entrepreneurship. The authors carried out the analysis on the media contents and not on the perception of the public on the phenomenon.


Significance In June, Morocco accused Algeria of illicitly facilitating the transfer of Western Saharan independence leader Brahim Ghali to Spain for medical treatment. In July, an investigative journalism consortium revealed that Morocco had been engaged in a cyber espionage offensive that targeted, among others, Algerian politicians, military officers, civil society activists and journalists. Morocco extended an olive branch, which Algeria immediately rejected. Impacts Though Brussels has long favoured Rabat over Algiers, Morocco’s recent actions may reinvigorate Algeria-EU relations The developments, which seem detrimental to Morocco’s foreign relations, may indicate that King Mohammed has less control than in the past. Moroccan and Algerian business communities are unlikely to be impacted by the diplomatic spats.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Grayston ◽  
Dave Chang

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict began in a critical sense in 1948 and continues to this day.  An understanding of this continuing dispute requires knowledge of its historical, political, religious, demographic, emotional and geopolitical dimensions, and of the way anti-semitism figures in how people engage in discussions of the Middle-East.  After sketching out these realities, we consider how disagreement over the framing of the past generates disagreement over visions of the future.  Drawing on the work of Jakob Feldt and Ilan Gur-ze’ev, among others, we highlight the challenges posed to educators in regard to how each of the two major narratives, Israeli and Palestinian, compete with the Other’s account of their shared and fractured history.  Using an incident involving the British Columbia Ministry of Education as a reference point, we explore the way special interest groups engage with the realm of public education, as well as the challenge of deconstructing conflicting historical interpretations.  The paper suggests some pedagogical approaches for moving beyond the contesting of histories and for the development of better-grounded student involvement with this complex issue.


Significance The past year has seen the Russian military expand its exercises and other activities in the region. As well as creating a new joint command for the Arctic, the Kremlin is increasing the capacity of its military and paramilitary forces to operate there, including on search-and-rescue missions. This ramp-up reflects the broader modernisation of the entire armed forces, which Putin reiterated yesterday remained a key priority. Impacts Other countries engage in military activities in the region, but only Russia has taken major steps to militarise its Arctic frontier. Russian leaders profess peaceful motives but warn that Moscow will defend its Arctic interests with force if necessary. Russia will commission a fleet of highly versatile vessels that can serve as tugs, icebreakers or patrol ships.


Subject Civil society protest movements in Iraq and Lebanon. Significance Protest movements in the Middle East have been curtailed severely by retrenched autocratic governments and civil wars since the Arab uprisings in 2011. With their relatively open political systems, Lebanon and Iraq never participated in these protests fully. However, over the past year they have seen a resurgence in grassroots politics that could influence civil society across the region. Impacts Protest movements provide an outlet for popular frustration; their repression increases the risk of longer-term political instability. Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco have the most favourable conditions for a revival of civil society protest movements. Such movements could play a larger role in Yemen, Libya and Syria after conflicts have ended. In the longer run, these movements could benefit business in the region by driving efforts to fight corruption and improve transparency.


Significance Tensions between the Gulf states and Iran have escalated significantly in 2016, in the wake of Iran's signing of a landmark deal in 2015 that brought to an end the decade-long dispute over its nuclear programme. The response of Iran's military to the heightened tensions will be partly influenced by the new chairman of the Armed Forces General Staff (AFGS), the country's top military body, Major General Mohamad Hossein Bagheri. Impacts A more assertive and non-compromising IRGC will increase pressure on President Hassan Rouhani as he seeks re-election in 2017. Improvements in intelligence collection and dissemination are likely in Syria, aimed at reducing Iranian casualties. The military and government are likely to clash soon over the defence budget and its allocation. The government will try to keep the IRGC in check by tipping the media off about alleged financial wrongdoings. With the next US president expected to adopt a harder-line stance on Iran, the diplomatic rapprochement may be reversed partially.


Subject The non-appearance of an expected EU anti-corruption report. Significance The European Commission’s cancellation of its second report on anti-corruption efforts across member-states and EU institutions removes a key benchmark against which to hold European governments to account at a time when several are attempting to roll back anti-corruption reforms and disable checks and balances. Given the political sensitivity of the first report, the move also feeds populist criticisms that the EU itself is prone to corruption and unwilling to expose itself to scrutiny. Impacts Populist governments appear to be learning from one another that they can remove limits on their power. This will allow interest groups to entrench their political and economic dominance, hindering economic growth in the long run. The US president’s attacks on parts of the media for ‘fake news’ may encourage use of anti-establishment rhetoric to discredit critics.


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