Authoritarian Upgrading and the “Pink Wave”

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 79-104
Author(s):  
Magdalena Karolak
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
First Century ◽  
Women In Politics ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Political Liberalization ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Current Events

This paper analyzes the complex processes that have been shaping the increased involvement of Bahraini women in politics, especially their share in elected political offices as MPs. Looking back at the unprecedented rise of female MPs in electoral polls in 2018, this research examines the last two decades of female progress in politics and looks in depth at the contributing factors. Using the initial factors established through a literature review, it examines their relevance in the Bahraini political environment, and establishes additional factors peculiar to the kingdom. The role of women is interwoven with political liberalization reforms in the first decade of the twenty-first century, but it was also shaped by the current events, namely, the popular uprising of 2011. The uprising was ultimately contained; yet, the authoritarian upgrading that followed paradoxically created opportunities for greater women’s engagement in electoral politics. The case of Bahrain sheds light on how sectarianism, popular uprisings, and authoritarianism affect women’s position in electoral politics in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

scholarly journals Diet, Genetics, and Disease: A Focus on the Middle East and North Africa Region

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akl C. Fahed ◽  
Abdul-Karim M. El-Hage-Sleiman ◽  
Theresa I. Farhat ◽  
Georges M. Nemer
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Chronic Diseases ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Genetic Factors ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Micronutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Mena Countries ◽  
Nutritional Genomics

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region suffers a drastic change from a traditional diet to an industrialized diet. This has led to an unparalleled increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases. This review discusses the role of nutritional genomics, or the dietary signature, in these dietary and disease changes in the MENA. The diet-genetics-disease relation is discussed in detail. Selected disease categories in the MENA are discussed starting with a review of their epidemiology in the different MENA countries, followed by an examination of the known genetic factors that have been reported in the disease discussed, whether inside or outside the MENA. Several diet-genetics-disease relationships in the MENA may be contributing to the increased prevalence of civilization disorders of metabolism and micronutrient deficiencies. Future research in the field of nutritional genomics in the MENA is needed to better define these relationships.

scholarly journals State Fragility, Social Contracts and the Role of Social Protection: Perspectives from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 447
Author(s):  
Markus Loewe ◽  
Tina Zintl
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Information Campaign ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
State Fragility ◽  
Social Contracts ◽  
Government Provision ◽  
Two Sides

Social contracts and state fragility represent two sides of one coin. The former concept highlights that governments need to deliver three “Ps”—protection, provision, and political participation—to be acceptable for societies, whereas the latter argues that states can fail due to lack of authority (inhibiting protection), capacity (inhibiting provision), or legitimacy. Defunct social contracts often lead to popular unrest. Using empirical evidence from the Middle East and North Africa, we demonstrate how different notions of state fragility lead to different kinds of grievances and how they can be remedied by measures of social protection. Social protection is always a key element of government provision and hence a cornerstone of all social contracts. It can most easily counteract grievances that were triggered by decreasing provision (e.g., after subsidy reforms in Iran and Morocco) but also partially substitute for deficient protection (e.g., by the Palestinian National Authority, in pre-2011 Yemen) or participation (information campaign accompanying Moroccan subsidy cut; participatory set-ups for cash-for-work programmes in Jordan). It can even help maintain a minimum of state–society relations in states defunct in all three Ps (e.g., Yemen). Hence, social protection can be a powerful instrument to reduce state fragility and mend social contracts. Yet, to be effective, it needs to address grievances in an inclusive, rule-based, and non-discriminatory way. In addition, to gain legitimacy, governments should assume responsibility over social protection instead of outsourcing it to foreign donors.

Multiple large shareholders and bank stability: the case of MENA banks

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rim Boussaada
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Bank Stability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mena Countries ◽  
Large Shareholders ◽  
Method Of Moments Estimation ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThis study aims to investigate how multiple large shareholders individually and interactively influence Middle East and North Africa (MENA) bank stability.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical framework is based on a generalized dynamic two-step system and utilizes the method of moments estimation to analyze a panel dataset of 532 bank-year observations over the 2004–2017 period.FindingsThe estimation results show that large shareholders are crucial in explaining the differences in bank stability among MENA banks. Specifically, the first- and second-largest shareholders exacerbate bank instability. However, we found that the third-largest shareholder enhances bank stability. Additionally, the coalition between the two largest shareholders increases the moral hazard problem in MENA banks and significantly decreases stability. Meanwhile, the interaction between the three largest shareholders is associated with a control contestability problem, which impels better bank stability. The results support the dispersion effect of multiple large shareholders in MENA countries.Originality/valueThe role of large shareholders in corporate governance is widely recognized. However, very little is known about the role and the real impact that multiple large shareholders may have on the banking sector. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this work is the first to analyze the relationship between multiple large shareholders and bank stability in the MENA region.

Towards a Paradigm Shift in Higher Education in the MENA Region

2014 ◽  
pp. 8-30
Author(s):  
Hayat Al-Khatib
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
University Graduates ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
The World ◽  
Knowledge And Technology Transfer

Higher education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has not been able to deliver the needed knowledge and technology transfer to generate productivity and innovation in this part of the world (Arab Economic and Social Summit, 2009; Thomson and Reuters, 2007). Youth unemployment in the MENA region remains the highest in the world, with the Middle East rating 21% and North Africa rating 25%, out of whom one-third are university graduates (World Bank, 2013). The chapter aims to address issues pertaining to the need to shift perspective in higher education in the MENA region, in the light of its growing importance as a developing entity with natural and human resources. The chapter identifies the role of higher education, in policies and practice, in addressing the needs of the region and transforming its resources, human and physical, to further its economic development.

scholarly journals POVERTY ALLEVIATION THROUGH ETHICAL PHILANTHROPY IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA (MENA) REGION

2020 ◽  
pp. 176-186
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Phenomenological Hermeneutics ◽  
The People ◽  
Ethical Role

Poverty using the United Nations’ criteria refers to denial of choices, opportunities, and the lack of capacity as a result of low income for a person to effectively participate in society. Poverty creates problems such as ill-health, inability to acquire the basic necessities of life, deprivation of full exercise of civic and political rights, and so forth. In spite of the enormous wealth in both human and natural resources in MENA, many people in the region are living in abject poverty. Using phenomenological hermeneutics and existential critical analysis, the paper argues for ethical philanthropy to be used to alleviate the poverty in the region. Poverty is an ethical issue for it affects the quality of lives that humans can live as moral beings and impacts human behaviour. It is unacceptable that the enormous wealth of the region is not used for the benefit of all. Outside government efforts and the imperative of efficient political leadership, wealthy individuals and non-governmental groups have a moral responsibility to help to alleviate poverty in the region. It is this ethical role of individuals and groups in rendering philanthropic help to alleviate and if possible end poverty in the region that is the thrust of this paper. The paper affirms that abject and other forms of poverty are present in the region. The paper concludes that individuals and groups have an ethical duty in philanthropy to alleviate poverty in the region. The people of the region will become better and achieve a higher level of happiness and peace through the practice of ethical philanthropy.

scholarly journals Ageing in the Middle East and North Africa: A Contemporary Perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-46
Author(s):  
Jamie P. Halsall ◽  
Ian G. Cook
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
First Century ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Demographic Feature ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Policy Context ◽  
Contemporary Perspective

AbstractOne of the central themes in the study of population growth has been ageing. Ageing in the world’s population has grown into a dominant demographic feature in twenty-first century society. An ageing population is the result of many contributing factors including the improvement of the health care system. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in recent years has attracted much interest from scholars, policy makers and social gerontology. By applying the geographical case studies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) this paper critically explores the issues and debates of ageing in a social policy context.

Eclecticism as an Ideological Alternative: An African Perspective

1975 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali A. Mazrui
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
First Century ◽  
Black Intellectuals ◽  
Melting Pot ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
African Perspective ◽  
Islam And Christianity

At least since the beginning of this century Africa has been an intellectual melting pot. The penetration of external intellectual influences, started earlier, gathered momentum more recently, and assumed most diverse forms in the last seventy to eighty years. Both Islam and Christianity as systems of ideas came to Africa from their earliest days. Ethiopia has been Christian longer than many parts of Europe, including England. And North Africa was substantially Islamized in the first century of Muhammad's religion, which later spread to other parts of the continent. Each had ideas and values which have direct political implications. After examining the role of culture in imperialism, the entry of liberal and capitalist values in Africa, the rise of modern nationalism, the fascination of Marxism among black intellectuals, and the obstinate resilience of many traditional African values, the essay comes to the conclusion that creative eclecticism (implying a genius for selectivity, for synthesizing disparate elements, and for ultimate independent growth in the intellectual field) is the only ideological alternative compatible with African autonomy in modern conditions.

scholarly journals The Fragility-Grievances-Conflict Triangle in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA): An Exploration of the Correlative Associations

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 120
Author(s):  
Timo Kivimäki
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
State Fragility ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

The intention of this special issue of Social Sciences is to study state fragility and its relationship with conflict and grievances in the post-Cold War Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This article will lay the foundation for such a study by offering a conceptual foundation, data and the identification of the correlative associations that are specific to the MENA region. This article suggests that the relationship between political legitimacy, factionalism of the state, and conflict needs special, MENA-specific emphasis, as this relationship seems more prominently different in the MENA region, compared to the rest of the world. While in the rest of the world, different aspects of state fragility all relate to grievances and conflict dynamics, in the MENA region political factionalism has a disproportionate role in the explanation of conflict grievances and violence. Moreover, the role of oil dependence, and the impact of external intervention requires attention of specialists of the region.

scholarly journals Small and Medium Enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa Region

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Khaled Otman
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Access To Finance ◽  
Mena Countries ◽  
Medium Enterprises

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are now widely recognized as engines of economic development. This paper discusses the importance of SMEs in the MENA economic area and identifies the challenges and barriers facing SMEs in MENA countries. In addition, this study analyses the effects of two 'black swan' Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) phenomena and a decline in oil prices on the economy of MENA in 2020. The current study found that the most significant challenges were identified as lack of access to finance, lack of managerial expertise, inefficiencies of government, lack of a well-trained workforce, inadequate infrastructure, corruption and bureaucratic obstacles. Among these challenges, the lack of access to finance appears to be the major challenge and suggests that future research is required to identify the role of Islamic finance models in the financing of SMEs in MENA countries. This research provides all stakeholders with policy implications intended for enhancing the different features of SME improvement in the MENA region and generally in developing countries.

scholarly journals Natural and Unnatural Paths

2009 ◽  
pp. 228-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Coyne
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
First Century ◽  
American Century ◽  
The World ◽  
Current Events ◽  
Rise Of China ◽  
Wealth Of Nations ◽  
The Rise Of China

Adam Smith in Beijing is Giovanni Arrighi’s attempt to make sense of the rise of China and the fate of the neo-conservative Project for a New American Century, while at the same time speculating about the role of East Asia in the twenty-first century. In interpreting these current events Arrighi draws much from The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith classic of political-economy which proves to be surprisingly relevant despite being over two-hundred years old. One of the book’s unifying themes is Adam Smith’s prediction that one day “the inhabitants of all the different quarters of the world may arrive at that equality of courage and force, which by inspiring mutual fear, can alone overawe the injustice of independent nations into some sort of respect for the rights of one another” (p. 3).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document