scholarly journals A Sea of Change in the MENA Region: External Intervention in Libya

2020 ◽  
pp. 113-138
Author(s):  
Talha Köse ◽  
Bilgehan Öztürk
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Regional Transformation ◽  
External Interventions ◽  
External Intervention ◽  
Realist Perspective

External interventions by both regional and global powers in Libya have not been a scarcity after the 2011 revolution. With the turn of 2014, however, the nature of external interventions became more of a military one especially with the imposition of Haftar’s rule in the east by several counter-revolutionary regional and global actors. At the point that the same counter-revolutionary alliance attempted to geopolitically strangulate Turkey both via propping up hostile and authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and North Africa, and also excluding it from the prospect of exploiting the riches of the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkish intervention materialized in early 2020. This study attempts to explain the various motivations of the major intervening actors in Libya, namely France, Russia, Egypt, and the UAE with a special focus on Turkey. Structural realist perspective is used to elucidate the international interventions to the Libyan civil war. The nature of the uncertainty emanating from the regional transformation motivated the key actors to get militarily involved in the Libyan crisis. The actors with defensive motives are more likely to stick to the conflict despite the risks of escalation.

scholarly journals Impacts of Climate Change on the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East and North Africa Region and the Water–Energy Nexus

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfred A. Lange
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Large Variability ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Water Energy Nexus ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

The present paper aims to elucidate impacts of climate change on the availability and security of water and energy in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA region; including the Eastern Mediterranean) in the context of the water–energy nexus. It largely builds on existing knowledge and understanding and aims to present a review of existing information on this topic. The region is particularly challenged by a number of factors, including the large variability of bio-geographical characteristics, extreme population growth over the last few decades, and substantial societal and economical transitions, as well as armed conflicts in some of the countries in the region. Anticipated changes in climate conditions will exacerbate the challenges regarding water and energy security in the region. Major impacts of climate change include a significant increase in summer temperatures, which will lead to a growing number of heat waves, primarily in urban structures. A general decrease in precipitation in many of the MENA countries is foreseen, resulting in enhanced droughts and a growing number of dry spells. In addressing energy and water scarcities and their mutual interrelationships, an integrated water–energy nexus concept offers promising prospects to improve environmental, climate, human, and political security. However, only very few countries in the MENA region have presently implemented such a concept. Mitigation and adaptation strategies addressing water and energy scarcity include enhanced efficiency of resource use, integrated technology assessments regarding electricity generation, and a stronger reliance on renewable/solar technologies. While looking at the MENA region as a whole, some emphasis will be given to Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Transitions Within Queer North African Cinema

Screen Bodies ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter S. Temple
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Film Festivals ◽  
Global Awareness ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
North African ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
African Cinema ◽  
Queer Cinema

In recent years, North African queer cinema has become increasingly visible both within and beyond Arabo-Orientale spaces. A number of critical factors have contributed to a global awareness of queer identities in contemporary Maghrebi cinema, including the dissemination of films through social media outlets and during international film festivals. Such tout contemporain representations of queer sexuality characterize a robust wave of films in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, inciting a new discourse on the condition of the marginalized traveler struggling to locate new forms of self and being—both at home and abroad.

scholarly journals Influence of COVID-19 on lifestyle behaviors in the Middle East and North Africa Region: a survey of 5896 individuals

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Abouzid ◽  
◽  
Dina M. El-Sherif ◽  
Nael Kamel Eltewacy ◽  
Nesrine Ben Hadj Dahman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
Lifestyle Behaviors ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has affected health and lifestyle behaviors of people globally. This project aims to identify the impact of COVID-19 on lifestyle behavior of individuals in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region during confinement. Methods We conducted an online survey in 17 countries (Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Syria, Palestine, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Iraq, and Sudan) from the MENA region on August and September 2020. The questionnaire included self-reported information on lifestyle behaviors, including physical activity, eating habits, smoking, watching television, social media use and sleep before and during the pandemic. Logistic regression was performed to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on lifestyle behaviors. Results A total of 5896 participants were included in the final analysis and 62.8% were females. The BMI of the participants was 25.4 ± 5.8 kg/m2. Around 38.4% of the participants stopped practicing any physical activities during the confinement (P < 0.001), and 57.1% reported spending more than 2 h on social media (P < 0.001). There were no significant changes in smoking habits. Also, 30.9% reported an improvement in their eating habits compared with 24.8% reported worsening of their eating habits. Fast-food consumption decreased significantly in 48.8% of the study population. This direct/indirect exposure to COVID-19 was associated with an increased consumption of carbohydrates (OR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.02–1.17; P = 0.01), egg (OR = 1.08; 95% CI = 1.02–1.16; P = 0.01), sugar (OR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.02–1.16; P = 0.02), meat, and poultry (OR = 1.13; 95% CI = 1.06–1.20; P < 0.01). There was also associated increase in hours spent on watching television (OR = 1.07; 95% CI = 1.02–1.12; P < 0.01) and social media (OR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.01–1.18; P = 0.03). However, our results showed a reduction in sleeping hours among those exposed to COVID-19 infection (OR = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.77–0.94; P < 0.01). Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with an increase in food consumption and sedentary life. Being exposed to COVID-19 by direct infection or through an infected household is a significant predictor of amplifying these changes. Public health interventions are needed to address healthy lifestyle behaviors during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Party systems and ideological cleavages in the Middle East and North Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 135406881989429
Author(s):  
Abdullah Aydogan
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Mena Countries

Previous studies have contrasted the political party systems in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with those in more democratic countries, raising three important points: (1) the religious–secular dimension, rather than the economic or social left–right, explains the underlying political party competition; (2) left-wing politics is relatively weaker than right-wing politics; and (3) parties that are traditionally known as rightist take left-leaning positions on numerous issue dimensions, and vice versa. Even though this particular literature on party politics in the MENA has greatly improved our understanding of political dynamics in the region, these studies have either lacked quantitative evidence to support these points or their evidence was limited to single-country cases. This study aims to address this issue by analyzing original expert survey data of the ideological positions of political parties in the MENA region. Results show that in addition to the religious–secular dimension, the economic left–right divide and the pace of political reforms are highly important dimensions. The study also provides numerous examples showing that the policy stances of leftist and rightist parties are significantly reversed when MENA countries are compared with more developed democracies.

China and the Revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 192-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randall Peerenboom
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Northern Africa ◽  
Mena Countries ◽  
Turn On ◽  
Potential Sources ◽  
The Government

The 2011 revolutions in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) led to considerable hope for some people that China would experience a similar political uprising, as well as considerable anxiety for the ruling regime. The government’s immediate response was to downplay the risk of a similar event occurring in China by distinguishing between China and MENA, while at the same time cracking down on activists and other potential sources of instability—including attempts to organize popular revolutionary protests in China. Although the government has so far managed to avoid a similar uprising, neither response has been entirely successful. Despite a number of significant diff erences between China and MENA countries, there are enough commonalities to justify concerns about political instability. Moreover, relying on repression alone is not a long-term solution to the justified demands of Chinese citizens for political reforms and social justice. Whether China will ultimately be able to avoid the fate of authoritarian regimes in MENA countries will turn on its ability to overcome a series of structural challenges while preventing sudden and unpredictable events, like those that gave rise to the Arab revolutions, from spinning out of control.

Geopolitics of Conflicts and Refugees in the Middle East and North Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
AKM Ahsan Ullah
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Complex Relationship ◽  
Refugee Policy ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Border Conflicts ◽  
The Arab Spring

Geopolitically intertwined and strategically significant refugee policy in the MENA region is frequently analyzed in light of well-documented ethnic, religious, class, and border conflicts. However, the policy is also inexorably linked to the broader geopolitics of the global refugee protection regime and discourse. This article analyzes the complex relationship between geopolitics, domestic political dynamics, and their attendant crises in the MENA region. The complex set of political shockwaves of the Arab Spring induced massive mobility of people which may compound incipient political tensions between and within MENA states.

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.

Rethinking the Middle East and North Africa in the Cold War

2011 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-319
Author(s):  
Paul Thomas Chamberlin
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Third World ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Transnational Connections ◽  
The Third World ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Cold War History

The new Cold War history has begun to reshape the ways that international historians approach the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) during the post-1945 era. Rather than treating the region as exceptional, a number of scholars have sought to focus on the historical continuities and transnational connections between the Middle East and other areas of the Third World. This approach is based on the notion that the MENA region was enmeshed in the transnational webs of communication and exchange that characterized the post-1945 global system. Indeed, the region sat not only at the crossroads between Africa and the Eurasian landmass but also at the convergence of key global historical movements of the second half of the 20th century. Without denying cultural, social, and political elements that are indeed unique to the region, this scholarship has drawn attention to the continuities, connections, and parallels between the Middle Eastern experience and the wider world.

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