China’s Policy in North African and Eastern Mediterranean Countries

2018 ◽  
pp. 95-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Deych
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
North African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The North ◽  
Mediterranean Countries ◽  
China’S Foreign Policy ◽  
Internal Affairs

The object of this paper is North Africa and Mediterranean. The subject of research is China’s policy towards North African countries during “Arab spring” and at the present historical stage. This article is devoted to the role of the North African and Mediterranean countries in contemporary China’s foreign policy and in new Chinese initiative “One Belt–One Road”(BRI). The methodological basis of research is comparative political approach. The fundamental China’s foreign policy principle is non – interference in internal affairs of other countries. The study shows, that “Arab awakening” has become a test for Beijings’ traditional commitment to this principle, composing it by measures for protection of Chinese citizens, business and financial investments abroad. At the same time, Beijing drew conclusions from the Libyan events. Together with Russia it has prevented the escalating of Syrian conflict under the Libyan scenario. In Beijing foreign policy strategy the new initiative BRI takes the leading place. The aim of this research is to show that the North African and Mediterranean countries, located at the crossroads of the land and sea Silk roads, play an important role in new Chinese project. Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia are in focus of China’s interests. The implementation of Chinese initiative envisages infrastructure projects, which should cover all expanse of the Belt. These projects include the construction of railways and highways, aviation, energy, industrial parks, construction of ports in Turkey, Greece, Israel and other coastal countries. The author makes the conclusion: although China adheres to doctrine of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries and avoids participation in armed confrontation, it aspires to play the role of influential player in North Africa and Mediterranean and to strengthen its economic, political and military influence in this important region.

scholarly journals Does the Arab spring wave affect outward foreign direct investment (FDI)? Empirical evidence from the Mideast and North Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-430
Author(s):  
Aymen Hraiba ◽  
Mehmed Ganić ◽  
Azra Branković
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Trade Openness ◽  
North African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The North ◽  
North African Countries ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
The Impact

The paper aims to empirically explore the impact of the Arabic Spring on the outflow of FDI in twelve selected countries in the North Africa region (Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Egypt and Mauritania) and the Mideast region (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates). The paper employs a panel data approach to exploit the time series nature of the relationship between FDI Outwards and its determinants (the market size, trade openness, government effectiveness, inflation and three dummy variables related to the Arab Spring) between 2000 and 2016. The findings revealed that the impact of the Arab Spring estimator is negatively correlated with FDI Outflows in the countries that witnessed the Arab Spring. It implies that conflicts and instability negatively affect FDI outflows. The findings of this study reveal that countries that have been affected by the Arab Spring directly (the North Africa region) experienced a greater decline of FDI outflows than countries that have been indirectly affected (the Mideast region). When the sample is restricted to North Africa it is shown that the FDI outflows may be influenced by the post Arab Spring effect, while there is no such statistically significant effect in the Mideast region. Thus, the study finds that FDI outflows in the North African countries are more determined by the effects of Arabic Spring countries than in the Mideastern countries.

Russia's return to Africa: a comparative study of Egypt, Algeria and Morocco

2021 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-390
Author(s):  
Tereza Němečková ◽  
Lea Melnikovová ◽  
Natalia Piskunova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Foreign Minister ◽  
Trade Volume ◽  
North African ◽  
African Region ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The North ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
North African Countries

AbstractThe article analyses Russia's recent return to Africa. It attempts to answer the question to what extent Russia has abandoned its traditional tools of cooperation such as nuclear energy and military cooperation and engaged in new ‘smart’ ones as indicated by former Foreign Minister Ivanov in 2011. The paper builds on three case studies of African countries having the largest trade volume with Russia in 2018, i.e. Egypt, Algeria and Morocco, and analyses their changing relationship with Russia over the last decade. The results show that Russia has not abandoned its traditional tools but has intensified the use of new ones. The North African region as such has regained significance in Russia's foreign policy. Bilateral relations with all three North African countries have increased at both political and economic levels recently.

Foreign Direct Investment in North Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 446-471
Author(s):  
Arhan S. Ertan ◽  
Ahmed M. Musabeh
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
North African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Technological Readiness ◽  
The North ◽  
North African Countries

North Africa is considered to be one of the wealthiest areas of the continent thanks to its natural resources and strategic geopolitical location. While the region is generating about one-third of Africa's total GDP, its economic indicators are not presenting a bright picture for North African countries. This chapter attempts to provide an in-depth overview of the investment environment and shed light on the main constraints on foreign direct investment (FDI) in each of the North African countries. The authors focus on contemporary trends in FDI and policies regarding human capital promotion and infrastructure development. The descriptive analysis indicates that the volume of FDI in the North Africa region is still weak compared to international flows to other developing regions. This outcome can be associated, in addition to unattractive FDI policies, with the absence of real economic and financial reforms, persistent political instability, lack of technological readiness, inadequate regulatory and institutional framework, high corruption and inefficient bureaucracy.

scholarly journals Identification and Characterization of the Most Common Genetic Variant Responsible for Acephalic Spermatozoa Syndrome in Men Originating from North Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 2187
Author(s):  
Caroline Cazin ◽  
Yasmine Boumerdassi ◽  
Guillaume Martinez ◽  
Selima Fourati Ben Mustapha ◽  
Marjorie Whitfield ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Posterior Part ◽  
North African ◽  
The North ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Variant Filtering ◽  
North African Population ◽  
Sperm Nuclei

Acephalic spermatozoa syndrome (ASS) is a rare but extremely severe type of teratozoospermia, defined by the presence of a majority of headless flagella and a minority of tail-less sperm heads in the ejaculate. Like the other severe monomorphic teratozoospermias, ASS has a strong genetic basis and is most often caused by bi-allelic variants in SUN5 (Sad1 and UNC84 domain-containing 5). Using whole exome sequencing (WES), we investigated a cohort of nine infertile subjects displaying ASS. These subjects were recruited in three centers located in France and Tunisia, but all originated from North Africa. Sperm from subjects carrying candidate genetic variants were subjected to immunofluorescence analysis and transmission electron microscopy. Moreover, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed on sperm nuclei to assess their chromosomal content. Variant filtering permitted us to identify the same SUN5 homozygous frameshift variant (c.211+1_211+2dup) in 7/9 individuals (78%). SUN5 encodes a protein localized on the posterior part of the nuclear envelope that is necessary for the attachment of the tail to the sperm head. Immunofluorescence assays performed on sperm cells from three mutated subjects revealed a total absence of SUN5, thus demonstrating the deleterious impact of the identified variant on protein expression. Transmission electron microscopy showed a conserved flagellar structure and a slightly decondensed chromatin. FISH did not highlight a higher rate of chromosome aneuploidy in spermatozoa from SUN5 patients compared to controls, indicating that intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) can be proposed for patients carrying the c.211+1_211+2dup variant. These results suggest that the identified SUN5 variant is the main cause of ASS in the North African population. Consequently, a simple and inexpensive genotyping of the 211+1_211+2dup variant could be beneficial for affected men of North African origin before resorting to more exhaustive genetic analyses.

scholarly journals The COVID-19 Outbreak in North Africa: A Legal Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 002190962098358
Author(s):  
Francesco Tamburini
Keyword(s):  
Population Health ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
North African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Legislative Measures

North African nations, especially Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco, have been heavily affected by COVID-19 if compared to other African countries. Governments in North Africa took proactive legal measures to manage the virus threat, safeguarding population health, but also triggering repressive and invasive mechanisms that in some cases jeopardized basic freedoms and rights. This work will analyze comparatively the anti-COVID-19 legislations, pointing out how the legislative measures mirrored the level of transition of democracy, the opacity of some regimes, exploitation of the pandemic to foster repressive control, and highlighting the weakness of new democratic institutions unprepared to balance health security and democracy.

scholarly journals Courage and Cowardice in the North African Campaign: The Eighth Army and Defeat in the Summer of 1942

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Fennell
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Dimension ◽  
North African ◽  
The North ◽  
High Level ◽  
Eighth Army

High rates of desertion and surrender during the battles in North Africa in the summer of 1942 were a major factor in Eighth Army’s poor combat performance. At the time, some suggested that these problems were symptomatic of a lack of courage or even of cowardice. There are two broad strands to the conceptualization of courage and cowardice. One focuses on the willingness of the person to fight; the other puts emphasis on how actions express an individual’s ability to cope with fear. Whichever conceptualization is used, high morale motivates the soldier to fight and shields the ordinary recruit from his fear, preventing it from overcoming him in battle. Where morale fails, the soldier is left demotivated and burdened with his terror and, therefore, and is therefore prone to desertion or surrender. Because it is extremely difficult to maintain morale at a continuously high level in an environment governed by chance and managed by humans, all soldiers can find themselves in situations where their actions may be judged as cowardly. Alternatively, if they are properly motivated to fight and prepared by the state and military to deal with the unavoidable fear of combat, all soldiers can be labelled courageous. Accordingly, emotive terms should be avoided when attempting to describe rationally explainable outcomes. The undoubtedly negative connotations attached to cowardice in battle and the positive ones attached to courage are, therefore, arguably unhelpful in understanding Eighth Army’s performance in the summer of 1942 and the human dimension in warfare more generally.

scholarly journals Magnetic Survey at the Roman Military Camp of el Benian in Mauretania Tingitana (Morocco): Results and Implications

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Francesco Martorella
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Geophysical Survey ◽  
Magnetic Survey ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Military Camp ◽  
Building Activity ◽  
Economic Studies

The topic of military settlements and the role of troops in the northern provinces of North Africa during the age of the Roman Empire has recently gained a strong interest in historical, archaeological, epigraphical, and economic studies. In particular, at Mauretania Tingitana (in the north-east area of modern-day Morocco), the presence of numerous military camps in the Early and Later Roman Empire has now been assessed. In this framework, the present work deals with the geophysical survey, by means of magnetometry, at the site of el Benian, where the largest military camp is located. In particular, the magnetic survey has highlighted the organization of the camp, almost totally unknown previously. The result of the magnetic survey has confirmed intense building activity over the centuries and made it possible to identify and characterize the structures typical of a military field.

scholarly journals The North African “Extremistan” of the Islamic State Caliphate

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-13
Author(s):  
Adrian Cosmin Basarabă ◽  
Maria-Mihaela Nistor
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Real Estate ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
North African ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Ongoing Process ◽  
The North ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
Cellular Matrices

Abstract This article aims at presenting ISIS expansion in North Africa in the first quarter of 2016, with its subsequent implication in the wider framework of Jihadist proliferation worldwide. It can be argued that, while losing real estate in the Middle East, ISIS has started a permanent search for extra-cellular matrices or an ongoing process of de- and reterritorialization. The allegiance and support pledged by other African-based terrorist groups or organizations such as Boko Haram, al-I’tisam of the Koran and Sunnah in Sudan, al-Huda Battalion in Maghreb of Islam, The Soldiers of the Caliphate, al-Ghurabaa, Djamaat Houmat ad-Da’wa as-Salafiya and al-Ansar Battalion in Algeria, Islamic Youth Shura Council, Islamic State Libya (Darnah), in Libya, Jamaat Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, Jund al-Khilafah and Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem in Egypt, Okba Ibn Nafaa Battalion, Mujahideen of Tunisia of Kairouan and Jund al-Khilafah in Tunisia and al-Shabaab Jubba Region Cell Bashir Abu Numan in Somalia is an alarming hypothesis of Jihadism reaching “the threshold of inevitability”- syntagm existent in the network theories of David Singh Grewal- turning a whole region, continent of even world into what Nassim Nicholas Taleb would call Extremistan.

scholarly journals Acordos entre Espanha e países do Norte da África como mecanismos de controle das migrações irregulares nos anos 2000 | Agreements between Spain and North African countries as a mechanism of irregular migration control in the 2000s

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. e59962
Author(s):  
Ana Beatriz Da Costa Mangueira ◽  
Filipe Reis Melo
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Security ◽  
Labor Costs ◽  
North African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Foreign Labor ◽  
The Moment ◽  
North African Countries ◽  
The Relationship

Este artigo analisa como a Espanha securitizou fluxos migratórios irregulares do Norte da África na primeira década dos anos 2000. Esse processo realizou-se com medidas de segurança nas fronteiras, especialmente nas regiões de Ceuta e Melila. Por outro lado, os governos espanhóis ao longo daquela década reavivaram acordos firmados com os africanos ainda nos anos 1990 para readmissão de migrantes e para admissão de indivíduos no mercado de trabalho espanhol. A relação entre Espanha e países africanos foi contraditória, pois enquanto se buscava conter as migrações indesejadas, pretendia-se usar a mão de obra estrangeira para reduzir os custos trabalhistas. Essas contradições são influenciadas pela presença da União Europeia que delibera e atua na temática de migrações na região, um assunto que tem sido um dos principais interesses da agenda de segurança europeia nos últimos anos. Palavras-Chave: Espanha. Fluxos migratórios. Norte da África. ABSTRACTThis paper analyses how Spain securitized irregular migratory flows from North Africa in the 2000s first decade. This process was carried out by security actions at the borders, specially at Ceuta and Melilla regions. On other hand, over the years of 2000s Spanish governments renewed agreements that were signed with Africans in the 1990s to foster readmission of migrants and promote the admission of individuals to the Spanish labor market. Furthermore, the relationship between Spain and African countries was inconsistent due to the fact that at the moment which the contention of unwanted migration was the focus, it was intended to use foreign labor to reduce labor costs. These contradictions are influenced by the presence of the European Union, which deliberates and acts on the issue of migration in the region, a subject that has been one of the main interests of the European security agenda in recent years. Keywords: Spain. Migration flows. North Africa. Recebido em: 24 mai. 2021 | Aceito em: 01 out. 2021.

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