Randomness and Political Complexity in the Contemporary Arab Novel

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 259-283
Author(s):  
Jihan Zakarriya
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Narrative Strategies ◽  
Detective Novel ◽  
Political Complexity ◽  
Random Events ◽  
Political Security ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
Political Turmoil ◽  
The Military

This essay examines the concept of randomness in three novels by contemporary Arab novelists, employing chaos theory and complexity theory. The three novels are Lebanese Rabie Gaber's dystopian novel Beirutus: Underground City ( Beirutus: Madīna Taḥt al-Arḍ, 2005), Egyptian Ezzedine Choukri Fishere's realistic novel Exit ( Bāb al-Khurūj, 2012), and Algerian Yasmina Khadra's detective novel What are Monkeys Waiting for? ( Qu'attendent les singes, 2014). Although they belong to different genres, all three are speculative novels and present different forms of political-security complexity and chaos in the contemporary Arab world. They represent unpredictable, random events that both resonate with and anticipate forthcoming events and political changes in the Arab world. Exit, for instance, represents the unexpected downfall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the return of the military rule after the 2011 revolution, and Beirutus the unexpected rubbish and environmental crisis in 2016 in Lebanon, while What are Monkeys Waiting for? anticipates the contemporary political turmoil in Algeria. Randomness and unpredictability in the three novels are used as a means of political projection and prediction, and as narrative strategies of literary activism against repressive realities and authoritarianism. By representing the unpredictable, Gaber, Fishere and Khadra implicitly incite resistance by warning of appalling forthcoming realities.

Israeli Intelligence: Organization, Failures, and Successes

2010 ◽  
pp. 805-822
Author(s):  
Ephraim Kahana
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
Intelligence Community ◽  
Technical Data ◽  
Intelligence Gathering ◽  
Intelligence System ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Occupied Territories ◽  
Foreign Ministry ◽  
The Military

The State of Israel was established only in 1948, but in its fifty-seven years of existence, its intelligence community has been one of the most professional and effective in the world. The Israel Mossad has become the leading agency in Israel's success in the conflict with the Arab states. Its mission not only includes that of ascertaining the plans and strengths of the Arab military forces opposing Israel but also the work of combating Arab terrorism in Israel and abroad against Israeli and Jewish targets, collecting sensitive technical data, and conducting political-liaison and propaganda operations. The Israel intelligence community is composed of four separate components: the Mossad is responsible for intelligence gathering and operations in foreign countries; the Israeli Security Agency controls internal security and intelligence within the occupied territories; the Military Intelligence is responsible for collecting military, geographic, and economic intelligence, particularly in the Arab world and along Israel's borders; and the Center for Political Research in the Foreign Ministry prepares analysis for government policymakers based on raw intelligence and analytical papers. This article discusses the organization, failures, and successes of the Israeli intelligence. Particular attention is given to the huge mistakes and failures of the Israeli intelligence. Discussions included herein are: the evolution of the Israeli intelligence and the future challenges of the intelligence system.

R2P's Missing Link, Culture

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rama Mani ◽  
Thomas G. Weiss
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Global South ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Religion And Spirituality ◽  
Dominant Culture ◽  
Cultural Perspectives ◽  
The North ◽  
The Military ◽  
Universal Norm

AbstractCulture has been absent from analyses and debates about the responsibility to protect (R2P) norm. The use of the military to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya and to protect civilians took place with support from the local population and more widely across the Arab World even when the dominant 'culture' supposedly made outside interference unthinkable. As R2P enters its second decade, a deeper understanding of culture is desirable, as is the incorporation of cultural perspectives in framing responses to mass atrocities. UN debates and resolutions have helped dispel myths about R2P and reaffirmed its validity as a universal norm that is close to a 'tipping point'. Instead of an 'emerging' norm (the original contention in 2001 by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty), R2P has 'emerged' as consensus continues to widen and deepen across the North and the global South. This essay shares insights from research about cultural perspectives in the global South from local researchers who explore three themes (religion and spirituality, philosophy and ethics, and art and aesthetics) and three country cases (Rwanda, Kosovo, and Nepal).

Protests, a Destabilizing Factor of Economic Growth in Arab Republic of Egypt

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karim Naama ◽  
◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Economic Situation ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
Economic Growth Rate ◽  
Published Report ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
Cash Reserves ◽  
The Military

With the start of the revolution of January 2011 until 2013, many indicators and economic research confirms the entry of the Egyptian economy to a stage of deterioration. With the military council headed by Marshal Tantawi taking over the country, the growth of the economy fell remarkably to less than 2% Unemployment reached over 10%, and the fiscal deficit increased to 8.6% of GDP, which was accompanied by inflation of 11%. That one of the biggest economic mistakes committed by the government system is to keep the exchange rate of the pound fixed, which led to the depletion of about $ 20 billion of cash reserves between December 2010 to May 2012, which has negatively affected the rating of Egyptian Institutions International Finance. After that, Egypt’s economic situation during the rule of Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, which can be described as lacking in experience in the management of the state. The political challenges and obstacles, as well as the absence of any economic plan, contributed to the increasing complexity of the economic situation of Egypt, Resulting in a rise in the unemployment rate to 12.5%. The Brotherhood’s government failed to provide resources to cope with the crisis, relying only on the collection of aid and subsidies from some regimes in the Middle East, resulting in worsening conditions until the army intervened and President Mohamed Morsi was removed on 3 July 2013. With the arrival of interim President Adli Mansour to power in August 2013, we note that the Egyptian economy witnessed a slight improvement, which was reflected according to the published report that Egypt received about 12 billion dollars in foreign aid from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, However, the economic growth rate remained below 2% as unemployment and inflation continued to spread.

Repression of Islamists and Authoritarian Survival in the Arab World: A Case Study of Egypt

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Lachapelle
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
State Repression ◽  
New Approach ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
Authoritarian Survival

This chapter explores the causes of state repression against Islamist organizations in the Arab world. Advancing a rich literature on state repression, authoritarianism, and Islamist politics, it proposes a new approach that centers on the role of non-Islamist audiences for explaining the repression of Islamists. Specifically, the chapter argues that when society is divided between non-Islamists and Islamists, an autocrat can repress Islamists to signal a commitment to non-Islamists to protect them from perceived threats by Islamists. It provides supporting evidence from Egypt, which shows how large-scale repression directed at the Muslim Brotherhood after the coup of 2013 served to cultivate the support of non-Islamists.

Post-Islamism in Distress? A Critical Evaluation of the Theory in Islamist-Dominated Egypt (11 February 2011-3 July 2013)

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-118
Author(s):  
Robbert A.F.L. Woltering
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
Middle Eastern Studies ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
Tunisian Revolution

The developments in the Arab world since the outbreak of the Tunisian revolution not only open up new horizons for Arab citizens, they also allow for scholars of Middle Eastern studies to test certain theories in ways heretofore impossible. One such theory is that of post-Islamism. This paper discusses a number of recent publications by former members of the Muslim Brotherhood, in light of recent developments in and analysis of Egypt’s Islamist politics, with the aim of determining whether it is possible (and useful) to speak of a ‘post-Islamist condition’ in the post-Mubarak period wherein the Muslim Brotherhood rose to power. 


Monarchs and Mamluks, or How Do You Say “Thank You” for $20 Billion

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-24
Author(s):  
Richard W. Bulliet
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Cooperation ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
The Arab Spring

The causes and processes of the Arab Spring movements are less important for current political developments than the responses to those movements by states that were not directly involved. After discussing the Turkish, Israeli, Iranian, and American responses, the focus turns to the recently announced military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Did the Saudi government conspire with the Egyptian high command to plot the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Cairo? If so, as seems likely, was the United States aware of the conspiracy? More importantly, what does the linkage between the Egyptian army and Saudi and Gulf financial support for President al-Sisi's regime suggest for the future of stability and legitimate rule in the Arab world?

Thailand's Relapse: The Implications of the May 2014 Coup

2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Sopranzetti
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Vote Buying ◽  
Martial Law ◽  
System A ◽  
The People ◽  
Head Of State ◽  
Constitutional Reforms ◽  
Political Turmoil ◽  
The Military

On May 20, 2014, the Royal Army imposed martial law on Thailand, with the declared purpose of restoring peace to the people. Allegedly, the military intervened to put an end to seven months of political turmoil that had begun when the PDRC—the English acronym for the Thai People's Committee for Absolute Democracy with the King as Head of State—occupied key street intersections and government offices in Bangkok. The conservative mobilization had demanded the deposition of elected Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the complete dismissal of “the Thaksin system”—a network that had dominated electoral politics in the previous thirteen years, in the PDRC's view through corruption and vote-buying. To fight this injustice, the PDRC had called for deep constitutional reforms before the next elections could be held.

NATO Enlargement post-1989: Successful Adaptation or Decline?

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREW A. MICHTA
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Security Threats ◽  
Balkan Wars ◽  
Nato Enlargement ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Political Security ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Democratic Transformation ◽  
The Military ◽  
Out Of Area

AbstractNATO enlargement after the cold war contributed to the democratic transformation of post-communist states. It failed, however, to generate a larger consensus on the shared mission and to provide the requisite military capabilities. Today, notwithstanding the rhetoric of unity after the 2008 Bucharest summit, NATO struggles to reconcile the out-of-area experience of the Balkan wars with its post-9/11 tasks and the renewed territorial defense concerns raised by the 2008 Russo-Georgian war. Paradoxically, the more NATO has expanded to foster the military–political security of the new democratic states of eastern and south-eastern Europe, the less it seems capable of dealing with real security threats such as Afghanistan. Facing the possible strategic failure of its ISAF mission, NATO needs to re-evaluate the policy track chosen post-1989.

Nazis in the Middle East: Assessing Links Between Nazism and Islam

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
MIA LEE
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
National Socialism ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Racial Ideology ◽  
Nazi Regime ◽  
National Socialist ◽  
Arab Nationalism ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood

Since the early-2000s there has been an increasing amount of research on connections between the Nazi regime and the Arab world largely spurred by scholars of Germany. One of the key contributions of this scholarship has been the argument that historic links between National Socialism and Islam, in particular the connection between National Socialist racial ideology and contemporary anti-Semitism in the Middle East, persisted into the post-war period and crucially shaped Middle Eastern politics and policies. This approach is represented in this review in the studies by Matthias Küntzel, Jeffrey Herf, Klaus-Michael Mallmann and Martin Cüppers and Barry Rubin and Wolfgang Schwanitz, who all – in various ways – suggest that there is a direct line of continuity between National Socialism, the Muslim Brotherhood and the rise of al-Qaeda. By calling attention to the role of National Socialism, these studies challenge what has hitherto been the dominant historiography of the modern Middle East, which contextualises the rise of anti-Semitism in the region within a broader analysis of Arab nationalism, anti-imperialism and anti-Zionism. The debate on the importance of National Socialism in the Arab world continues to develop. Recent books by historians David Motadel and Stefan Ihrig return the focus from the Middle East to Nazi policy in the region allowing them to place the Nazi regime within a longer history of Western misapprehensions of the ‘Muslim’ world. Placing these two approaches side by side allows us to evaluate the historical evidence of collaboration between Nazism and radical Islam and thereby assess the extent to which Nazi racial ideology penetrated the Arab world.

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