scholarly journals Islam in the Balance

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-126
Author(s):  
Amr G.E. Sabet
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
National Security ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Dimensional Change ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Threat Perception ◽  
Threat Perceptions ◽  
Political Ideologies

This concise and important book deals with the dimensional change in internationalconflicts and security pertaining to the power of ideas: Do ideas and/or political ideologies threaten the security of regimes and states in ways thatdiffer from those conventionally attributed to the mere balance of militarypower? By studying the role of religious or transnational ideology in the MiddleEast in particular, the study aims to advance an understanding of “how,why, and when ideology affects threat perception and state policy” (p. vii) viatwo aspects, one related to ideational threat perception and the other toideational balancing. Together they provide an analytical framework for understandingstrategic interaction as an “ideational security dilemma” (p. vii)with a specific focus on how Egypt and Saudi Arabia have responded to threatperceptions emanating both from the rise and the activities of Iran and Sudan.These four dyads attempt to examine changes in threat perceptions before andafter Islamists came to power in the latter two countries (p. 4). The idea behind this dyadic approach is to show how threat perceptionsto national security are not altered due to increased hard power capabilities,but rather due to soft power projections. Rubin makes the interesting pointthat Egypt and Saudi Arabia felt more threatened by a militarily weak Sudanas well as a militarily degraded post-revolutionary Iran far more than theydid during the time of the militarily powerful Shah (pp. 2-3). Much of thishas to do with the point that it is not mere ideology or ideas that pose a threatto national security, but rather that they become so in their “projected” form(p. 4).The following six chapters elaborate on this simple and straightforward,yet highly significant and relevant, proposition. In the introductory chapter,Rubin develops his framework of analysis (the “ideational securitydilemma”) and makes it clear that one of the study’s main purposes is “totake ideology seriously.” This is done within the realist framework that acceptsthe centrality of the state, as well as that of neo-classical realism (p.124) which focuses on the foreign policy emanating from domestic culturaland perceptual variables (p. 18). The study refocuses attention on ideationalprojections that resonate with a foreign domestic audience and that may consequentlybring about a transnational response, thereby exacerbating internalsocietal unrest ...

Living in the past: The impact of victimization memory on threat perceptions

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ainius Lašas ◽  
Rocio Garcia-Retamero ◽  
Vaida Jankauskaitė ◽  
Vitalija Simonaitytė
Keyword(s):  
Framing Effects ◽  
Intergroup Conflict ◽  
Threat Perception ◽  
Threat Perceptions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Power Asymmetries ◽  
The Impact

Threat perception is a key issue defining intergroup conflict dynamics. To date, it has been linked with power asymmetries and value similarities between groups. This article examines the role of victimization memory in threat construction. The results of an experiment converge to suggest that personal and institutional victimization memories are robust predictors of the levels of threat perception. They act as primary references in the assessment of threat and suppress framing effects. The findings have significant implications for the theory of threat perception.

scholarly journals Exploring the Role of Teacher Talk in Saudi EFL Classroom: Importance of F-Move in developing Students’ Spoken Skill

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Mohammed Judaya M Alanazi ◽  
Jacquie Widin
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Teacher Talk ◽  
Efl Classrooms ◽  
Response Feedback

English language teaching in Saudi Arabia faces several challenges from both teacher and students’ perspective. Teacher Talk (TT) is one of the areas of teaching and learning which is often neglected in classroom research even with its high importance in student learning. Identifying the literature gap on TT in specific sociocultural contexts, this study aims to investigate different types of f-moves in Teacher Talk and their impact on developing students’ dialogic skills in English as Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms in Saudi Arabia. The IRF sequence (initiation, response, feedback or F-move) is considered a common sequence of TT in Saudi EFL classrooms. This study uses Cullen’s (2002) analytical framework which focuses on the third sequence of the IRF and Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory to explore the emerging themes of TT in Saudi Arabian secondary classrooms. The methodology of the study is a qualitative case study, and the participants of the study are 18 secondary school teachers all share Arabic as their first language. The data was collected through classroom observation, audio-recording of forty-five-minute classroom lessons, and semi-structured teacher interviews. The analysis focused on the discoursal and evaluative role of F-Move. The data analysis shows three F-Move types 1) F-Move Repetition Discoursal 2) F-Move Evaluative 3) F-Move Elaborative Discoursal. The findings point out that these F-Moves may increase student-teacher interaction, identification, and correction of errors, and maintain and guide dialogic conversation/interaction between teacher and students if it is correctly oriented. The data analysis shows examples in which TT promotes students’ involvement and increases their dialogic skills while, on the other hand, when TT reduces students’ potential to participate and consequently reduces the students’ spoken output.

Environmental and Resource-Related Conflicts, Migration and Governance

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Tim Krieger ◽  
Diana Panke ◽  
Michael Pregernig
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Global Migration ◽  
Resource Conflicts ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Interdisciplinary Perspective ◽  
Art Research

This introductory chapter provides the outline of the book and the analytical framework to explore the interlinkages and dynamics between environmental and resource-related conflicts, migration, and the role of governance in this context. It introduces how and under what conditions environmental and resource-related problems lead to conflicts and how this can induce migration. It also reflects on the role of governance in this respect. Based on state-of-the-art research, the chapter highlights the importance of understanding the interdependencies between migration, environmental and resource conflicts, as well as the development and roles of national, regional and global migration governance regimes. While extensive academic literature exists on each strand of research, little are the academic exercises that bring them together, particularly from an interdisciplinary perspective.

scholarly journals The EU Delegation in Saudi Arabia and the GCC: Communication, Visibility and Culture

Politeja ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4(73)) ◽  
pp. 221-245
Author(s):  
Daniel Gołębiowski
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
External Relations ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Theoretical Dimension ◽  
The Eu

The paper examines communication and visibility (C&V) aspect in the operations of the EU Delegation in Saudi Arabia and the GFA Consulting Group. The author assumes that properly designed communication using adequate contents may significantly affect the EU external relations. To verify this statement, the twofold approach was used. First, through the lens of Soft Power and EU actorness, it looks into the theoretical dimension of the international relations and its possible links with communication process. Second, drawing on existing internal EU documents (Communication and Visibility in EU-financed External Actions – Requirements for Implementing Partners 2018 by the EU Delegation in Saudi Arabia, and Information and Communication Handbook for EU Delegations in the Third Countries and International Organizations, published in 20122) the paper offers analytical framework to explore the qualitative and quantitative nature of the online communication undertaken in social media platform both by the EU Delegation in Saudi Arabia and the GFA.

The Italian role in the Libyan spring revolution: is it a shift from soft to hard power?

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 556-570
Author(s):  
Mustafa Abdalla A. Kashiem
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Alliance ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Hard Power ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Full Participation

While France, Britain, Qatar and the United States played crucial political and military roles in the alliance of countries backing Libya's ‘spring’ revolution from the beginning, Italy's early stance towards the Libyan revolution was somewhat hesitant and vague. Its initial reticence was due to national security considerations, Italy's calculation of its national interest and the complexity of contemporary international relations. However, as events unfolded, the Italian position became clearer and firmer, such that in time Italy played a leading role that helped the global efforts to rebuild the new contemporary democratic Libya post-Qadhafi. The focus of this study is on the Italian role during the course of the Libyan ‘spring’ revolution, known now as the revolution of 17 February 2011, after the agreed date of its inception. Notwithstanding Rome's initial hesitancy, Italy is considered among the leading actors that participated in the alliance galvanized to act under the terms of UN Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973. Here the contention is that Italy's full participation in the global alliance that carried out the UN mandates represented a process of transition in the Italian orientation from that of a soft power to that of a hard power as well. Thus, it is argued, when Italy's national security and interests are challenged in a global context, Italy is willing to use both soft and hard power. The findings of this study supported, by and large, the initial expectations concerning the important types of internal and external elements influencing the role of Italy in the Libyan crisis. Thus, Italy's position towards the Libyan revolution of 17 February 2011 may be attributed, among other factors, to its discernment of its national security and national interests in the context of competition in the Mediterranean region and the Middle East as well.

The superpower’s dilemma: to appease, repress, or transform transnational advocacy networks?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Noakes
Keyword(s):  
Soft Power ◽  
The State ◽  
Transnational Advocacy ◽  
Advocacy Networks ◽  
Causal Influence ◽  
Transnational Advocacy Networks ◽  
Authoritarian State ◽  
Advocacy Campaigns

This introductory chapter spells out a crucial problem in the study of transnational networks from the perspective of international relations scholarship—if TANs are fundamentally ideational constructs, defined and driven by commitment to a core principle or cause, what are we to make of periodic changes to their mission and message? What is the role of China’s strong authoritarian state in shaping the trajectories and results of transnational advocacy campaigns? The chapter posits that the soft power of the state (backed by coercive capability) imposes incentives on TANs that can effect the various processes and pathways taken by advocacy campaigns. The chapter suggests that advocates and activists need to take the state and its structures seriously when crafting advocacy, given the causal influence these have over campaign trajectories and campaign results.

Artificial intelligence and the management transformation

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-612
Author(s):  
L.F. Nikulin ◽  
V.V. Velikorossov ◽  
S.A. Filin ◽  
A.B. Lanchakov
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Process Integration ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Scientific School ◽  
Strategic Culture ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis ◽  
And Training

Subject. The article discusses how management transforms as artificial intelligence gets more important in governance, production and social life. Objectives. We identify and substantiate trends in management transformation as artificial intelligence evolves and gets more important in governance, production and social life. The article also provides our suggestions for management and training of managers dealing with artificial intelligence. Methods. The study employs methods of logic research, analysis and synthesis through the systems and creative approach, methodology of technological waves. Results. We analyzed the scope of management as is and found that threats and global challenges escalate due to the advent of artificial intelligence. We provide the rationale for recognizing the strategic culture as the self-organizing system of business process integration. We suggest and substantiate the concept of soft power with reference to strategic culture, which should be raised, inter alia, through the scientific school of conflict studies. We give our recommendations on how management and training of managers should be improved in dealing with artificial intelligence as it evolves. The novelty hereof is that we trace trends in management transformation as the role of artificial intelligence evolves and growth in governance, production and social life. Conclusions and Relevance. Generic solutions are not very effective for the Russian management practice during the transition to the sixth and seventh waves of innovation. Any programming product represents artificial intelligence, which simulates a personality very well, though unable to substitute a manager in motivating, governing and interacting with people.

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