The Role of Energy and Environmental Quality in Exploring the Economic Sustainability: A New Appraisal in the Context of North African Countries

The aim of this study is to investigate the long-term relationship between real gross domestic product (GDP), energy consumption (EC), and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions using: (i) fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) estimates, to deal with the bias of endogeneity regressors and the countries’ heterogeneity, and (ii) a pooled mean group (PMG) estimator, to involve both pooling and averaging for a dynamic specification based on the auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. Regarding five North African countries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt) over the period of 1971–2014, our empirical findings seem relevant in the light of economic developments, and indicate that increased energy consumption gives rise to both GDP growth and increased CO2 emissions, as a result of more pollution. This leads us to conclude that North African countries should improve the productivity of their energy by increasing: (i) the implementation of energy-saving projects, energy conservation, energy efficiency, and energy infrastructure, while outsourcing to achieve GDP growth as well as increasing their investment in full-energy-potential projects, and (ii) the use of more renewable energy in order to mitigate emissions.

Ashura

Ashura is the name of the tenth of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Ashura day is allegedly associated with a number of biblical events in the ancient history of the Middle East and constituted the day of fasting during the early years of Islam. It is also the day of celebration and festivities in some North African countries. However, Ashura is particularly observed by Shi’i Muslims as the day when Husayn ibn Ali and his few companions were brutally massacred at the battle of Karbala in the 7th century over the disputed legitimacy of the Umayyad dynasty. The years after the death of the prophet Muhammad were a time of political struggles and disputes over who would be the legitimate leader of Muslims. However, the atrocity of killing Husayn, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, left a perpetual mark on the history of Islam and contribute to dividing the Muslim community into Shi’i and Sunni factions, which was fully institutionalized later. The tragedy of Ashura is not considered as the root of the division, but it has played a major role in establishing the division that was theologically institutionalized later. The Shi’i popular phrase: “Every day is Ashura, and everywhere is Karbala” implies that from the Shi’i point of view the battle of Karbala is an eternal struggle for justice, not a mere historical battle over a political dispute. Thus, Ashura and its annual commemoration have become the keystone of Shi’i creed and rituals. Throughout history, Shi’i Muslims have developed diverse rituals to observe Ashura, aimed at narrating the tragedy, expressing sorrow over Husayn’s suffering, or reenacting of the battle of Karbala. The rituals of paying tribute to the martyrdom of Husayn originated in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Iran, and they were then diffused to and propagated throughout the Indian subcontinent. While observing Ashura is associated with Shi’i communities in the Middle East, the commemoration is not solely affiliated with Shi’i Muslims in India; rather, it is practiced as an intercommunity ritual. Although the Middle East is the birthplace of Shi’i rituals, Indian communities have made a major contribution to the geographic dispersal of the rituals across the British Empire as far as the Caribbean islands. Tribute to the Ashura tragedy annually begins from the first of Muharram until forty days after Ashura, known as the day Arb’aein (the fortieth). Although the commemoration takes place over fifty days, it is particularly intensified from the seventh to the tenth of Muharram.

Checklist and key for identification of larvae of Hydropsyche species (Hydropsychidae, Trichoptera) of the Maghreb

Twelve species of the genus Hydropsyche (Trichoptera) are reported from the Maghreb; six in Tunisia, eight in Morocco, and eleven in Algeria. These three North African countries are inhabited by common species, except that H. siltalai has been reported only from Algeria and H. pandiel only from Morocco. A list of Hydropsyche species known from the Maghreb is presented and a key for identification of described larvae of Maghreb Hydropsyche species is provided.

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

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.

Foreign Financial Flows, Human Capital and Economic Growth in North African Countries

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between foreign financial flows (i.e., FDI inflows and remittances), human capital, and its effects on economic growth in 4 North African countries. Annual panel data from 2000 to 2018 are examined using the system GMM. First, we found strong evidence of a positive link between FDI and economic growth. Moreover, the results indicate that the complementarity between FDI and human capital positively influences economic growth. Second, the remittances are found to be positive factors for economic growth. In fact, higher human capital accumulation of receiving countries increases these positive impacts. Overall, the results indicate that foreign financial flows are positively correlated with human capital in influencing economic growth in the North African countries. Therefore, it becomes pertinent for policymakers to pursue a human capital policy to improve their absorptive capacities to exploit full benefits of foreign financial flows.

KÜLTÜR İNCELEMELERİ ODAĞINDA CEZAYİR MASALLARI

Tales are “generally created by the people, based on imagination, living in oral tradition, mostly people, animals and witches, gnomes, giants, fairy, etc. It is the starting point of this study with its characteristic of being a literary genre (TDK Dictionary) describing the extraordinary events that happened to beings and its cultural dimension reflecting the language, thought and world view of the land it was born. In this study, in North African countries, Algeria, which has been colonized for years, we will examine fairy tales and children's literature, and answer questions such as their ability to reflect their own self, national consciousness in their works and the effect of their situation on children's literature. The culture, values and perspectives of this geography were approached from a different perspective through the selected sample tales, and the translations of cultural elements belonging to this culture were analyzed within the framework of Translation Studies Goal-Oriented Approach. As a result of the translation criticism, it was learned that the translators had a target language-oriented translation understanding. In addition, it has been concluded that the social and political problems faced by North African countries have an important influence on children's literature.

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

The 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.