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By webmaster, on April 19th, 2013
Power Revolving Doors
The Shaping of American Perception of Middle East Studies
(Middle East Studies In The USA After 9/11: Academia, Think Tanks and Media in the Struggle)
Published April 2013
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Continue reading Hichem Karoui NEW BOOK: Power Revolving Doors
By webmaster, on April 19th, 2013
| Author/s: |
Tausch, Arno; Heshmati, Almas; Jourdon, Philippe; Karoui, Hichem |
| Title: |
«En sommes-nous encore à la période de la capitulation tranquille?»
(¿Estamos todavía en el periodo de capitulación tranquila?) |
| Abstract: |
Although French sociology debated at length the issue of globalization, it is surprising to find that up to this day, for all purposes, it neglected the most consistent international attempt to quantitatively measure and study the effects of transnational capital penetration on the economic and social development of the host countries, put forward by the Swiss sociologist Volker Bornschier, from the 1980s onwards. Our article analyses IMF estimates of current economic growth in 180 countries (IMF, 2009), and nine other key indicators of current social global development and shows the relevance of this MNC/FMN penetration approach by Bornschier, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 2002, Bornschier/Ballmer-Cao, 1979, Bornschier/Chase-Dunn, 1985, and Bornschier/Chase-Dunn/Rubinson, 1978. Our paper shows the significant effects of MNC/FMN penetration or the increases of MNC/FMN penetration for the gross enrollment rate in higher education, unemployment, economic growth in 2010 (IMF), inequality and social security spending as a percentage of GDP, the rule of law, infant mortality, and survival rates of women at age 65. As correctly predicted Bornschier, MNC/FMN penetration reflects the power that transnational oligopolies wield over local economies, having a negative impact on the social performance of countries hosting the penetration of transnational capital, while positively affecting economic growth in the previous 1990-2005 economic cycle. Today, social polarization and stagnation increase as a consequence of the development model, based on high MNC/FMN penetration. |
| Keywords: |
International Relations and International Political Economy, General Economic Development, Technological Change and Growth, General Economic Development |
| JEL code: |
F50, O10 Continue reading En sommes-nous encore à la période de la capitulation tranquille? |
By webmaster, on May 18th, 2013
Hichem Karoui
The Gulf Today: May 12, 2013
The notion of moving from cooperation to Union in the Arab Gulf occupies more an important place, both in the deliberations of officials during their periodic meetings, and in the discussions of intellectuals. The idea was first introduced by King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, who started the thirty-second session of the Gulf Cooperation Supreme Council, held in Riyadh on 19 December 2011, by a speech in which he invited the six states of the GCC to “move from the stage of cooperation to the stage of Union into a single entity.” In the statement issued by that session, the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council welcomed the proposal of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, while issuing recommendations on regulatory procedures and a timetable. These recommendations were “in line with the provisions of Article IV of the Statute of the Council to cooperate on achieving coordination, integration and interdependence among Member States in all fields and up to the unity.” Arrangements were provided for the formation of a specialised Commission to be selected by the Member States. The meetings of the Commission would take place at the headquarters of the Secretariat General. Continue reading From Cooperation to Union
By webmaster, on May 12th, 2013
Aysha Taryam
The Gulf Today: May 12, 2013
We knew her as a mother of men, a mother to all but back when she was younger she was a girl who would not conform to what she believed was unfair, to what she saw as unjust. She was a girl who possessed the courage to put an end to what was in her eyes, even then, demeaning. It was a time when this country was nothing more than a gathering of tribes. She grew up in it not as we know it today, she lived in a UAE that was tight-knit, sheltered and unexposed.
It was a time when child marriages were the norm, a place where a sign of a man’s wealth was revealed by the number of wives he had, and women’s rights were those that were given to them by men. Even then, she stood tall, resisted an early marriage and refused to be treated like a possession. It was her choice to raise her two boys as a single mother, two boys who grew up to be men who played a pivotal role in shaping the country we know today. Continue reading Feminist before her time
By webmaster, on May 5th, 2013
Hichem Karoui
The Gulf Today: May 05, 2013
The April 29 Arab League land swap proposal in the context of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, which stirred a concatenation of reactions and criticising comment, was not a Qatari initiative; and we can hardly hold Doha as uniquely responsible for its initiation.
The day before the meeting with US officials, the Arab Peace Initiative Follow Up Committee organised a co-ordination reunion at the Egyptian embassy in Washington, DC, headed by Prime Minister /Foreign Affairs Minister, and Chairman of the Committee, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim, along with the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Dr Nabil Al Araby. The reunion aimed at co-ordinating the Arab positions regarding the Arab Peace Initiative, in connection with the efforts made by US Secretary of State John Kerry for the resumption of direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine. Those who attended the meeting were Continue reading Israel rejects the Arab offer
By webmaster, on May 2nd, 2013
Hichem Karoui
The Gulf Today: April 29, 2013
President Obama said on April 26 that he would respond “prudently” and “deliberately” to evidence that Bashar has used chemical weapons. Everybody understands the caution in this case. The former US President has waged a destructive war in Iraq over fake evidence that Saddam owned WMD. The war turned out to be one of the most costly in human and material resources. Iraq has not yet recovered and, after ten years of the US invasion, the country is still on the verge of a civil war. President Obama, a Nobel Prize winner for peace, if you remember, did not intend to let the events drag him into another war in the Middle East. Before his recent visit to Israel, the relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu was extremely suffering, because of repeated clashes over a real disagreement about how to tackle the Iranian nuclear file and the Palestinian issue, although Israel and the USA are still unconditional allies.
In this context, it is interesting to see how the Israelis have reacted to the new stance of the American President. Continue reading Game changer
By webmaster, on May 2nd, 2013
Aysha Taryam
The Gulf Today: April 28, 2013
There was a time when people looked up at the sky in bewilderment, felt humbled by its vastness and intrigued by its unattainable wonders. It was the one place that allowed a human being the courtesy of a boundless imagination. But that was then, and this is now.
This month, a Dutch company named Mars One has made the dreamers of us an offer they cannot refuse. It is to send people on a one-way trip to Mars to start a human colony on the red planet. With no way for return, setting foot on this elusive planet means they are eternally on their own. Left to their own devices and vulnerable to whatever dangers lie ahead, they are to fend for themselves. So who would be brave enough or mad enough to take this trip of no return you may ask?
According to Mars One there have been 10,000 applicants so far. Continue reading One-way ticket to Mars
By webmaster, on May 2nd, 2013
Arno Tausch, Corvinus University, Innsbruck University
Almas Heshmati, Korea University
Boğaziçi Journal Review of Social, Economic and Administrative Studies, Vol. 26, no. 2 (2012), pp. 27-89.
Abstract
We present a first empirical reflection on smart development,’ its measurement, possible drivers and bottlenecks.’ We first provide cross-national data on how much ecological footprint is used in the nations of the world system to deliver a given amount of democracy, economic growth, gender equality, human development, research and development, and social cohesion. To this end, we first developed UNDP-type performance indicators on these six main dimensions of development and on their combined performance. We then show the non-linear regression trade-offs between ecological footprints per capita on these six dimensions of development and their combined performance index. The residuals from these regressions are our new measures of smart development (a country experiences smart development, if it achieves a maximum development with a minimum of ecological footprint). We then look at the cross-national drivers and bottlenecks of this smart development and compare their predictive power using stepwise regression procedures. Apart from important variables and indicators, derived from sociological dependency and world systems theories, we also test the predictive power of several other predictors as well. Our estimates underline the enormous importance of the transfer of resources from the center to the periphery, brought about by migration, with huge statistical observed positive effects of received worker remittances on smart human development, Happy Life Years, smart gender justice, smart R&D, and both formulations of the smart development index. Continue reading Migration, Openness and the Global Preconditions of Smart Development
By webmaster, on April 21st, 2013
Hichem Karoui
The Gulf Today: April 21, 2013
Blasts in Boston: around 2:50 p.m., Apr 15, 2013.
The explosions took the lives of three spectators: 8-year-old Martin Richard, 23-year-old Lu Lingzi, and 29-year-old Krystle Campbell; 176 were injured. The explosions occurred several hours after a few of the marathon’s nearly 17,000 runners began crossing the finish line. The New York Times described the normally festive area of celebration and exhaustion as suddenly transformed into a war zone.
It is not the first time that the term war is used in depicting a terrorist operation. We recall how President Bush talked of war on America after 9/11, although war is an act related to states, while terrorism is related to individuals or marginal groups. Continue reading Radical rhetoric and hype
By webmaster, on April 17th, 2013
Hichem Karoui
The Gulf Today: April 14, 2013
An important meeting of the GCC is expected to discuss on Sunday, April 14, 2013, an issue that has utterly worried people in the Gulf: the earthquake and the Iranian nuclear plant of Bushehr.
Two years ago, in March 2011, a devastating earthquake and tsunami killed thousands of people in Japan and sent multiple nuclear reactors at Fukushima into meltdown, spewing radiation over a wide area. The disaster reminds us that nuclear reactors built in earthquake zones are never safe, even if the country is Japan, where people own technology, expertise, and experience in dealing with both nuclear energy and earthquakes.
How about Iran? A country that is still far away from matching Japan, in respect to the same issue? Continue reading Bushehr: Worse has not happened
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