Arab Mena Countries Vulnerabilities And Constraints Against Democracy On The Eve Of The Global Covid 19 Crisis

This book offers readers critical insights into a region in crisis and explores different facets of the crisis from governance to gender to the politics of identity, the challenge of the environment and the enduring impact of demographic variables and technological change. Whilst exploring the nature of the crises, the book also explores how policy-makers have responded to these and what other alternatives there are in overcoming challenges posed. Whilst the focus is on the Middle East North Africa region as a whole, the authors are well aware of the unique characteristics of individual countries. Hence the book examines regional trends whilst also being conscious of the national specificities of each country. In combining the general with the particular, the book approaches its subject matter from both a quantitative and a qualitative perspective allowing one to understand regional trends and country specific peculiarities.

This book examines novel and nonmainstream aspects of international terrorism in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. It explores issues that are not really explored in the mainstream literature such as the environmental message of terror groups, the issue of female jihadists and the social media strategy of terror groups. Whilst old issues remain and deserves a dissident perspective, like the Iran nuclear deal, newer issues like the impact of the Abrahamic Accord on the Middle East comes to the fore. At the same time, policy-makers need to be bold in responding to terror threat, including pooling sovereignty when confronting a truly global threat. Taken together this study reflects the most up to date volume on recent development in terrorism globally.

This open access book presents an international comparison of religiously motivated extremism in the Arab world and around the globe. Based on data from the Arab Barometer and the World Values Survey, it applies advanced statistical techniques to analyze how religiously motivated political extremism affects political and social outcomes as well as political violence. The study clearly shows that identification with a political Islam that also influences elections, promotes religious and gender discrimination, and advocates an Islamist interpretation of Islam, are the main interrelated syndromes of political Islam that together explain more than 50% of the total variance of the 24 model variables used. “A carefully and methodically flawlessly researched work, which is highly recommended for all those who deal seriously with this topic. Professor Arno Tausch is clear-headed and possesses a remarkable ability to make the broad picture of Political Islam accessible.“Hon. Prof. Gunther Hauser, Head of the Department Strategy and Security Policy, National Defense Academy, Vienna, Austria “Methodological rigorous, scientifically sound, empirically rich and combining the best of qualitative and quantitative approaches, Prof Arno Tausch has produced a tour de force on Political Islam. This study reflects the best scholarship on the subject and will be of use to both policy makers and academics.”Prof Hussein Solomon, Academic Head of the Department of Political Studies and Governance, University of the Free State, South Africa

This book studies values and attitudes in the Gulf region. In light of global power shifts, the threatening collapse of internal security in the West, and uncertainty about the current leadership vacuum in world society, this book explores a future leading role of the Gulf countries in such institutions as the G-20 and the OECD. Based on rigorous analysis of macro-level data and opinion surveys with relevance for the Gulf region, it analyzes the global macro-factors shaping the Gulf's future at a time of the global COVID-19 crisis and depression and rising global tensions. Starting with an empirical time series analysis of the long cycles of global politics and economics, it highlights the implications for the Gulf region. Offering a multivariate analysis of civil society values in the Gulf, the author analyzes value changes and attitudes on antisemitism, political Islam, internal security, democracy, and other issues of Arab politics. The partially optimistic conclusions of the study testify to the underestimated and incipient maturity of the Gulf’s civil society and strongly suggest that the Gulf's future is rather with the free societies of the West and not with a Neo-Ottoman Empire in whatever form. "Exceptional in scope and right up-to-the-minute in coverage" Brian M Pollins, Associate, Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University. "An outstanding and topical book by an astute scholar of the MENA region" Professor Hussein Solomon, Academic Head of Department, Political Studies and Governance, University of the Free State, South Africa. "The most comprehensive and insightful study on the subject to date" Manfred B. Steger, Professor of Sociology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa and Global Professorial Fellow, Western Sydney University.

This book, written in honor of Arno Tausch, presents cutting-edge research on globalization, development, and global values. Internationally renowned authors cover topics such as global economic and political cycles, global values, and support for terrorism. Over the last five decades, the Austrian political scientist Arno Tausch was a pioneer in studies on globalization, development and global values. This collection of essays takes up the issues dealt with by Tausch and presents perspectives for the 21st Century. Throughout his work, Tausch applied quantitative methods to study the fundamental issues of the global political economy and the global political system, like dependency, economic and political cycles, and global values, based on a rigorous study of available social scientific data, like the World Values Survey and the Arab Barometer.

This book aims at bringing together global researchers to generate thought on how this transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 could make a difference to the globe for larger good. The collaboration and interaction between man and machine has given rise to Industry 5.0. With the prime objective of Industry 5.0 to create a benefit for the human beings while tapping on to the advantage of Industry 4.0, in no case, does it replace what has already been achieved. In fact, it brings to light what can be done in order to make life better. While Industry 4.0 offered extraordinary technological advancement, Industry 5.0 reasons out that technology alone is not sufficient to answer everything or provide a solution, but it is an amalgamation of both machine and human interaction to create that difference. In fact, with the impact of widespread digitalization that has led to dehumanization of the industrial makeup, the interest of global researchers has increased toward mapping how the human creativity and brainpower can be reconciled with the intelligent systems that can enhance process efficiency. Industry 5.0 has touched upon some of those key domains which are of much concern and debate globally including resilience (both business and cyber), environment and sustainability, diversity and inclusion, values and ethics, vision and purpose, circular economy, understanding the human–machine collaboration and the ‘human-touch’ in the production process. This transition that has taken place in moving from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 has essentially created a need to pay cognizance to the role of ‘human’ in the process which creates an enhanced focus toward the right kind of skills and competencies, identification of training and developmental needs, talent acquisition and management, safety and wellbeing, future of work as well as hybrid working models. Undeniably, the pace with which Industry 4.0 has been accelerating has bypassed the first three industrial revolutions, which is definitely a consequence of the fast introduction of new and cutting-edge technologies. While organizations are already in analyzing the context, mapping this transition and the flow of activities from Industry 4.0 to 5.0 is gaining attention as Industry 4.0 lacked personalization and customization. This co-existence of man and machine creates a pathway for newer prospects and opportunities to emerge and expand possibilities of personalization with the empowerment of ‘human’ in the production process. This lays the foundation for this book. This book adopts a forward-looking approach by bringing in research and contributions that facilitate in mapping the consereasons, consequences and solutions for ‘man+machine’ across industries. This book serves as a guide not just to academia but also to the industry to adopt suitable strategies that offer insights into global best practices as well as the innovations in the domain.

Much has been written on security in Africa—its democratic deficit, poor civil-military relations, and myriad conflicts—but these are often treated in isolation from one another. This book takes a different approach, as it links all of these issues to the dynamics of the Anthropocene. Penned by African scholars on the continent and in the diaspora, it examines the different challenges not as separate entities but as outcomes of the Anthropocene Age. In this geological epoch, humans have become a global force—unfortunately, not necessarily for good. The interaction between humans and the climate, the effects of waste, the impact of pollution on marine and terrestrial ecosystems, the loss of biodiversity, and the change in the chemical composition of the soil, oceans and atmosphere are key identifiers of the age of the Anthropocene. This has fueled conflict and instability from the vast swathes of the Sahel to Somalia. Responding to these issues of insecurity without understanding their inter-connectedness and how this relates to the environment can only result in failure. From this perspective, the current structures in place are inadequate for the task of confronting insecurity at the state and continental levels, as represented by the African Union. What is needed is a radical reevaluation of Africa’s security architecture and approach to security. This necessitates pooling sovereignty on a continental and global level. It necessitates less state-centric responses that include civil society and the business community as equal partners of states in order to collectively confront insecurity in the age of the Anthropocene. • The authors are academics, policy makers and military veterans who have worked in building capacity on the African continent• The book is comprehensive in scope, strong on theory, pragmatic in policy and reflects experience from the field.• The authors approach makes the book easy, interesting and intriguing.

This book examines the impact of epidemics in Africa, exploring some of the adaptation and crisis management strategies adopted to tackle COVID-19, Ebola, and HIV-AIDS. The authors reflect on lessons learned from solving complex problems and difficult decisions made by leaders on pandemic management to shape the security environment and, thus, the well-being of people living in Africa for years to come. Drawing on cases from across the continent, the book demonstrates that, significantly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, African countries and communities frequently displayed regional solidarity, creativity in decision-making, decisiveness in dealing with corruption and opportunism, and resilience and discipline in implementation. Adopting a human security framework, the authors share their lived experiences and explore the impact of epidemics on public policy decision-making, foreign policy implementation, global relations, collaboration in the community dimension, and, ultimately, the future of socio-economic development in Africa. This book will be a welcome addition for practitioners and researchers across the fields of security studies, health management, and African studies, making an essential contribution to the security discourse in a post-COVID world.