Politics, Policies and Prospects of the MENA Region

During the medal ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City on October 16, 1968, two Black American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, each raised a gloved fist during the playing of the U.S. national anthem. The two Americans received their medals shoeless, but wearing black socks to represent black poverty. Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to present black pride. Carlos, who won a bronze medal, wore a necklace of beads, which he said “were for those individuals th ...

We explore the effects of foreign aid on FDI in a large number of aid-recipient countries using data for the period 1985-2008 and focusing in particular on the impact of the interplay of aid and social cohesion. The preliminary results suggest that the independent effect of aid on FDI is negative in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Latin America (LAC) and positive in other regions, while aid seems to crowd out FDI in countries with high levels of human capital. In addition, we find that ...

Green finance has been a burgeoning sector since the Paris Agreement and is at the crossroads of financial, socio-economic and environmental challenges. It is hybrid in nature: it uses financial instruments and focuses on environmental issues, while coming under the wider field of so-called “sustainable” finance that assumes a broader approach with the inclusion of socio-economic and governance challenges. It is a catalyst as it facilitates and accelerates the transition to a low-ca ...

Fragile, poor, and conflict-affected Sahelian countries of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso were expected to witness catastrophic health and security situations following the emergence of COVID-19. However, the number of cases and deaths remained relatively low in all three countries compared to other parts of the world. Violent extremist organizations (VEOs) attempted to exploit the pandemic in their narratives, while continuing to conduct attacks in the region. Violence and attacks b ...

Against the backdrop of mutual accusations of a lack of political will to bring the tripartite negotiations on the commissioning of the “Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam” (GERD), to a successful conclusion, Egypt and Ethiopia continue to alternately send signals of provocation and appeasement. This tension is growing in intensity as the rainy season (July to September) draws nearer. On the one hand, Ethiopia intends to seize this opportunity to fill the dam; on the other hand, Egypt ...

The transformation of the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) into a « Confederation of States » is sometimes considered, including by the Heads of State of the Community, as a natural next step in the process of deeper integration in West Africa. The purpose of this study is to explore its feasibility and relevance, based on the experience of other continents. A confederation of states can be defined as an association of sovereign states which, by means of an int ...

The global spread of COVID-19 has caused widespread fear and anxiety, first because of the fear of infection, the anguish of death, and then because of enduring uncertainties about the nature of the epidemic, its modes of transmission, its degree of severity, and the effectiveness of therapeutic intervention protocols to save those infected. A distinction should be made between two situations that are often confused: on the one hand, the psychological effects caused by the fear of t ...

Une pandémie est, par définition, un défi transnational impactant l’ensemble des organes acteurs des relations internationales. Néanmoins, c’est d’une meilleure gestion des interactions - de nature coopérative ou conflictuelle-, des entités régionales du système international, dont dépendra l’efficacité des Complexes régionaux de Sécurité (CRS). Ambitionnant la création de relations privilégiées entre plusieurs Etats géographiquement rapprochés, les CRS se positionnent comme un cadr ...

En dépit d’une diminution du contrôle des changes, le cours d’une devise continue de se jouer, jusqu’ici encore, en fonction de l’importance du poids considérable des relations financières qu’elle permet et facilite. Autant la monnaie américaine demeurait la devise-clé, en raison de la puissance tant économique que sécuritaire qu’elle reflète, autant l’Euro et le Yen n’en sont pas moins bien présents, également, sur les marchés que dans les réserves monétaires des divers pays. Certe ...