The North African countries and the Arab spring: a different perspective of inequality

The paper aims to empirically explore the impact of the Arabic Spring on the outflow of FDI in twelve selected countries in the North Africa region (Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Egypt and Mauritania) and the Mideast region (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates). The paper employs a panel data approach to exploit the time series nature of the relationship between FDI Outwards and its determinants (the market size, trade openness, government effectiveness, inflation and three dummy variables related to the Arab Spring) between 2000 and 2016. The findings revealed that the impact of the Arab Spring estimator is negatively correlated with FDI Outflows in the countries that witnessed the Arab Spring. It implies that conflicts and instability negatively affect FDI outflows. The findings of this study reveal that countries that have been affected by the Arab Spring directly (the North Africa region) experienced a greater decline of FDI outflows than countries that have been indirectly affected (the Mideast region). When the sample is restricted to North Africa it is shown that the FDI outflows may be influenced by the post Arab Spring effect, while there is no such statistically significant effect in the Mideast region. Thus, the study finds that FDI outflows in the North African countries are more determined by the effects of Arabic Spring countries than in the Mideastern countries.

The popular movements known as the “Arab Spring” began in 2011 when a street vendor burned himself in Tunisia, and quickly affected the entire Middle East and North Africa region, targeting oppressive regimes in power. This process, which affected the Arab world in waves with the escape of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, the trial of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, and the assassination of Gaddafi by his own people in Libya, has left regional states facing new uncertainties. In Tunisia, where the Arab Spring began, constituent assembly elections were held on October 23, 2011. These elections took their place in history as the first free and fair elections among the countries that experienced the Arab Spring. After the elections, the new constitution was completed by the Constitutional Commission, and a new prime minister and president were elected. This situation became an example among the Middle Eastern and North African countries that experienced the Arab Spring; it showed that Tunisia has a higher democratic culture than other countries. In this context, the reason why the Arab Spring, which caused the Islamic geography to sink into the swamp of terror, the Egyptian State to survive with a dictatorial regime, states such as Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya to be dragged into civil war and even their existence to be debated, was successfully experienced in Tunisia is discussed in the article.

Cities were at the centre of the ‘Arab Spring’, but did they play a decisive role or were they just the passive settings in which these uprisings took place? This paper develops a new way of understanding the role of the city in social movements by looking at changes and continuities in urban policy in North Africa after the ‘Arab Spring’. The paper’s main argument is that the role of the city in social movements can be understood through an analysis of governments’ urban policy responses to those movements. First, it shows that North African urban policy has always reacted sensitively to social unrest and that neoliberal planning schemes have even strengthened this sensitivity. Second, the paper provides an empirical comparative analysis of urban policy in Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia after the ‘Arab Spring’. The study shows that public authorities give pivotal attention to public space and to informal settlements as they have been stigmatised as breeding grounds of social unrest and as a threat to the political establishment.

The object of this paper is North Africa and Mediterranean. The subject of research is China’s policy towards North African countries during “Arab spring” and at the present historical stage. This article is devoted to the role of the North African and Mediterranean countries in contemporary China’s foreign policy and in new Chinese initiative “One Belt–One Road”(BRI). The methodological basis of research is comparative political approach. The fundamental China’s foreign policy principle is non – interference in internal affairs of other countries. The study shows, that “Arab awakening” has become a test for Beijings’ traditional commitment to this principle, composing it by measures for protection of Chinese citizens, business and financial investments abroad. At the same time, Beijing drew conclusions from the Libyan events. Together with Russia it has prevented the escalating of Syrian conflict under the Libyan scenario. In Beijing foreign policy strategy the new initiative BRI takes the leading place. The aim of this research is to show that the North African and Mediterranean countries, located at the crossroads of the land and sea Silk roads, play an important role in new Chinese project. Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia are in focus of China’s interests. The implementation of Chinese initiative envisages infrastructure projects, which should cover all expanse of the Belt. These projects include the construction of railways and highways, aviation, energy, industrial parks, construction of ports in Turkey, Greece, Israel and other coastal countries. The author makes the conclusion: although China adheres to doctrine of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries and avoids participation in armed confrontation, it aspires to play the role of influential player in North Africa and Mediterranean and to strengthen its economic, political and military influence in this important region.

Determinants of Ownership Concentration in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region

Egyptian Revolution, also known as Arab Spring or Arab Uprising, was a shock for international community because Egypt has been seen as one of the strongest military state in North Africa region. Experts and observers even suggested that this revolution is the biggest event since the Cold War. No one ever saw this coming; yet, the Revolution happened, and it succeeded to topple President Hosni Mubarak from power. Indeed, prior to the revolution, there are factors that became the preliminary incidents as well as problems that led to the revolution, and most of these factors came from within the country. Nevertheless, this revolution has given idea to other states with repressive regime in the North Africa region, which started the ‘domino effect’ in Middle East and North Africa region. As for Egyptians, though successfullnes of the revolution brought positive outcome for them, the negative result also followed as well as responses from international community. The objective of this paper is to examine the Egyptian Revolution that led to the end of Hosni Mubarak regime. Keywords: Arab Spring; Egyptian Revolution; President Hosni Mubarak; ‘domino effect’; Middle East and North Africa region.

In 2011, during the Arab Spring, citizens in some Arab countries marched in the streets, demanding decreased corruption, increased public participation in running state affairs, and provision of jobs for citizens. In response, governments in the Middle East and North Africa region initiated strategic plans to meet the people’s demands (e.g. Morocco Vision 2030, Saudi Vision 2030). One of the main parts of these plans is related to reforming the public finance sector. Recently, in response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, most Middle East and North Africa countries have taken loans or withdrawn from reserves (both considered sources of funding for government expenditures) to support the economy and fund the healthcare plans to fight the disease. Thus, the efficiency and effectiveness of government spending is very important in utilizing the available resources at all times. Using data for the Middle East and North Africa region from 1990 to 2019, and utilizing a scatterplot technique and the general linear modeling procedure, this article explores the relationship between public expenditures and economic growth. The results show that the current public expenditure system is inefficient and that efficient public spending has to be combined with other factors that influence the economy (e.g. enhancing public participation in running state affairs, controlling corruption, and supporting good governance practices in the public sector). Points for practitioners Government spending is one of the most important elements in managing state affairs toward achieving advanced levels of development and providing high-quality services to beneficiaries. This research explores the relationship between government spending and economic growth; the result of this study confirms that non-financial factors, such as fighting corruption, promoting democracy and freedom, enhancing public institutions’ quality, and supporting the productivity and accountability of the public sector, are important dimensions in promoting economic growth, especially in developing countries.

Although the business strategies of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are investigated theoretically and practically, their diffusion and features in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are not clearly described in the literature. This is in particular due to the recent transformation that member countries have been going through since the financial crisis of 2008 and the Arab Spring. Through shareholder maximization theory, agency theory, and the resource-based view we identified the reasons and characteristics of M&As in the Middle East and North Africa regions. Following a systematic literature review methodology, we identified 37 articles related to M&A in MENA countries published in peer-reviewed journals and reported in CABS ranking (Chartered Association of Business Schools). Based on this analysis, we map the extant literature on the topic and present an integrative framework of these features for future researchers to further explore and expand the boundaries of the domain.

The purpose of this chapter is to present new empirical research on the Arab Spring and, specifically, to focus on the attitudes of residents of one country in the Middle East towards the Arab Spring. This research was conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has been one of the main migrant destinations in the world for the last two decades. This allows for comparisons regarding attitudes towards the Arab Spring across individuals from different regions of origin such as GCC, South Asia, and Western countries. The attitudes of university students are important because the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has experienced a substantial increase in the 17 to 23 years of age population. Existing reports suggest that, by far, those involved in Arab Spring protests were young individuals. The analysis places particular emphasis on the correlation of attitudes towards the Arab Spring with three key aspects: religiousness, attachment to the GCC countries, and attachment to country of origin.

On Political Order and the 'Arab Spring'

Whether dealing with debt issues in the Eurozone, investment prospects in emerging markets, or potential disruptions in patterns of global trade, the identification, assessment, and measurement of political risk (PR) are recurring issues for businesses and governments today. In the past few years, abrupt social and political change has become the rule in international relations. A prominent instance of this is the “Arab Spring,” the massive and unexpected wave of social and political turmoil that, starting in the winter of 2010‐2011, swept across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The Arab Spring has significantly affected the business climate of the countries involved. In doing so, it has also exposed the shortcomings of the extant approaches to PR assessment. This article discusses the performance of five different approaches to PR assessment (OECD, ONDD, EIU, PRS, SACE) vis‐à‐vis the Arab Spring, providing some specific suggestions on how to improve PR assessment and analysis. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Before the Arab Spring erupted at the turn of 2010 and 2011, Islamic fundamentalism had long played a significant role in the political and social landscapes of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Often associated with groups advocating for a return to a strict and literal interpretation of Islamic principles, Islamic fundamentalism manifested in various movements, ideologies and violent insurgencies. These movements aimed to shape governance, challenge existing regimes and resist Western influence. The decades leading up to the Arab Spring saw a rise in both peaceful political Islamist movements and militant groups with more radical objectives. Islamic fundamentalist organisations have played varied and significant roles in the political systems of North African states. From the peaceful reformist agendas of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Ennahda in Tunisia to the radical insurgencies of the LIFG in Libya and the GIA in Algeria, these organisations have shaped political discourse, challenged authoritarian regimes and represented the discontent of marginalised populations. In some cases, such as in Morocco, Islamist groups have found ways to work within the political system, while in others, they have been pushed into violent opposition. The impact of Islamic fundamentalist organisations before and after the Arab Spring reveals their enduring influence on North Africa’s political landscape.

New Media, Political Mobilization, and the Arab Spring

The Arab Spring (AS) event characterized the recent history of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It brought about various economic, political, and social conditions and transformations that affected women's well‐being and their status and participation in the labour market. Accordingly, this paper examines the short‐run and the long‐run effects of the AS on female labour force participation (FLFP) rates in the MENA region. The empirical analysis is implemented through the generalized method of moments (GMM) system estimator for dynamic panel models, using the basic (one‐step) and the two‐step approaches over different empirical specifications. The benchmark empirical results show that the AS is associated with moderate average increases in FLFP rates in the MENA region. The empirical analysis subsequently emphasizes significant variations and distinct patterns in the AS effects on FLFP rates across MENA countries, and it ties these findings to the AS‐related economic, political and social circumstances in these countries.

ABSTRACTDrawing on Arab Barometer data, this article provides the backdrop for understanding continuity and change since the Arab Spring in national-level public opinion attitudes toward economic and political foreign policy issues in North Africa, inclusive of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. The article leverages the concepts of differentiation and diffusion to understand how international affairs shape public opinion in North Africa since the Arab Spring. Three findings emerge. First, public opinion about domestic and international issues are linked in the minds of North African citizens and foreign policy issues are more important factors underlying pre- and post-Arab Spring politics than are often recognised. Especially in the post-Arab Spring era, Arab citizens widely see external interference as a problem and this perception increased in every North African country between 2013 and 2016. Moreover, there is considerable variation across and within North African states in attitudes toward economic and political foreign policy issues, including the Arab-Israeli conflict and attitudes about economic and security relationships with Israel. Anti-Israeli sentiment increased substantially in the years leading up to and following the Arab Spring. Finally, since the Arab Spring, anti-Americanism, as measured by negative perceptions of U.S. culture, has declined in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, but risen slightly in Egypt, even as North Africans demonstrate increased support for a U.S. role in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict during this same time period. These trends suggest that anti-Americanism is highly dependent on specific domestic and international developments and is highly complex in the Arab world.