Arab North Research Articles

African Financial Systems: A Review

diverse, with different regional economic blocs. The financial systems in these countries are as diverse as the countries. Reviewing the financial systems of such a heterogeneous group of countries presents a challenge. Therefore, to make the review more concise, we categorize the countries along geographic lines into four groups, namely, Arab North Africa, West Africa, East and Central Africa, and Southern Africa.1 This review covers, among other things, a brief review of the economies, central banks, deposit-taking banks, non-bank institutions, such as the stock markets, fixed income markets, and microfinance institutions in Africa. In this section, we present an executive summary of the African financial systems, highlighting some of the investment opportunities that exist, and then proceed with an in-depth review of the current state of the financial systems of the various sub-groups in Africa. In section II, we review the financial systems in North Africa. The financial systems in West Africa are reviewed in Section III, while those in Central and East Africa are reviewed in Section IV. In Section V, we examine the financial systems in Southern Africa. We conclude with a brief discussion of the risks that potential investors should be concerned about in Section VI.

Darfur and the Crisis of Governance in Sudan: A Left Perspective

This essay highlights the selective ways in which the conflict in Darfur has been presented, represented, and used by a range of actors in and outside of Sudan to promote their own agendas and interests. It draws attention to the urgency of apprehending the politics of representation around Darfur “from within.” Focusing on Sudan's historically strong civil society, the essay elucidates how the Sudanese civil society's analysis of the country's conflicts eschews oversimplified binary oppositions, such as “Arab North” versus “Christian/animist South” or “Arab” versus “African,” as in the case of Darfur. Hassan argues in favor of looking at the origins of these conflicts as manifestations of unequal development and historic injustices perpetrated against the margins by the ruling class of Arabized elites. In the process, Hassan reveals the vigorous engagement of Sudanese at all levels in the Darfur crisis, as well as other areas of conflict currently engulfing the country. The essay urges the need to foreground Sudanese voices if a genuine resolution to the country's manifold conflicts is to be pursued.

Globalization and Business Politics in Arab North Africa. A Comparative Perspective

Globalization and Business Politics in Arab North Africa. A Comparative Perspective

Unstated: Narrating War in Lebanon

This essay consists of three beginnings, then a deferred reading of a novel. One beginning, a theoretical beginning, reflects on the question implicit in my title: What is unstated in the state of Lebanon? Another beginning, a literary critical beginning, returns to the work of Kahlil Gibran, the most famous early-twentieth-century Arab North American writer. Gibran links modernist and postmodernist Arab North American writing and, in a historical parallel, connects the foundations of the Lebanese state under French colonial rule to its disintegration in the context of the civil war. A third beginning, a contextual beginning, evokes more recent events in Lebanon through a discussion of the July War of 2006, during which Israel bombed the country for over a month. These three points of departure, I suggest, are crucial to readings of contemporary Arab North American fiction, which is always conditioned by theories of the state, a post-Gibran literary sensibility, and the politics of the present. More specifically, I argue that Rawi Hage's representation of the civil war in Lebanon in DeNiro's Game negotiates the destruction of the Lebanese state through figures of the unstated, whose very existence questions more generally the state form as the preeminent site of political authority and contributes to unstating the state.

Bringing it all back home: Arab culture, North Africa, and intensive care unit family satisfaction*

Bringing it all back home: Arab culture, North Africa, and intensive care unit family satisfaction*

Globalisation and the challenge of democracy in Arab North Africa

Democratization processes have emerged recently as an essential component of globalization and thus, have been paramount in its discourse, and as a political prerequisite for integrating developing countries in the global market. The emphasis, however, has been on liberal democracy. The paper argues that the very process of globalization based on unequal global power relations and the externally formulated policies imposed on developing countries of the south are neither democratic nor an expression of their authentic needs and interests. In this respect globalization represents a denial of democracy on the global level. Meanwhile, the early and involuntary adoption of structural adjustment programmes by globalized countries of the south, with their socially polarizing impact, have enhanced the exclusion of greater numbers of the people from economic, social, and political processes and led the already undemocratic governments to adopt a more authoritarian praxis to enforce unfriendly globalization policies. A nominal liberal democracy was adopted only to bring the globalized economic elite to power to the further exclusion and marginalization of the majority of the population. The paper then discusses the debate by African and Arab intellectuals on the different types of democracy and their relevance to Arab North African societies. Africa Development Vol. 30(4) 2005: 1-33

Present situation of echinococcosis in the Middle East and Arabic North Africa

Echinococcosis is one of the major zoonotic parasitic diseases in the Middle East and Arabic North Africa from Morocco to Egypt. Both cystic and alveolar echinococcosis has been reported from these areas. However, cystic echinococcosis is more prevalent and has been reported from all countries in the Middle East and Arabic North Africa. Alveolar echinococcosis is less prevalent and has been reported only from Iran, Turkey, Iraq and Tunisia. Present situation of echinococcosis in dogs and other definitive hosts, animal intermediate hosts and humans in the Middle East and Arabic North Africa has been reviewed. Echinococcus granulosus is highly prevalent in Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya. In the Levant countries, the cystic echinococcosis is also highly endemic. In Oman, it is endemic with low prevalence and a very low level in Cyprus. Various surveys have indicated that hydatid cysts are commonly found in sheep, cattle, goats and camels throughout the Middle East and Arabic North Africa. Sheep are the most infected animals of these regions. Most of studies on human have been focused on surgical reports although several population studies have been performed using serological and imaging techniques. Human cystic echinococcosis (CE) is prevalent in the Middle East and Arabic North Africa. It is hyper endemic in Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria, and endemic in Egypt. Studies on the strain specificities of E. granulosus in the Middle East revealed sheep strain (G1) present in sheep, goats, cattle, camels and humans, and the camel strain (G6) in camels, sheep, cattle as well as humans. Dog/sheep strain seems to be more prevalent in the foregoing regions in documented reports from Iran and Jordan. However, a strain of E. granulosus, which resembles the horse strain (G4) strain, has been reported from Jordan. Strain specifications of E. granulosus in Arabic North Africa showed that sheep/dog strain (G1) have been reported from Tunisia and Libya both from humans and animals. However, in Egypt the human cases reported are of camel/dog strain.

Ethnicity affects the diagnostic validity of alpha‐fetoprotein in hepatocellular carcinoma

AbstractIntroduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fourth most common cancer worldwide with a high morbidity and mortality. Alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) is considered the main tumor marker for HCC diagnosis, but the variation in its diagnostic validity among studies justifies further investigation of the underlying contributing factors. Ethnic difference could be one of the factors that has not been well studied. We aimed at investigating the ethnic difference in AFP validity between Egyptian (representing Arabic North African) and Japanese (representing Asian) for HCC diagnosis.Methods: Four cohorts with chronic liver diseases (CLD) were studied: 171 Egyptian (65 HCC/106 non‐HCC), and 173 Japanese (45 HCC/128 non‐HCC). Laboratory tests including serum AFP, protein‐induced vitamin K deficiency or absence (PIVKA‐II), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total bilirubin, platelet count, HBsAg, anti‐HCV, and HCV core antigen were conducted using standard commercially available assays.Results: A significantly higher sensitivity of AFP in Egyptian in comparison with Japanese for HCC diagnosis (99 vs 67%, P < 0.001) was observed using an AFP cut‐off point of 10 ng/mL, with a comparable specificity (75 vs 82%) While a sensitivity of 98 versus 56%, P < 0.001 and a specificity of 83 versus 89% was found for AFP cut‐off point of 20 ng/mL, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was found to be 0.98 (95%CI = 0.969–0.997) for Egyptian and 0.77 (95%CI = 0.686–0.864) for Japanese. The highest sensitivity for the former group occurred at AFP = 20.5 ng/mL and at AFP = 10.2 ng/mL for the latter. Univariate analysis showed no effect for age, sex, underlying liver disease, cirrhosis, Child's class or tumor characteristics (size, pathological grade) on AFP sensitivity, while race significantly contributed to the higher sensitivity among Egyptians in comparison with the Japanese. Using ROC analysis, the AFP cut‐off point for HCC detection in each subgroup of patients with and without each of the risk factors of interest was determined and the subgroups were again subclassified according to AFP positivity (< or ≥ the decided cut‐off point for each group). Logistic regression analysis of those factors combined showed that Egyptian ethnicity with an AFP level >20.5 ng/mL (P = 0.007), older age (>50 years) with an AFP level >26 ng/mL (P = 0.010), and cirrhosis with an AFP level >10.5 ng/mL (P = 0.014) were the independent risk factors for HCC.Conclusion: There is an ethnic variation in AFP validity between Egyptian and Japanese patients with a significantly lower sensitivity in the latter. Alpha‐fetoprotein should not be the only marker used for screening HCC among Asian Japanese and younger age groups (<50 years) with CLD. In addition, an AFP cut‐off point of 20 ng/mL is recommended when screening patients of Asian origin for HCC.

The Southern Funj of the Sudan as a Frontier Society, 1820–1980

The long civil war in the Sudan between the government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) is usually simply described as a war between ‘the Arab North’ and ‘the African South.’ Equally simply, it is understood as a continuation, by new means and in new circumstances, of nineteenth-century and earlier inequalities between free people and unfree people, and of hostilities between slavers and those they preyed upon. In the twentieth century these asymmetries came to be represented by a religious distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims. However, these apparent distinctions between free and unfree, and between Muslim and non-Muslim begin to blur when we ask who is making them. Likewise, at closer inspection, the division into “the Arab North” and “the African South” begins to fragment and reconstitute into a complexity of alliances and interest groups. These complexities become more evident as engagement moves from hostile encounters in the remote vastness of the Sudan to peace negotiations and press conferences in hotels and offices in capital cities. In the latter settings marginalized populations can be heard. Of special here interest are the three culturally ‘southern’ populations whose homelands are in the geo-political North: Abyei, the Nuba Mountains, and South Blue Nile. In January 2003, a public statement, headed “Let us not be denied the right to decide on our future,” was delivered to the North-South peace conference in Kenya by a local NGO, the Relief Organisation of Fazugli (ROOF), on behalf of “the people of South Blue Nile.” It demanded that their representatives, along with those of the Nuba Mountains and Abyei be included in the current peace negotiations.

The author and his doubles: essays on classical Arabic culture

A splendidly translated exploration of major themes in classical Arabic literature by the most inventive and provocative critic of Arabic literature in the Middle East today. In this exceptional volume, Abedlfattah Kilito argues that genre - not authorship - is at the heart of classic Arabic literature. Using simple yet lyrical language, he examines love poetry and panegyric, the Prophet's Hadith and the literary anecdote, as well as such recurring themes as memorization, plagiarism and forgery, and dream visions of the dead. Ultimately, he evokes these as an allegory for post-colonial Arab North Africa. An elegant translation faithfully captures the author's poetic finesse and makes the book easily accessible to English-speaking readers. Warmly received by critics and anthropologists, this volume is a must for scholars, students, and devotees of Arab culture.

Heat and dust in South Sudan

Sudan is the biggest country in Africa and has been in the throes of a devastating civil war for over 30 years. In a great oversimplification, it is a war between the Muslim, Arabic north and the animist and Christian south. Access to resources, such as water and arable land, are also at stake. Specifically, exploitation of oil reserves has added real fuel to the fire, with Khartoum now spending US$1 million a day on the war.

The State and the Private Sector in North Africa: Seeking Specificity

There is a tendency in neo-liberal economics to consider the state and the private sector as one another's antitheses, as dichotomous and mutually exclusive. Moreover, the prevailing notion is that 'public is bad, private is good', meaning that the retreat of the one and the expansion of the other work together to provide the necessary conditions for economic growth. This article argues that this approach is not only obviously overly simplistic, but that it is not necessarily relevant in the context of the developing world. It will be argued that the state retains an economic role specific to regions where markets are less perfect and political structures unfavourable to a freely-functioning private sector. Indeed, it may even be appropriate to see the state and the private sector as ends of a sliding scale, with a significant area of overlap arising from specific historic, political, cultural and structural experiences. This is particularly true in the Arab Middle East and North Africa, where pre-colonial hitory, colonialism, Islam, patrimonialism, corporatism, and in some cases rentierism, have left a particular legacy in the form of economically reforming states that have nonetheless failed to surrender political power or economic hegemony. A brief survey of the particular historical experiences of state formation in three countries of the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia), and of the resulting state-private sector dynamics will follow, illustrating the range of possible sources of explanation for scenarios that appear to defy neo-liberal logic.

Emad Eldin Shahin, Political Ascent: Contemporary Islamic Movements in North Africa, State, Culture, and Society in Arab North Africa (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1997). Pp. 282. $56.00 cloth.

Emad Eldin Shahin, Political Ascent: Contemporary Islamic Movements in North Africa, State, Culture, and Society in Arab North Africa (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1997). Pp. 282. $56.00 cloth. - Volume 30 Issue 4

Public health aspects of cystic echinococcosis in the Arab countries

Human cystic echinococcosis (CE) caused by larval Echinococcus granulosus is a zoonosis of major public health importance throughout the region comprising Arab North Africa and the Middle East. Prevalence rates are determined by epizootiological factors related to the size of stray dog population and its worm burden and to the infection rates in the intermediate host reservoir livestock population. Socio-economic development and socio-cultural practices are considered important determinants in the continued transmission of the disease. The reasonswhy CE remains a significant public health problem in the region are summarized.

Kenneth J. Perkins, Port Sudan: The Evolution of a Colonial City, State, Culture, and Society in Arab North Africa (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1993). Pp. 280.

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

SHEEP AND CATTLE IN YEMEN

SUMMARYThe present Republic of Yemen (RDY) was formed in 1991 with the union of two Yemens namely, Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) or North Yemen and the Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) or South Yemen. Studies on livestock breeds were undertaken in the former YAR during 1985–87 under the FAO Project UTFN/YEM/011. It was supplemented with a rapid survey for the former PDRY in 1991 by the senior author (HUH) under the FAO Project UTF/ PDY/013. The information on goats in Yemen has recently been published in FAO Animal Genetic Resources Information No: 8 (1992). Here is presented the information of the Yemeni sheep and cattle population.

Rules and Rights in the Middle East: Democracy, Law, and Society

Preface Introduction PART 1. OVERVIEW The Practice of Electoral Democracy in the Arab East and North Africa: Some Lessons from Nearly a Century's Experience PART 2. POWER AGAINST POWER Populism and Democracy in Turkey, 1946-1961 Taxation without Representation: Authoritarianism and Economic Liberalization in Syria State, Legitimacy, and Democratization in the Maghreb Civil Society in Israel PART 3. PRACTICAL POLITICS Prospects and Difficulties of Democratization in the Middle East American Policy toward Democratic Political Movements in the Middle East Voices of Opposition: The International Committee for a Free Iraq PART 4. THE SHADOW OF LAW Public Confessions in the Islamic Republic of Iran Obstacles to Democratization in Iraq: A Reading of Post-Revolutionary Iraqi History through the Gulf War Private Goods, Public Wrongs, and Civil Society in Some Medieval Arab Theory and Practice Index Contributors

United States Attitudes and Policies Toward China: The Impact of American Missionaries.

In recent years, Islamic fundamentalist, revolutionary, and jihadist movements have overshadowed more moderate and reformist voices and trends within Islam. This compelling volume introduces the current generation of reformist thinkers and activists, the intellectual traditions they carry on, and the reasons for the failure of reformist movements to sustain broad support in the Islamic world today. Richly detailed regionally focused chapters cover Iran, the Arab East, the Maghreb, South Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Europe, and North America. The editor's introductory chapter traces the roots of reformist thinking both in Islamic tradition and as a response to the challenge of modernity for Muslims struggling to reconcile the requirements of modernization with their cultural and religious values. The concluding chapter identifies commonalities, comparisons, and trends in the modernizing movements.

Political Elites in Arab North Africa

Political Elites in Arab North Africa

Evidence for the multicentric origin of the sickle cell hemoglobin gene in Africa.

Previous studies of the Hpa I cleavage site-sickle cell hemoglobin gene linkage in various African populations suggested that the sickle gene arose independently more than once. In the present study we have performed restriction endonuclease haplotype analysis for the beta-globin-like gene cluster from four separate geographic areas in Africa, all of which possess the sickle gene. In Benin (Central West Africa) and Algeria (Arab North Africa) all chromosomes carrying the sickle gene possess an identical haplotype as defined by 11 different polymorphic restriction endonuclease sites within the 60-kilobase region of the beta-globin-like gene cluster. In the Central African Republic (Bantu-speaking Africa) and in Senegal (Atlantic West Africa) a very large proportion of the sickle gene chromosomes were associated with a haplotype specific for each country. Thus, three different haplotypes are shown to be associated with the sickle gene in Africa, and each is present at a very high frequency in geographically separate regions. Since the three haplotypes differ from each other by at least three sites residing both 5' and 3' to a putative hot spot for recombination, it is most likely that the sickle gene arose at least three times on separate preexisting chromosomal haplotypes. This may have implications for a better understanding of the variable nature of the expression of sickle cell anemia, because clinically relevant sequences (for example, gamma-globin gene regulatory sequences responsive to anemia) might be linked polymorphically to these haplotypes.