Arab MENA Countries: Vulnerabilities and Constraints Against Democracy on the Eve of the Global COVID-19 Crisis

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxiv

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2. Setting the Scene

   • Hussein Solomon, Arno Tausch

   Pages 1-9

3. Failing States and Losing Sovereignty? Reflecting on the State and Politics in the MENA Region

   • Hussein Solomon, Arno Tausch

   Pages 11-33

4. Achievements and Deficits of the Arab MENA Economies on the Eve of the Current Global Corona Crisis

   • Hussein Solomon, Arno Tausch

   Pages 35-116

5. Arab MENA States and Value Change: What Happens When Economic Globalization Is More Rapid Than Cultural Globalization

   • Hussein Solomon, Arno Tausch

   Pages 117-151

6. Beyond Patriarchy: Gender, Islam and the MENA Region

   • Hussein Solomon, Arno Tausch

   Pages 153-166

7. Sectarianism and the Politics of Identity in the MENA Region

   • Hussein Solomon, Arno Tausch

   Pages 167-181

8. Political Islam in the Arab MENA Countries: The Evidence from the Arab Barometer (5) Data About the “Unword” of Middle East Research?

   • Hussein Solomon, Arno Tausch

   Pages 183-232

9. Overcoming the Environmental Challenge in the MENA Region

   • Hussein Solomon, Arno Tausch

   Pages 233-244

10. The MENA Region in the Face of Covid-19

    • Hussein Solomon, Arno Tausch

    Pages 245-251

11. Conclusions

    • Hussein Solomon, Arno Tausch

    Pages 253-255

12. Back Matter

    Pages 257-268

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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.

• Democracy in the MENA region
• Covid-19 impact on the Middle East
• Climate change and the MENA region
• Patriarchy in the MENA region
• Islamism in the MENA region

“This sophisticated transdisciplinary study combines qualitative and quantitative methods to offer a cutting-edge assessment of the current impact of three macro-dynamics—globalization, democratization, and development—on the Middle East North African (MENA) region. This is essential reading for both area specialists and social science generalists seeking to understand the latest sociopolitical and economic trends affecting the region and the world.” (Manfred B Steger, Professor of Sociology, University of Hawaii and Global Professorial Fellow, Western Sydney University)

“The Middle East and North Africa can be considered as a case study of the so-called multipolar world. Uncovering an unpleasant truth about this region, Solomon and Tausch indirectly convince us that the project of multipolar world is theoretically inconsistent and practically dangerous anti-utopia”. (Victor Krasilschikov, Chief Research Fellow, the Institute of Scientific Information in Social Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences)

“Arab MENA countries: Vulnerabilities and constraints against democracy on the eve of the global Covid-19 crisis is for two reasons of critical importance.  Firstly, the existing body of knowledge on conflict, violence and war in Africa and its interconnectedness with conflict in the Middle East does not provide a complete and comprehensive picture of the totality of the phenomenon.  Secondly, countries in the Middle East and North Africa share a unique set of security challenges that necessitates an integrated and inclusive approach.  Hussein Solomon and Arno Tausch bring their unique expertise of African and Middle East security together in a detailed security analysis of this critical region in a highly recommendable publication.” (Abel Esterhuyse, Professor and Head of Department of Military Strategy, Stellenbosch University)

“A must-read research about the Middle East and North Africa. The critical and empiricalapproach deserves to be praised since it prevents the research from falling into the pitfalls of ideological dogmas and religious fanaticism. Hussein Solomon and Arno Tausch are to be congratulated on such an excellent job!” (Jacques Neriah, Late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s Foreign Policy Adviser and Editor of Jewish Political Studies Review)

“Hussein Solomon and Arno Tausch make a valuable and critical contribution to our understanding of the recent economic developments in the Middle East and North African region and its impact on the region’s societies, cultures and religion. They also discuss the threat of the impending COVID-19 pandemic in the region, a global event that has changed our world.” (Prof Corli Wittuhn, Vice-Rector: Research, University of the Free State, South Africa)

“Solomon and Tausch have produced a valuable contribution to the literature. Prospects for development in the MENA region are set in the context of a balanced appreciation of the different effects of globalisation, political culture, governance and Islam in different countries. Theoretical perspectives are combined with compelling empirical analysis. There is even a consideration, inevitably preliminary, of how different nation states have dealt with the COVID-19 threat. This pandemic will indeed put the spotlight on different approaches to governance as well as the contrast between robust, democratic civic cultures and malign relations between state, religion and society. For me, based in the UK which has performed egregiously badly in almost every major respect in its initial reaction to COVID-19, analysis of global variance in performance has never been more important. This book, reporting on the varying prospects for development in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, is a significant contribution.” (Calum Paton. Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, Keele University, UK)

“An impressive blend of analysis of the many challenges facingthe MENA region, from the political and economic, to the social and environmental, all tied together neatly in one book. Importantly, though, it also shines light on the progress made in dealing with these challenges. In a region so prone to oversimplification and stereotyping, this book clears the air with its detail, nuance and multifaceted perspectives of the region.” (Virgil Hawkins, Professor of International Public Policy, Osaka University, Japan)

 

• Department of Political Studies & Governance, University of Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

  Hussein Solomon

• University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

  Arno Tausch

Hussein Solomon holds a D.Litt et Phil (Political Science) from the University of South Africa. Currently he is Senior Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Free State. His previous appointments include being Executive Director of the International Institute of Islamic Studies (2009-2010); Professor and Director of the Centre for International Political Studies, University of Pretoria (2000-2010), Research Manager at the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (1998-2000), Senior Researcher: Institute for Security Studies (1996-1998) and Research Fellow: Centre for Southern African Studies, University of the Western Cape (1993-1995). In 2011, he was Visiting Professor at the Osaka School for International Public Policy (OSIPP). 

Arno Tausch is currently Honorary Associate Professor of Economics, Corvinus University, Budapest, Hungary (since Fall Semester 2010) and adjunct professor (Universitaetsdozent) of politicalscience at the Department of Political Science, Innsbruck University, Austria (since 1988). He entered the Austrian Civil Service on January 1, 1992, and retired from active service on February 29, 2016. He served as an Austrian diplomat abroad and was attaché, and later counselor for labor and migration at the Austrian Embassy in Warsaw, 1992-1999. Since 1978, he has taught numerous regular courses in political science, economics, and sociology at universities in Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, and the United States. He has authored or coauthored books and articles for major international publishers and journals, among them 22 books in English, 2 books in French, 8 books in German, and well over 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals and also numerous articles in the media of several countries. His publications also include a number of essays for leading economic and foreign policy global think tanks, and he is a regular contributor to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs in Israel.

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