"Arab World" is the only region in the world that lacks democratic values. However, back in December 2010, the authoritarian regimes of the Middle East had faced rapid and remarkable political change under the dynamics of the so-called "Arab Spring". The existing regimes in some of the Arab countries have met the popular opposition that demanded for the changes towards democratization processes, which was perceived by many scholars as a positive factor to the emergence of democracy. Since then, the question of the perspective of democratization of the Arab world has come to the agenda of most political debates. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to discuss and analyze whether democracy is able to develop in Arab region, what are the main challenges to it and whether in the past four years Arab Spring has facilitated the transformation of the political regimes.

The literature on regime persistence in the Arab world, particularly when it comes to the monarchies, has missed many crucial elements. Specifically, the role of the military within the elite coalition and the factors that lead to variation on this variable have not been adequately studied. In this report, two cases of persistent monarchies – Morocco and Jordan - will be examined. This study will focus on the development of the military establishments in these two cases, as well as their current state of civil-military relations. Using an institutionalist approach, the study finds that civil-military relations in both regimes is a direct outcome of the monarchy’s role, which, in turn, rests on three factors: the historical legacy of the monarchy in state formation, the appeal of the monarch to a large proportion of the population, and the institutional mechanisms utilized by the monarchy to maintain control over their military establishments. The monarchical role in the development of the military subordinates the armed forces, as well as lessens their professionalization as they become less representative and more politicized institutions. Subordination of the military as a strategy of the monarchy is thus highlighted as an important variable in the persistence of this type of authoritarian regime. / text

Thesis advisor: Peter Krause / What explains the lack of democracy in the Arab Middle East, when so many other, less wealthy regions of the world have democratized over the past five decades? This thesis engages with each of the major explanations for the "Arab democracy deficit"--Islam, the "oil curse," authoritarian statecraft, and external intervention--but argues that there is a more fundamental culprit for the region's woes: the weakness of state-based nationalism. At a time when nationalism is increasingly seen as synonymous with exclusion and discrimination, such a finding may strike many observers as counterintuitive. However, this thesis theoretically and empirically demonstrates how healthy, state-based nationalism can provide the societal cohesion needed to establish liberal governance. It then offers in-depth analyses of the development of national identity and democracy in eleven separate Arab countries, arguing that the rise of regional Arab nationalism in the 1950s severely undermined the development of state-based nationalism (wataniyya), and laid the groundwork for decades of instability, civil strife, and oppression. Fortunately, the examples of Tunisia and Lebanon--and to some extent Jordan and Morocco--demonstrate that wataniyya can lead to much more democratic outcomes when properly nurtured. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Scholar of the College. / Discipline: Political Science.

- / In an efficient market, prices adjust instantaneously toward their fundamental values; as a consequence prices should always reflect all available information. Here we consider market efficiency for new emerging markets in the Middle East region. Emerging markets are typically characterized by illiquidity, thin trading, and possibly non-linearity in returns generating process. Firstly, we adjust observed daily indices for nine Arab stock markets for infrequent trading, while the logistic map has been used to determine whether non-linearity exists in returns generating process. Next we used several econometric models to test for market efficiency. The results of runs test, variance ratio, serial correlation, BDS, and regression analysis indicate that we can reject the hypothesis that lagged price information cannot predict future prices. In other words, prices do not follow random walk properties; even after correction for thin trading. We next analyze volatility structure using GARCH models. The results of GARCH (1,1) model indicate that volatility clustering still seems to characterize some markets. While in three markets (Egypt, Kuwait, and Palestine) volatility seems to be persistent. Moreover, the results of EGARCH (1,1) model show that four markets (Bahrain, Dubai, Kuwait, and Oman) exhibit signs of leverage effect and asymmetric shocks to volatility. Compared with other emerging and international markets; Arab stock markets display relatively low rate of excessive volatility as indicated by Schwert model. Furthermore, the dependence in the second moment found to be quite enough to characterize the non-linear structure in the time series. Finally, we find that seasonality and calendar effects exist in Arab markets with three forms; day-of-the-week effect, month-of-the-year effect and the Halloween indicator. We conclude that Arab stock markets under examination are not efficient in the week form sense of efficient market hypothesis. There is a large body of empirical evidence that financial markets become highly integrated. According to modern portfolio theory, gains from international portfolio diversification are related inversely to the correlation of equity returns. The results of multivariate cointegration techniques, structural vector autoregression (SVAR) and vector autoregression (VAR) models indicate that, there is no cointegrating relation between Arab and international stock markets. The results of SVAR show that the linkage between international and Arab markets is very weak. Next we investigate the dynamic relationships among Arab markets them selves, and how do other factors; such as oil prices, affect the performance of these markets especially for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stock markets. To do that, Arab markets have been divided into two sub-groups: oil production countries (GCC countries) and non-oil production countries (Jordan, Egypt, and Palestine). The results indicate the existence of long-run relation between markets, however, the short-run linkages still very weak. Non-oil countries’ markets can offer diversification benefits for rich GCC investors. Moreover, oil prices found to have a significant effect on GCC markets and dominate the long-run equilibrium. Oil prices play a significant role in affecting GCC markets’ volatility. While after the raise in oil prices; especially during the last two years, linkages between oil prices and GCC markets increased. Four GCC markets have predictive power on oil prices, with two markets to be predicted by oil prices. We conclude that Arab stock markets can offer diversification potentials for regional and international investors. Oil prices have a significant effect on GCC markets. Finally, we suggest a strategic plan to improve these markets based on two main broad goals, improving market efficiency and increasing market liberalization. To achieve these goals we identify specific targets and strategies that could be realized through tactical programs and activities.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-02-23Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:48:16Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 traumann_ap_me_assis.pdf: 579521 bytes, checksum: 2282f70cc7a1b74a74ef6e21ae9c408a (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Este trabalho trata das relações entre o Brasil e o Mundo Árabe, especialmente depois da primeira crise do petróleo, em 1973. Diante da disparada do preço do petróleo, o Brasil passou a intensificar o seu intercambio diplomático e comercial com os países árabes no intuito de suavizar os efeitos da crise. De forma inédita e adotando uma política externa pragmática baseada no interesse comercial do país, o governo Geisel incrementou as relações do Brasil com o Oriente Médio e norte da África. Nesta busca por novos aliados, destacou-se o Iraque. A amizade Brasil-Iraque começou com a prospecção de petróleo e a descoberta pela Petrobrás do poço iraquiano de Majnoon, um dos maiores do mundo, e também pela construção de estradas e ferrovias. / This work deals with the relations between Brazil and the Arab World, especially after the First Oil Crisis of 1973. To face the fast rise of the oil prices, Brazil started to intensify diplomatic and commercial affairs with the Arab countries in intention to reduce the effects of the crisis. Adopting a new and more pragmatic foreign politics, based in the commercial interest of the country, the Geisel government developed the relations of Brazil with the Middle East and North of Africa. In this search for new allies, Iraq was distinguished. The Brazil-Iraq friendship started with the prospection of oil and the discovery by Petrobras, of the Iraqi well of Majnoon, one of the greatest of the world, and also the building of roads and railroads in that country.

Dans le cadre d’un travail pluridisciplinaire mis au service de la géographie, la présente thèse évoque différents aspects de la «politique arabe» de la Russie postsoviétique. Après une analyse de la place de la géopolitique dans l’univers intellectuel et politique russe, une étude de la politique étrangère russe actuelle, une réflexion sur la situation dans le monde arabe, le texte revient sur une politique russe appréhendée sous l’angle de l’opposition entre logiques territoriales et logiques réticulaires. L’économie, les médias, l’énergie, le droit, l’histoire et la littérature sont autant de disciplines et d’outils mis au service d’un travail qui demeure avant tout géographique. / In this multidisciplinary work, however mainly geographical, different dimensions of the current Russian policy towards the Arab world are introduced and analysed. After a focus on recent geopolitical debates in Russia, a study of Moscow’s foreign policy, an analysis of the political situation in the Arab world, this dissertation tackles on Russia’s policy through a particular paradigm: the opposition between reticular and territorial aims and practices. Though the study is mostly geographical, economics, media, energy politics, law, history and even literature are used to reach comprehensive results.

For a long time, most women believed they had to choose between their Muslim or Arab identity and their belief in social equality of sexes. It was almost impossible to choose between either betraying their religious beliefs or their desires for social, political and economic justice, up until an upsurge of a feminist sentiment started to grow among women who were seeking to reclaim the Islamic paradigm and the Quran for themselves in the late nineteenth century (Bardan, 2005). During that time, contemporary female artists from the Arab and Muslim worlds started to create their own tools in their fight against oppressive patriarchal societies in order to express their feminine powers and renegotiate their identities. In this thesis, I analyze the feminist tools used in paradigmatic photo-based artworks by three contemporary female artists from the Arab and Muslim worlds: Mona Hatoum, Shirin Neshat, and Lalla Essaydi.

Throughout the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Member states, a number of significant policy reforms have coincided with significant changes in their socio-economic trajectories. This is especially evident within the employment domain, where a rapidly increasing labour force challenges the capacity of the regions domestic labour markets to provide employment. With increasing unemployment rates, combined with the region’s burgeoning young population, of whom some are well educated and seeking first-time employment, strain is placed on labour markets that were traditionally characterised by high levels of inactivity, a low skills base for the native population, the substantial presence of migrant labour and extensive segmentation and inequalities across wage and gender lines. The political implications for the future political stability and regime legitimacy in these states are easy to imagine and the challenges ahead are substantial. Moreover, policies aiming to sustainably increase the capacity of domestic labour markets to provide employment for the national citizenry are currently developed in a context where the Gulf States have to navigate their repositioning in the global economic architecture by diversifying their economies and reorganizing their socio-political formations towards ‘late rentier’ governance structures. Against this background, this thesis explores how GCC governments are attempting to transform their rentier based political economies, by comparatively analysing recent labour market reforms in three Gulf states, namely Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. A mixed methodological approach has been adopted, whereby through conducting a policy analysis on key labour reforms, namely the Kafala sponsorship system and Nationalisation based policies, alongside elite semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, this thesis has contributed to the identification of the emerging trends which characterise the post-rentier labour market governance structures in the GCC. Furthermore, due to the different development visions adopted by these three states, this thesis highlights the marked diversity within the regionally adopted policies of the Kafala system and Nationalisation based reforms and, thus, contributes to our understanding of the emerging variety of late rentier political economies in the region and their likely future developmental paths.

The actual need for such a building as the Arab World Institute is wellestablished because Arabs are searching for a solid relationship with Westerners. Growth is possible only through education. The Arab World Institute offers the opportunity for education, information, and entertainment, and serves as a hub of activity where all people-Arabs and otherwise-can meet and share cultural distinctions.The Arab World Institute will have at once:A cultural center for the need of the understanding of Arabic civilization,A museum to show the struggle for development in the Arabic world and to illustrate the cultural impact in a symbol of the city's past development,A library to express the architecture's poetic dimension.The Arab World Institute's buildings do not represent a single and imaginary moment in time, but a place of evolution and change. The Arab World Institute's mission will be:To develop a deeper knowledge and better understanding of Arabic culture, language, and civilization,To improve communication and cultural exchange between nations,To further The United States' relationship with the Arab world in order to contribute to developments in the rest of the world. / Department of Architecture

Lo studio analizza la relazione tra la struttura del potere neo-patrimoniale (fondata sullo scambio tra distribuzione arbitraria di opportunità economiche e lealtà politica) e la debolezza del sistema inter-statale arabo. Combinando un approccio storico-istituzionalista e un approccio intermestic, lo studio considera il neo-patrimonialismo arabo prodotto della contraddizione irrisolta tra la cristallizzazione delle sovranità statali imposte dalle ex-potenze coloniali e il progetto politico mancato della ‘Grande Nazione Araba’. Questa dinamica ha prodotto l’illegittimità strutturale dell’ordine inter-statale arabo, che investe lo stato nella dimensione territoriale e nella dimensione del potere. A cavallo degli anni 70’, nei regimi arabi si osserva una transizione dall’autoritarismo populista ad un sistema neo-patrimoniale. Esaminando i casi-studio di Egitto e Siria, questa tesi si propone di analizzare il divario tra lo state-building ‘weberiano’(legale-razionale) e ‘neo-patrimoniale’: in quest’ultimo, la mancanza di istituzionalizzazione legale-razionale impedisce la formazione di un legame di cittadinanza e asseconda la persistenza di identificazioni sociali tradizionali. In riferimento all’Egitto e alla Siria ,l’analisi mira a mettere in evidenza la relazione tra l’indebolimento (o il crollo) del regime e il collasso istituzionale dello stato. Questo fenomeno in Siria, a differenza dell’Egitto, si accompagna ad una ibridazione della sovranità statale, in virtù della frammentazione politicizzata della società siriana. / This thesis investigates the relation between Arab neo-patrimonial power structures (based on the arbitrary distribution of economic opportunities in exchange of political loyalty) and the weakness of the Arab inter-state system. Combining a historic institutional and an intermestic approach, this study considers neo-patrimonialism as the outcome of the unsolved contradiction between the crystallization of western-imposed sovereignties and the missed political project of the ‘Greater Arab Nation’ (contesting colonial borders). This has, in turn, produced the structural illegitimacy of the inter-state order, affecting both the territorial and the authority dimensions of the state. In dealing with this ‘legitimacy problem’, post-1970 Arab regimes have tended to replace populist authoritarian (ideological-grounded) with neo-patrimonial (material-based) power strategies. Through the cases of Egypt and Syria, the study aims at analysing the gap between a ‘Weberian’ (legal-rational) and a ‘neo-patrimonial’ state-building: in the latter case, the missing legal-rational institutionalization hinders a social identification based on citizenship, seconding the persistence of traditional identities. By examining Egypt and Syria’s power structures, this study enlightens the relation between regime collapse and institutional collapse. Unlike Egypt, which enjoys a substantial societal homogeneity, in Syria we witness the hybridization of state’s sovereignty, stemming from the politicized fragmented character of Syria’s society.