Although human trafficking continues to be a growing problem around the world, there are scarce quantitative methodologies for evidence-based research because it is hard to gather reliable and comparable data on human trafficking. It is also difficult to track patterns in human trafficking on a regional or global scale because the victims are a vulnerable population. Using Datta and Bales conceptualization of modern slavery as the theoretical foundation, the primary purpose of this study was to establish a baseline measurement of trafficking predictors in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) as well as understand the statistical relationship between measurements of corruption, democracy, state of peace, and terrorism on the prevalence of contemporary slavery in the MENA region. Data were collected from the 2016 Global Terrorism Index, 2016 Democracy Index, 2016 Corruption Perception Index, 2016 Global Slavery Index, and the 2016 Global Peace Index and analyzed using multiple linear regression. The results of the study showed that corruption (p=.017) and state of peace (p=.039) were significant predictors for contemporary slavery in the MENA region. Whereas, terrorism and democracy were not significant predictors. The positive social change implications of this study include recommendations to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to create a central repository for the archival of human trafficking data. The creation of this archive will promote a more accurate accounting of a vulnerable population such as victims of trafficking, thereby increasing awareness of contemporary slavery among law enforcement, policy makers, and scholars.

This master's thesis focuses on Russian international trade of conventional weapons. Arms trade had played an important role during the Cold War as a tool to gain influence. Currently, Russia is using it to regain the influence it had lost after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in various regions around the world. At the same time, Russia is the second largest arms exporter after the United States. The thesis briefly addresses past Russian arms trade, but the main focus is on the decade between 2010 and 2020. It answers the question whether Russia currently uses its arms trade opportunistically to only maximalise its economic profit or whether it serves as a part of a larger strategy to balance the influence of the United States. The work focuses on Asia, the MENA region, and Latin America. It analyses circumstances surrounding arms deliveries from Russia into the countries in these regions. The thesis consists of several case studies, which illustrate the evolution of Russian approach towards arms trade. It reaches the conclusion that, for Russia, international arms trade is an important tool to help reach its foreign policy goals. Russia maintains strong and stable relations with the most important trade partners to support its defence industry. At the same time, other countries receive...

The development of a methodological framework for local and institutional sustainability assessment can be helpful for planners and urban governments. The aim of this research is to develop an approach to local and institutional sustainability assessment (ALISA). It is designed to assist in the clarification, formulation, preparation, selection, and ranking of key indicators to facilitate the assessment of city sustainability at the local and institutional level in the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) cities. The ALISA methodological framework is developed using joint documentary and analysed data in the two case studies of Benghazi and Amman. The data for this also includes focus-group discussions, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires that reflect the approach required in order to develop a combined framework that assists the development of sustainability indicators. The initial list of proposed sustainability indicators for Benghazi contains 37 indicators. This list was developed based on logical information and procedure which has been supported by consultants and specialists in sustainability and urbanization from the University of Benghazi in the form of workshops as well as searching through the literature on sustainable development. Similarly, with support from consultants and specialists in sustainability and urbanization from the Applied science University a list of 36 indicators was also developed in Amman. Both lists were given to the local communities in Benghazi and Amman to be ranked based on priority to identify two final lists of sustainability indicators. The results indicated that economic and social indicators were highly ranked in Benghazi and Amman, respectively.

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Liberal Arab thought has long been fighting for elbow room in the political discourse in Egypt. The ruling nationalist–statist ideology from Nasser to Mubarak is renown for its repression of political dissidents, and the Islamist opposition often side with the ruling elite in its resistance against liberal reformers and democratization. Political liberalism is associated with a host of professional andpersonal risks and many are silenced. The Arab Spring revolutions across the MENA from December 2010 throughout the spring of 2011, however, seem to have revived the interest for liberal ideas in the Arab world.This thesis investigates the impact of the Arab Spring on the liberal Arab discourse in Egypt. It asks whether the revolution has lead to increased opportunities for liberal Arabs to voice their opinions, and how the tone of the public debate has been affected. A discourse analytical researchmethod is used to scrutinize thirty opinion pieces from two major Egyptian newspapers in the timeframe November 2010–September 2011, on eight sample days. The work also considers 115 articles published after the revolution on the sample days to monitor the impact of the events on the public debate quantitatively.The study finds that the most salient feature after February 2011 in the op-ed material examined is the forming of the “Tahrir Square discourse,” a symbolically charged ideational entity that associates itself with liberal political rhetoric and values. It is a major influence during the stated period affecting 77% of the 115 post-revolution articles. The Tahrir Square discourse is an expression of a more permissive climate for voicing liberal and reform-friendly opinions, the thesis concludes. The empirical material exhibits more profuse mentioning of and advocacy for these values after the revolution. The tenor and rhetorical mode vary greatly in the studied articles; despite this, a broad support for the revolution itself is present. The study, however, is reluctant as to the permanence of these changes.

La relation entre capital humain et employabilité bien que clairement démontré d'un point de vue théorique n'est cependant pas toujours vérifiée de façon empirique. On peut ainsi constater un paradoxe de l’éducation dans les pays MENA où le taux de chômage augmente avec le diplôme et où les taux d'activité et plus particulièrement les taux d'activité des femmes sont faibles. Nous cherchons donc, à travers trois études empiriques, à mettre en évidence les éléments pouvant contrarier cette relation entre accumulation du capital humain et employabilité. Nous portons tout d'abord notre attention sur la Tunisie et le Maroc où le taux de chômage des diplômés du supérieur est particulièrement important. Nous menons dans un premier temps une analyse macroéconomique concernant ces pays avant de mener une analyse microéconomique en nous focalisant sur la région de Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz où nous analysons la relation entre le niveau d’éducation et l’accès à un emploi rémunéré. Notre seconde étude se positionne sur le marché du travail français où nous analysons l’accès à l’emploi ainsi que le différentiel salarial afin de déterminer si l’existence de « discriminations » peut contrarier la relation entre capital humain et employabilité. Enfin, notre troisième étude complète notre précédente approche concernant l’accès à l’emploi en prenant en compte des parcours scolaires des jeunes et plus seulement de plus haut diplôme obtenu. / The relationship between human capital and employability is clearly demonstrated by the review of the theoretical literature however, not always verified empirically. We can thus see a paradox of education in MENA countries where the unemployment rate increases with the degree and where participation rates and especially female activity rates are low. So we’re looking through three empirical studies to bring out the elements that can upset the relationship between accumulation of human capital and employability. First we bring your attention to Tunisia and Morocco where university graduates unemployment rate is particularly important. We lead initially macroeconomic analysis for these countries before leading a microeconomic analysis by focusing on the region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz where we analyze the relationship between the level of education and access to paid employment. Our second study is positioned on the French labor market where we analyze the access of employment and the wage differential to determine whether the existence of “discriminations” can upset the relationship between human capital and employability. Finally, our third full study our previous approach regarding access to employment, taking into account the educational pathways of young people and not the highest degree obtained

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which was adopted in 1979, and the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action have generated global and regional momentum in the advance of equal gender opportunities. This research explores the increased presence of women in higher education and their subsequent entry into the workforce in the United Arab Emirates. The government has attempted to reduce its citizens' dependency on public sector employment and promote opportunities in the private sector. Governmental efforts have included improving the education system, granting women access to education and introducing funding schemes to encourage employment initiatives. Yet, despite these efforts, unemployment across the UAE remains at a high level, with public sector favoured by Emirati nationals. The country's drive to nationalise the labour force reflects the necessity of utilising the capabilities of Emirati nationals, both men and women, to diversify the rentier state economy. Emiratisation is a national government strategy in the United Arab Emirates that aims to reduce the country's reliance on expatriate labour and increase the participation of nationals in the labour market, both in the public and private sectors. The research for this thesis begins by exploring the inadequacy of classical rentier state theory and examining Mathew Gray's theory of late rentierism within the context of the United Arab Emirates. It further builds on the late rentierism model with a particular focus on the role of women, education and youth participation. The methodological approach used in this research is primarily qualitative, including interviews with final year university students, and professionals in the banking sector of both sexes. These groups were chosen to highlight the practical implications of governmental Emiratisation policies aiming to increase job opportunities across the United Arab Emirates. To date, very little research has been conducted on the issues of gender, work life balance policies and new workforce trends in the UAE.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-14T13:38:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 387407.pdf: 1131542 bytes, checksum: 63fc7d97e063aec7968cda0da7eff638 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-01-05 / O presente trabalho analisa, atrav?s do teatro, a express?o cultural da heran?a colonial e das conseq??ncias da crise pol?tico-social em Angola com base na an?lise de tr?s dramas de Jos? Mena Abrantes: Sem Her?i nem Reino ou o Azar da Cidade de S. Filipe de Benguela com o Fundador que lhe Tocou em Sorte (1997), Ana, Z? e os Escravos (1980) e Am?sa ou a Can??o do Desespero (1991). Observa, na express?o da dramaturgia, a trajet?ria que vai da situa??o colonial ? guerra civil p?s-independ?ncia, suas conseq??ncias humanas, culturais e art?sticas, e estabelece uma vis?o cr?tica da condi??o da na??o em sua diversidade social e na busca da pr?pria identidade. O estudo interpretativo tem como base as teorias de Stuart Hall, Homi Bhabha e Benjamin Abdala J?nior, nos estudos culturais, e Roman Ingarden, Emil Staiger, K?te Hamburger e Anne Ubersfeld, no estudo do g?nero dram?tico, e se estabelece a partir do entrecruzamento das an?lises tem?ticas e textuais. Na constata??o de que todo per?odo de conflito estimula a express?o art?stica, percebe-se que, atrav?s do teatro, ? poss?vel provocar a identifica??o direta e imediata do leitor/espectador com a situa??o proposta, estabelecendo uma postura cr?tica tanto por parte do artista como do p?blico.

RWTH, Philosophische Fakultät, Diss--Aachen, 2007.

Le premier chapitre présente la finance islamique, ses principes, ses produits, ses institutions. Le deuxième chapitre, présente une comparaison entre les deux systèmes bancaires, islamique et conventionnel à partir d'une étude de ratios bancaires et une analyse en composantes principales. Le troisième chapitre a pour but de clarifier les différents facteurs attirant les clients vers les banques islamiques et montre que ceux-ci ne se limitent pas aux critères religieux pour faire leur choix. Le quatrième chapitre analyse les marges d'intermédiation des banques islamiques et conventionnelles, en utilisant une approche dynamique du panel (Arellano-Bond, 1991). Il conclut que les banques islamiques se caractérisent par des marges plus élevées. Le cinquième chapitre examine, pour les deux systèmes bancaires, l'impact de la pression réglementaire. Il apparait que les banques islamiques et conventionnelles opérant dans la région MENA se caractérisent par des niveaux de capital déjà bien au-dessus du minimum réglementaire, et que la pression réglementaire n’a donc pas d’impact sur les banques islamiques. Cette inefficacité de la réglementation prudentielle peut être expliquée par l’inadaptation de cette réglementation à la nature du risque de ces banques. Enfin, le sixième et dernier chapitre, étudie la relation entre le capital et le risque de défaillance. Il en ressort que, dans la zone MENA, la probabilité de défaillance serait plus élevée pour les banques islamiques. / The first chapter presents Islamic finance, its principles, its products, its institutions. The second chapter presents a comparison between the two banking systems, Islamic and conventional through a study of banking ratios and principal component analysis. The third chapter aims to clarify the factors attracting customers towards Islamic banks and shows that they are not confined to religious criteria for their choice. The fourth chapter analyzes the intermediation margins of Islamic and conventional banks, using a dynamic approach of the panel (Arellano-Bond 1991). It concludes that Islamic banks are characterized by higher margins. The fifth chapter examines, for the two banking systems, the impact of regulatory pressure. It appears that Islamic and conventional banks operating in MENA are characterized by high capital levels which already well above the regulatory minimum, and therefore regulatory pressure has no impact on Islamic banks. This inefficiency of prudential regulation can be explained by the inadequacy of the regulations to the nature of the risk of these banks. The sixth and final chapter examines the relationship between capital and the risk of failure. It shows that, in MENA, the probability of failure is higher for Islamic banks.