Geographic Realities In The Middle East And North Africa

Celebrating the work of Keith McLachlan, a well-known and much-admired geographer of the Middle East and North Africa, this book combines three interrelated topics that define the region. The Middle East has been integral to the growth of the global oil industry, an aspect of its evolution since 1908 which has had profound geopolitical implications as well. The territory was also the arena for the last European experiment in colonialism, a development that has left its legacy even today. And, historically, it has been the location of the great hydraulic civilisations of Egypt and Mesopotamia yet is still dependent on the flow of its two major river systems – the Nile and the Tigris-Euphrates – in an era of impending climate crisis. These themes form the essence of themes that are discussed in the chapters that follow. Keith McLachlan played a significant role in our understanding of these themes and of their effects in the contemporary world, as the comments of those who worked with him and have contributed towards this book reveal. Examining agriculture, oil and state construction, this volume offers an insight into how the contemporary Middle East was constructed after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. It is a key resource for scholars and students interested in geopolitics and the geography of the Middle East.

The new edition of The Middle East Today provides an accessible and comprehensive introductory textbook for undergraduate students of Middle East Studies, Middle East politics and geography. This updated and revised edition features a host of pedagogical features to assist students with their learning, including; detailed maps and images, case studies on key issues, boxed sections and suggestions for further reading. The book highlights the current issues facing the Middle East, linking them to the rich political, geographical and cultural history of the region. The author examines the crises and conflicts, both current and potential, likely to dominate the region in coming years. The second edition has been fully updated and revised to include discussion of such recent events as: the effects of the Arab Spring Turkey's growing influence in the region the dramatic increase in Iran's nuclear capabilities Usama bin Laden's death and declining support for violent extremist movements in the Middle East. Further supplemented by a companion website containing sample chapters, a selection of maps formatted for use in presentations, and annotated links to online resources and websites, The Middle East Today is an essential resource for all students of Middle East Studies, Middle East politics and geography.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a large, complex, and diverse region, which faces a wide range of economic issues. The MENA group includes Algeria, Bahrain, Cyprus, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. This book uses analytical tools drawn from the trade, labor, finance, and development literature to critically analyze and compare these countries' economic policies. The approach taken in this book is to focus on the economic policies and institutional arrangements which have evolved in MENA and which may serve to explain the differences in each country's economic performance. The key objective of the book is to unravel the context-specific variety of growth-promoting policies within MENA rather than focus on specific countries. This book stresses that the poor performance of Arab MENA can be chiefly explained by their aversion to a Western paradigm of market economics. In the advanced industrial countries and in Israel, “globalization” is largely viewed in economic terms — the free movement of goods, services, labor and capital across borders. In the Arab MENA, however, “globalization” is viewed in largely ideological terms and has been regarded as a new version of imperialism. Consequently, the Arab MENA region remains one of the most un-globalized regions in the world. The book serves as both a textbook and a summary of the very large literature on MENA. It examines the following economic realities of the region and compares them across the MENA economies: Technology gap and comparative developmentThe value of education and human capital developmentWater and food securityThe economics and politics of oilPopulation growth, role of gender, and labor mobilityThe role of the state as economic actorThe economic value of democracyThe prospects for regional integration

Clearly illustrated with basic maps, these books present a systematic review of twenty-five years of development, covering the physical, economic, social and political environments of contemporary Africa, the Middle East and Asia

Comparing demographic trends in Europe and the NAME-region (North Africa and the Middle East), this book demonstrates how population change interacts with changing economic landscapes, social distinctions and political realities. It also provides food for thought for those who are looking for a nuanced perspective on the background and future perspectives of demographic developments in Europe, for a discussion of recent demographic and political realities in the NAME countries, and for those who analyse the effects of contrasting demographic regimes on migration flows to and migration politics in Europe.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is an economically diverse region. Despite undertaking economic reforms in many countries, and having considerable success in avoiding crises and achieving macroeconomic stability, the region’s economic performance in the past 30 years has been below potential. This paper takes stock of the region’s relatively weak performance, explores the reasons for this out come, and proposes an agenda for urgent reforms.

Current demographic trends raise new questions, challenges and controversies. Comparing demographic trends in Europe and the NAME-region (North Africa and the Middle East), this book demonstrates how population change interacts with changing economic landscapes, social distinctions and political realities. A variety of drivers contribute to demographic change in the various regions and countries considered, such as family policies, economic realities, the impact of educational differentials and the attitudes towards marriage. On the macro-level the new trends are restructuring the age composition of populations and are reshaping the life courses of individuals and families. In turn, the impact demographic forces have on the organisation of labour markets, on fiscal policies, on the care of the elderly, on migration flows and on political changes can be quite radical. The volume provides food for thought for those who are looking for a nuanced perspective on the background and future perspectives of demographic developments in Europe, for a discussion of recent demographic and political realities in the NAME countries, and for those who analyse the effects of contrasting demographic regimes on migration flows to and migration politics in Europe. Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http: //www.tandfebooks.com/page/openaccess. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license.

The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle-Eastern and North African History critically examines the defining processes and structures of historical developments in North Africa and the Middle East over the past two centuries. The Handbook pays particular attention to countries that have leapt out of the political shadows of dominant and better-studied neighbours in the course of the unfolding uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. These dramatic and interconnected developments have exposed the dearth of informative analysis available in surveys and textbooks, particularly on Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria.

The author looks at relations between Africans and Arabs from a historical and contemporary perspective. Tensions and hostilities in relations between the two partly fuelled by enslavement of Africans in Arab North Africa and in the Middle East today, the mistreatment of African workers in Arab countries as well as racism directed against them in the Arab world are some of the subjects covered in the book. Modern-day slavery is one of the most disturbing aspects of relations between Africans and Arabs. Documented cases of Africans sold at slave markets in Arab countries such as Libya and Algeria are some of the subjects addressed by the author. Racism is one of the biggest problems Africans face in Arab countries. Some of the biggest victims are housemaids who are tortured, brutalised, raped and even killed by their employers, working as slaves for 18 to 20 hours every day, are grossly underpaid and very often are not paid at all. Some of them even commit suicide because of the physical and emotional abuse they suffer. The author has documented some cases in his book. The plight of African migrants in North Africa, racism against them and against black people born and brought up in Arab countries, the perception and image of black people in Arab countries, modern-day slavery as an accepted way of life in Arab countries, what black visitors experience when they visit Arab countries, questions of identity – Arab versus African, why many Arabs of North Africa say they are not Africans, what needs to be done to address the asymmetrical relationship between Africans and Arabs, are some of the other subjects addressed as well. The author also contends that there is an imperative need for black African countries to be more self-reliant instead of depending on Arab countries to employ a large number of unemployed Africans under conditions which amount to slavery simply because their governments at home have failed to provide employment opportunities for them. The book is also a “blueprint” for Africa's redemption and how black African countries can address the problem of racism their people are subjected to, when they work in Arab countries of North Africa and in the Middle East, and explains why there has been some reluctance by African leaders to confront the problem even when the whole world knows black people are bought and sold like cattle and goats in Arab countries to work as slaves. The author contends that the final solution has to come from Black Africa, not from the Arab world. Among the strongest advocates of subcontinental Pan-Africanism - excluding Arab countries in North Africa - were presidents Kamuzu Banda and Leopold Sedar Senghor, Nigeria's vice president Obafemi Awolowo, and Anthony Enahoro, Nigeria's minister of information. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has articulated the same position. And as former Tanzanian president, Julius Nyerere, Nyerere stated: "Because of the imperatives of geography and history and religion and language, North Africa is part of the Middle East.....Africa south of the Sahara is isolated....Africa south of the Sahara is on its own.....Therefore, to develop, it will have to depend upon its own resources basically. Internal resources, nationally; and Africa will have to depend upon Africa. The leadership of the future will have to devise, try to carry out policies of maximum national self-reliance and maximum collective self-reliance. They have no other choice.”