Recent labor protests and bread lines in Egypt present a stark contrast to the Egyptian government’s narrative of impressive economic growth, which international financial institutions have validated. Jordan has not experienced serious protests recently, but it is also witnessing growing complaints about inflation despite notable economic growth.
On April 4, Syria issued its first Competition and Anti-Trust Law (Law No 7/2008), which some observers consider a significant marker on the road from a planned to a market economy. The anti-trust legislation follows on the heels of several new laws issued over the past months, including a new commercial law, an incorporation law, and an arbitration law, replacing old ones dating to 1949.
Educational reforms in Gulf Cooperation Council states are often attributed to U.S. pressure, as many in Washington believe that curricula in these countries have encouraged extremism and terrorism. In fact, economic globalization and changes in domestic politics have motivated educational change even more than external pressures related to terrorism.
It is no secret that the European Union’s policies toward the Mediterranean basin are in deep trouble. The Barcelona Process (officially the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership) conceived in 1995 as a means of minimizing migration and external threat by creating a zone of “shared peace, prosperity and stability,” has run aground on the region’s intractable political and economic problems.
As troubling as security issues are in Yemen, they are by no means the only threats to stability. Problems in the economy, institution building, and regional disputes might not grab headlines the way that terrorism and other security challenges do, but they are just as important.
In organizing a founding summit of the Union for the Mediterranean to be held July 13, French President Nicolas Sarkozy perhaps had not initially expected that he would have to invite nearly forty heads of state.
In Iraq, the parliament approved a new investment law in October 2006, which was published in the Official Gazette of Iraq in January 2007. The law aims to facilitate investment by Iraqi and foreign private investors, for example by protecting their rights and property.
The Beijing Olympics mark China’s emergence as a global leader, but present risks that could mar its reputation. Risks include logistical organization, pollution, security, and political protests.
With only days to go before the Olympic Games, Minxin Pei joined a panel of experts on the Diane Rehm Show to discuss what the Chinese government hopes to gain from hosting one of the biggest spectacles in sports.
The massive overhaul of Beijing in preparation for the Olympic summer games was orchestrated by the state's top-down power structure without the participation of civil society. Minxin Pei explains in the Financial Times that political evolution historically associated with economic development is not taking place in China.























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