Academic literature on the topic 'Culture conflict Arab countries'

The term “anti-American” sounds debatable in analyzing the relationship between Islamic world and United States. This term arguably stems from Huntington’s thesis on clash of civilization, which argued that the culture is the main belligerent instead of countries in the conflict. Two main cultures: the contrast between the West and Islam often eventually shapes the rivalry relationship between these two civilizations. Investigating the persistence rivalry between the two through critical literature review method, this article tries to answer the question of why Muslims are still hostile to American culture. It further argues that that media, which are mostly from Middle Eastern countries, have essential in shaping the fluctuated trend of anti-American sentiment among Muslims. This heavily depends on the impact of US foreign policy on Arab that might precipitates anti-American sentiments.

The term “anti-American” sounds debatable in analyzing the relationship between Islamic world and United States. This term arguably stems from Huntington’s thesis on clash of civilization, which argued that the culture is the main belligerent instead of countries in the conflict. Two main cultures: the contrast between the West and Islam often eventually shapes the rivalry relationship between these two civilizations. Investigating the persistence rivalry between the two through critical literature review method, this article tries to answer the question of why Muslims are still hostile to American culture. It further argues that that media, which are mostly from Middle Eastern countries, have essential in shaping the fluctuated trend of anti-American sentiment among Muslims. This heavily depends on the impact of US foreign policy on Arab that might precipitates anti-American sentiments.

<p>UNTSO was the first peacekeeping mission created by the United Nations. They have been in the Middle East since June 1948 with the task of overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire between Israel and Arab countries, including seeking resolution of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. One of the reasons many UN peace missions fail, including UNTSO, was because the peacekeepers do not have the ability to understand the local culture in which they are placed. One of the main difficulties faced by peacekeepers in a conflict involving two groups with two different cultures is uncertainty about cultural values. UNTSO personnel very rarely received training as such and like the usual army, their tendency is to use violence to solve conflicts. There should be a special cultural training focused on developing an understanding of the cultural context, such as background orientation, origin, conflict parties, history, religion, customs, and local community language. This paper tries to provide an analysis through an understanding of cross-cultural competency, which is expected to provide recommendations for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.</p>

This study applied news framing theory with mixed quantitative and qualitative methods to analyse news items (N = 1348) about ordinary Arabs on Al Jazeera Arabic, Al Arabiya and Nile News TV shortly before the Arab Spring. Results show that ordinary Arab citizen representation was low. Overall, there were significant differences in networks’ framing of ordinary people. Importance, negativity and conflict values dominated the news featuring ordinary citizens. Arab news networks did not provide adequate time for citizens to voice opinions, and limited representation occurred via vox pop, footage and indirect reference. Networks employed negative sentimental framing (protest and rejection, economic problems, victimization, health problems and mistrust in governments) and mainly portrayed citizens of countries undergoing crises and wars. Arab television news should prioritize sharing the opinions, concerns and successes of ordinary Arab people and engage in constructive journalism rather than concentrating on problem frames without offering solutions.

This study investigated the impact of corporate culture dimensions (empowerment, competence development, fair rewards and information sharing) on the affective, continuance, and normative organizational commitment in the banking sector in Kuwait. An empirical analysis was conducted across permanent, full-time and part-time employees (managers and non-managers) of five large private banks in Kuwait (n = 398). Both Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and hierarchical regression analyses were used to draw the relationship between these variables. The results showed that sixty percent of variables confirmed previous studies and the remaining ones, surprisingly, were in conflict with previous studies due to some specific Kuwaiti cultural factors. Researchers are challenged to delve deeper into the complex relationship between variables since many of the studies have been conducted in Western societies; thus, the findings can be useful in future comparative studies. A replication of this study in other Arab countries with either the same corporate culture dimensions developed earlier or extended ones could reveal whether these results are country-specified or may be generalized to other countries.

Major developments in the translation of literary works from Arabic into French and English and vice versa tend to indicate that it has been influenced by the geopolitical relationship between the Arab world and Western countries. In my paper I try to show how the essence of this translation history has taken root in the power differentials and conflicts between these two entities by analyzing three different phases of translation, namely: - Napoleon Bonaparte’s Expedition to Egypt in the 18th century and the translation movement that followed in the 19th century. - Post-Second-World-War phase including the intense translation activity during the Nasser era. - From 1988 (when Mahfouz was awarded the Nobel Prize) to the post-9/11 era. I will also explain how translators (like Canadian-born Johnson-Davies) played a key role in these times of war and/or peace. The work of some of them can also be considered as a form of resistance against prevailing (often negative) representations of the Other and its culture. The article ends with reflections on the current (and future) situation of the translation of Arabic literature into English and French.

We can say that culture includes knowledge, arts, morals, beliefs, customs and other capabilities that a person obtains from life. The difference in the cultures that the groups of Jews from different parts of the world carried to (Israel) led to a difference in customs and traditions between them, and this in turn led to a conflict between them in particular and between cultures in general. That is, the culture of the Sephardi Jews and the culture of the Western Ashkenazi Jews.Sephardi are the Jews who immigrated from Arab and eastern countries, while Ashkenazim are the Jews who immigrated from Western countries (European, America and Russia(. Therefore, (Israel) worked in two directions with these immigrants, some of them called for integration with the new society, and the other part to assimilate them. But with all these attempts, some of them ended in failure. The eastern Jews (Iraqis in particular) have kept the Iraqi customs and traditions that they were brought up with and did not lose their identity. I will discuss in this research some of these customs and traditions that they maintained even after their immigration to (Israel). Such as the use of some Arabic expressions, oriental food, eastern folklore, through some stories and novels written by Iraqi Jewish writers who immigrated to (Israel), such as Shimon Palace, Samir Naqqash, Anwar Shaul, Sami Michael.

The review analyzes the recent book written by an American military expert and political scientist Kenneth Pollack and entitled Armies of the Sand: Past, Present and Future of the Effectiveness of Arab Armies. The author of the monograph has been studying Arab armies and Middle East conflicts for more than 30 years and had previously published several papers that consider the military organization of different countries in the region. In this book, Pollak seeks to summarize long-standing discussions that consider the reasons for the low military effectiveness of the Arab armies after the Second World War. The author consistently examines four principal arguments that seek to explain the reasons for the failures of the Arab armies on the battlefield (the influence of the Soviet military doctrine, politicization, the level of socio-economic development, culture). For each of the hypotheses, Pollack selects the most representative examples from the history of military operations carried out by the Arab armies after 1945. In doing so the researcher tries to prove or disprove the hypotheses. To better substantiate his conclusions Pollack also examines whether non-Arab armies that presumably faced the same difficulties as the Arab ones also performed poorly on the battlefield. The author concludes that Arab culture has been the most influential factor that prevented Arab armies from winning wars.

Introduction. The article is devoted to the development of relations between Bulgaria and the Arab countries in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The development of relations between Bulgaria and the countries of the Arab East is of interest in the context of the study of the forms, directions of cooperation, reasons for the mutual interest of peoples heterogeneous in ethno-confessional and cultural terms. Methods and materials. The historical-typological, historical-systemic methods and the civilizational approach used in the article allow to analyze the process of the emergence, development and transformation of the Bulgarian-Arab relations in political, trade, economic, cultural areas. Analysis. Before World War II the international mechanisms were being created for the further development of trade, economic, and political ties between the Arab states and Bulgaria together with infrastructure and sea transport routes. The problems in the development of Bulgarian-Arab relations were caused by the difficulties in forecasting of the processes, which were often subordinate to the subjective factor, personal ambitions and emotions of Arab leaders. Bulgarian diplomacy demonstrated the great patience to maintain relations that met the country’s interests. The cooperation between Bulgaria and the Arab countries developed in various forms with noticeable positive dynamics. Political changes in a number of Arab countries and inter-Arab conflicts did not fundamentally affect relations, but caused only temporary difficulties. Despite the fact that the systemic changes, which occurred in Bulgaria in the 1990s, became a restraining factor in the development of the Bulgarian-Arab relations, they were restored due to the mutual interests of the states at the turn of the 20th – 21st centuries. Results. It is concluded that Bulgaria had established diplomatic relations with almost all Arab countries by 1960. The main direction of development of ties until the 1990s was dictated by political and ideological considerations, but trade and economic relations often preceded political ones. Bulgaria had gone beyond the traditional exchange of goods and switched to such forms of cooperation as construction, engineering design, tourism, culture, exchange of specialists, and personnel training. At the end of the 20th century Bulgarian leadership returned to the development of relations with Arab countries, which was dictated by the needs of the market economy development, new political realities and Bulgaria’s attempts to identify its place in the modern world.

It would be a mistake to believe that the Arab regional system (heretofore referred to as the ‘Arab regional system’; ‘the system’ or the ‘regional system’) is endangered by the current instability and upheaval affecting the Arab region, and that the threats that currently loom over it are new and unlike anything that have previously been faced. It would be equally erroneous to believe that the current dangers and threats are merely a repetition of what the system has experienced before and was able to confront and deal with. To say that the Arab regional system is a ‘product of struggle’ that originated and developed amid the successive waves of internal conflict between the countries that it comprises and the external clashes with other regional and international powers would not be an exaggeration. Up to now the Arab regional system has disproved all the analyses that predicted its death, beginning with Fouad Ajami's famous studies entitled “The End of Pan Arabism” (1978/79, in Foreign Affairs 57 (2): 355–373) and The Arab Predicament: Arab Political Thought and Practice since 1967 (1992, Cambridge University Press) to Burhan Ghalioun's article for Al Jazeera (“Nihayah al-nizam al-iqlimi al-'arabi” [The end of the Arab regional system]. Al Jazeera, 10 March 2004), just as it proved its ability to contain the threats it faced and to adapt to them. The reason for its survival is primarily attributable to a unique feature that distinguishes it from other regional systems; this feature combines two characteristics: geographical continuity between a group of neighbouring states (with the exception of Somalia and the Comoros Islands), and linguistic homogeneity, cultural affinity and a sense of belonging to a common space of civilization and culture, while simultaneously acknowledging the existence of diversity and distinctive particularities. The question arises today as to whether the Arab regional system can continue to sustain itself successfully, or whether the present challenges and threats it now faces are of a new kind that go beyond the capabilities of its institutions and member states? Within this context, this opinion and position paper focuses on the author's point of view and the essential factors supporting it. It does not present, discuss or critic the views of others. The paper is divided into three parts: the first describes the origin of the Arab regional system and its development in the heart of struggle; the second describes the new factors that endanger and challenge the status quo; and the third proposes scenarios for the future of the Arab system.

This thesis, The Arab as Spectacle, is about representation. It is about the limits and the contradictions of representation. It is about the burden and the violence of representation. It is about the persistence of Orientalism and how the hierarchies of race and gender intersect with discourses on sexuality to inform and inflect the representation of Arabs in contemporary literary and media spheres of Australian popular culture. This thesis comprises two sections. Part One is a research dissertation that explores the strategies, devices and parameters of the representation of Arabic culture and identities through close readings of specific texts. This theoretical project inaugurates the second part of my study which takes up the question of the contradictions of representation through a collection of ficto-critical writings. Through these satirical narratives, I seek to expose and disrupt the hegemony of Orientalist representations that proliferate in English language literature and news media by bringing into focus the inherent paradox of representation, working within and against Orientalist representational traditions. In so doing, it is not my aim to 'correct' the Orientalist logic and imagery that I theorise in the first part of this thesis, but rather to undermine the spurious truth-value of Orientalist representations by deploying the literary weapons of satire, parody and irony. In this way, my fiction works to engage creatively and critically with the very tropes that I theorise in my research dissertation.

This thesis examines nationalism and colonialism in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and asks the questions: What is the relationship between these ideologies and "national narratives" constructed of collective historical memory? How do these ideologies produce recognizable, sexualized, national bodies? What are the defining characteristics of these national bodies and how do they perform roles from the national narratives? These questions are addressed through a discussion of the role of masculinity in modern Zionism and the state of Israel, in particular how it relates to the land of Palestine and the Palestinian "other". This thesis also addresses anti-colonial resistance movements in Palestine and argues that performative nationalism produces a fetishized commodity that can me labeled "militancy". This militancy is found institutionalized in the popular culture of everything from poetry to political posters. Finally, Palestinian female suicide bombers, like women nationalists before them, do little to challenge how specific nationalist acts of resistance are defined by patriarchal nationalists and sexualized within a "gendered space of militancy".

Since the advent of the Internet, the use of e-commerce has been an emerging way of conducting business. E-commerce has the potential to radically alter economic activities and social environments. Widespread use of information and communication technologies (ICT) along with their widespread diffusion has led to speculation about "frictionless" economies in which the transaction costs are nearly zero, contestability and barriers to entry disappear, as well as markets clear instantly. Although e-commerce is becoming pervasive and has high impact on businesses as well as people's lives, it is still far from achieving its potential as a global electronic marketplace, in particular in Arab countries. This study investigated constructs that impede the use of e-commerce in the Arab countries; more specifically Saudi Arabia. A predictive model was proposed, based on the constructs found in the literature, in order to predict people's intention to use ecommerce in Arab countries. The study further validated the proposed model empirically in order to find the weight of each construct and its contribution to predicting intention to use e-commerce in Arab countries. Finally, the study empirically tested the differences between Saudi Arabia, where the use of e-commerce is somewhat limited, and the United Arab Emirates, where the use of e-commerce is thriving, to find if there was a significant difference in intention to use e-commerce. A theoretical model was proposed, and two statistical methods were used to formulate models and test predictive power: Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and Ordinal Logistic Regression (OLR). It was predicted that gender, attitude towards ICT, SES, CSE, perceived usefulness of e-commerce, and culture would have a significant impact on intention to use e-commerce in the Arab countries. Results showed overall significant models of the six aforementioned factors in predicting intention to use e-commerce in Arab countries. Additionally, results demonstrated that attitude towards ICT, CSE, perceived usefulness of e-commerce, and gender were significant predictors of the use of e-commerce in the Arab countries, while culture was not found to be significant predictors. It was also found that the significant predictors were responsible for 75% of the variance in intentions to use e-commerce. To find the differences in intentions to use e-commerce in Saudi Arabia and the UAE test analysis was used, which found significant differences in intention to use ecommerce within the two countries, with UAE residents having much higher intentions to use e-commerce. The data also revealed that women in Saudi Arabia have a much higher intention to use e-commerce as compared to men in Saudi Arabia. However, in the UAE males have a higher intention to use e-commerce as compared to females. This study includes two important contributions. First, an investigation of factors that contribute to Internet user's intentions to use an emerging business technology in the Arab countries. This study has been developed specifically to respond to the questions regarding the lack of use of e-commerce in Saudi Arabia, and second, an investigation of key constructs contributing to the intention of the Internet users in the Arab countries to use emerging technologies to conduct business over the Internet.

O conflito israelo-árabe tem provocado, desde há muitos anos, o desgaste político, social, económico, assim como das relações entre Israel e os países árabes. Este conflito merece atenção quanto à criação de novas estratégias para alterar a realidade dos países envolvidos, através do rompimento da violência e da promoção de um compromisso para a paz. A presente tese procura estudar o problema a partir da investigação bibliográfica diversa e da análise do período compreendido após os Acordos de Oslo até à atualidade. Tomamos a disputa territorial entre Israel e a Palestina como ponto fulcral do conflito, assim como as rivalidades históricas como princípios norteadores que envolvem Israel, a Palestina, o Egito, o Líbano e a Síria na contenda regional. Partimos da hipótese de ser Israel, enquanto país mais forte na região e aquele que se encontra mais isolado das relações diplomáticas e comerciais com a maioria dos países árabes, a iniciativa de desenvolver uma estratégia para alterar positivamente a situação vigente. Os objetivos compreendem a verificação e a análise da política de Israel em relação à Palestina, ao Egito, ao Líbano e à Síria e a importância de uma nova estratégia israelita em direção ao compromisso de paz com os principais vizinhos árabes. Tal como as políticas de ambos os lados têm sido desenvolvidas, elas pouco têm contribuído para a normalização daquelas relações. Ao contrário, criaram-se novos obstáculos que inibem possíveis Acordos. As negociações bilaterais justas são praticamente inexistentes, o que dificulta o avanço ao nível multilateral, que é necessário para se alcançarem Acordos fiáveis e imparciais. Porém, nenhuma das partes se tem se mostrado disposta a conduzir as negociações bilaterais e multilaterais com o compromisso de romper com o passado belicoso. Hoje, é fundamental a génese de novas políticas e estratégias que assegurarem a estabilidade política entre os países envolvidos; ABSTRACT: Title: Israel and the Middle East Between Past and Future. A Strategic Reassurance of Commitment to Peace. The Arab-Israeli conflict has caused, for many years political, social, and economic distress in the relations between Israel and Arab countries. This conflict deserves attention as well as the creation of new strategies to change the reality between the countries involved, by ending violence and promoting commitment to peace. This work aims to study this problem through diverse literary research and analysis of the period after the Oslo agreements to the present day, using the territorial dispute between Israel and Palestine as a focal point of the conflict, as well as historic rivalries as guiding principles involving Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria in regional strife. We believe that the initiative to develop a strategy to positively change the current situation comes from Israel, while it's the strongest country in the region and the most isolated from diplomatic and trade relations with most Arab countries. Our work intends to verify and analyse Israel's foreign policy towards Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria and the importance of a new Israeli strategy towards the commitment to peace with key Arab neighbors. As policies of both sides have been developed, some have contributed to the normalization of those relations. In contrast, new obstacles have been created that inhibit possible agreements. Fair bilateral negotiations are practically non-existent, making it difficult to advance to a multilateral level, which is necessary to reach reliable and impartial agreements. However, neither party has proved willing to conduct bilateral and multilateral negotiations with the commitment to break its warlike past. Today, the creation of new policies and strategies that ensure political stability between countries involved is fundamental.

Beginning with my exploration of art as an aesthetic object, this paper shows the growth of my work and concept. Through my practice, I have been able to understand the contradictions in my traditional society and western modernity. It has helped me grapple with my own beliefs, and begin to confront those I don't agree with.
M.F.A.
Masters
Visual Arts and Design
Arts and Humanities
Emerging Media; Studio Art and the Computer

This study was a qualitative examination of social, economic, political, and cultural dilemmas that face Peruvian survivors of the Communist Shining Path Revolution, an internal armed conflict that cut a swath of terror and destruction during the years 1980-2000, with a reported loss of 69,000 residents either killed or considered “disappeared.” The conflict affected primarily poor, uneducated Andean campesinos and townspeople in the highland areas of the Ayacucho District. In this study, I looked closely at the responsibilities of both government and NGOs in the facilitation of readjustment during and after times of instability. In addition, specific challenges the elderly, women and campesinos face in a post-conflict world are analyzed and possible social policies are discerned that might be developed to better implement the transition to a new form of community. Ideas that emerged from this research may assist policy shapers in other less developed countries involved in similar conflicts by examining how Peru dealt with its own issues. Methodology included participant observation and interviews with long-term Ayacuchan residents who stayed-in-place during war time, along with migrants who went to live in shantytowns in more urban areas. The government-mandated Truth and Reconciliation Commission report serves as a framework as it outlined those ultimately deemed responsible and detailed what those affected may expect in the way of appropriate reparations and compensation in the future. Much emphasis is given to the emerging role of women and how ensuing shifts of gender specific cultural roles may affect familial and communal bonds in small-scale societies.

International relations can be reviewed from different perspectives. One of them is through culture. In general, a lecture and an analysis of it from this specific point of view has been neglected, attracting much less attention comparing to other issues, like the political science, the international law, or the economics. The cultural perspective offers a mirror of the reality and can contribute to a better understanding of the external relations and on what is happening at other levels, usually considered as more relevant in the foreign policies and the traditional diplomacy, like politics, trade and commerce, or military issues. At the same time, this cultural perspective needs a transversal focus to offer a real insight and overview of the actual scope, due to the multifaceted feature of culture considered in its broad approach. The international presence and the role of culture within the bilateral relations is conditioned by the definition of the external cultural policies and the priorities and strategies in its bilateral relations with third countries. Sometimes the external cultural policies can have a close link with the internal cultural policies as well, being a projection of the internal priorities in the international context. The institutional structure and the competences of the different institutions can also influence in the role of culture in the bilateral relations of a specific country. Aside of that, there are other relevant factors that can be determinant in the bilateral relations, like the historical background or the bilateral political and commercial relations, among others. Culture in the context of the international relations and cooperation between Europe and Egypt includes from the institutional level, the bilateral and multilateral relations of the European Union, and its 28 Member States at an individual level as well. Otherwise, some of these European countries have had a long presence during the colonialist period, maintain historical ties, or have economic interests in Egypt. Within this framework, the different cultural policies are embedded in the external actions of the bilateral cultural relations and cooperation, where the cultural projection is a component of the public diplomacy as a form of soft power. The present research has as primary objective to get a deep inside of the bilateral relations, and the identification of some quantitative indicators and qualitative aspects of the European bilateral relations from the public sector, and makes a detailed analysis of which is the present situation of culture in the context of the international relations with a strategic country of the Arab world like Egypt. Getting an insight into the different facts, parameters and indicators allows to identify the different exogenous and endogenous factors which can have a determinant role, jointly with the explicit and implicit objectives, and other elements to consider, including priorities, strategies, instruments and activities. Actions taken into consideration are those from the European Union, and some of its Member States, which are reviewed and compared in a systematic way. This research takes as case study five of the European countries, the most populated of the European Union, and several specific fields. It starts checking the way how each individual country is presenting its external cultural policy in the official web, and followed by the cultural bilateral relations with Egypt. Then it is verified the role of the national cultural institutes, the archaeological cooperation, the higher education, the research and scientific cooperation, the presence of culture in the cooperation to development and the media. Finally it is revised the European Union's cultural presence through actions and initiatives in Egypt, and checked how the individual cultural bilateral relations of the selected countries fit together with them. The result offers a broad and comprehensive perspective of the presence of culture in international relations and cooperation in the particular case of Egypt. The analysis carried out allows concluding an insufficiently structured place of culture in the European external relations and cooperation with Egypt, the missed coordination among the different actors involved, the individual interests, and some incoherencies as well.
Les relacions internacionals poden ser examinades des de diferents perspectives. Una d'elles es des de la cultura. En general, una lectura i un anàlisi d'aquest punt de vista específic ha estat oblidat, i ha atret molta menys atenció comparat amb altres temes com són els temes polítics, el dret internacional o els econòmics. La perspectiva cultural ofereix un mirall on es reflexa la realitat, que pot contribuir a un millor enteniment de les relacions exteriors i sobre el que succeeix a altres nivells, normalment considerats com a més rellevants dins de la política exterior i la diplomàcia tradicional, com són els temes polítics, comercials o militars. Al mateix temps, aquesta perspectiva cultural necessita una mirada transversal per poder oferir una mirada profunda i al mateix temps global de la actual abast del tema, ja que abraça diferents àmbits de la cultura, que en aquest cas és considerada en la seva aproximació més amplia. La presència internacional i el rol de la cultura a les relacions bilaterals està condicionada per la definició de les polítiques culturals exteriors i de les prioritats i estratègies en les seves relacions bilaterals amb països tercers. De vegades les polítiques culturals externes poden tenir un vincle estret amb les polítiques culturals internes, sent una projecció de les prioritats internes en el context internacional. L'estructura institucional i les competències de les diferents institucions poden també tenir una influència en el rol de la cultura en les relacions bilaterals d'un país concret. A part d'això, hi ha altres factors rellevants que poden ser determinants de les relacions bilaterals, com són els antecedents històrics o les relacions bilaterals polítiques i comercials, entre d'altres. La cultura en el context de les relacions internacionals i la cooperació entre Europa i Egipte inclou des del punt institucional les relacions bilaterals i multilaterals de la Unió Europea, així com les dels seus 28 estats membres a nivell individual. Per altre banda, alguns d'aquests països europeus han tingut una llarga presència durant el període colonial, mantenen vincles històrics, o tenen interessos econòmics a Egipte. En aquest marc, les diferents polítiques culturals estan encaixades en les accions exteriors de les relacions culturals bilaterals i de la cooperació, on la projecció cultural és un component de la diplomàcia pública com a forma de soft power. La recerca té com a principal objectiu aprofundir sobre les relacions bilaterals, i la identificació d'alguns dels indicadors quantitatius i aspectes qualitatius de les relacions bilaterals des del sector públic, i fer un anàlisis detallat sobre quina és la situació present de la cultura en el context de les relacions internacional amb un país estratègic del món àrab com és Egipte. Aquest aprofundiment en els diferents factors, paràmetres i indicadors permet identificar els diferents factors exògens i endògens que poden ser determinants, juntament amb els objectius explícits i implícits, i altres aspectes que s'han de considerar, com les prioritats, estratègies, instruments, i activitats. Les accions que es prenen en consideració són les de la Unió Europea, i d'alguns dels seus estats membres, que són revisades i comparades d'una manera sistemàtica. Aquest treball agafa com a estudi de cas a Egipte, i també analitza a cinc països europeus, els cinc més poblats de la Unió Europea, i alguns dels camps culturals específics. Com a marc general es comença per veure la manera com cada un d'aquests països individuals presenta la seva política cultural exterior a les pàgines webs oficials, i es continua amb les relacions culturals bilaterals amb Egipte. Després es verifica el rol dels instituts nacionals de cultura, la cooperació arqueològica, l'educació universitària, la investigació i la cooperació científica, la presencia de la cultura a la cooperació al desenvolupament, i els media. Finalment es revisa la presencia cultural de la Unió Europea mitjançant les accions i les iniciatives a Egipte, i com les relacions culturals bilaterals individuals dels països seleccionats hi encaixen. El resultat ofereix una perspectiva àmplia i comprensiva de la presencia de la cultura a les relacions internacionals i la cooperació en aquest cas particular d'Egipte. L'anàlisi que s'ha portat a terme permet concloure que la cultura té un lloc insuficientment estructurat a les relacions exteriors europees amb Egipte, l'absència de coordinació entre els diferents actors involucrats, els interessos individuals, així com algunes incoherències.
Las relaciones internacionales pueden ser examinadas desde diferentes perspectivas, una de ellas es desde la cultura. En general una lectura y un análisis desde este específico punto de vista ha sido dejado de lado, atrayendo mucha menos atención en comparación con otros temas, como las ciencias políticas, el derecho internacional, o la economía. La perspectiva cultural ofrece un espejo donde se refleja la realidad, y que puede contribuir a una mejor compresión de las relaciones exteriores y sobre lo que sucede a otros niveles normalmente considerados como más relevantes en las relaciones exteriores y la diplomacia tradicional, como son los temas políticos, de comercio internacional o los temas militares. Al mismo tiempo esta perspectiva cultural necesita un enfoque transversal para ofrecer una visión detallada y al mismo tiempo global para conocer su alcance real, debido al carácter multidisciplinar de la cultura, considerada en su amplia aproximación. La presencia internacional y el rol de la cultura en las relaciones bilaterales están condicionados por la definición de las políticas culturales exteriores, además de las prioridades y estrategias en las relaciones bilaterales con países terceros. Por otro lado, frecuentemente las políticas culturales exteriores pueden tener vínculos estrechos con las políticas culturales a nivel nacional, siendo una proyección de las prioridades internas en el contexto internacional. La estructura institucional y las competencias de las diferentes instituciones públicas también pueden influenciar en el rol de la cultura en las relaciones bilaterales de un determinado país. Además de ello, también hay otros factores relevantes que pueden determinar las relaciones bilaterales, como los antecedentes históricos o las relaciones bilaterales políticas y comerciales, entre otras. La cultura en el contexto de las relaciones internacionales y la cooperación entre Europa y Egipto incluye, a nivel institucional, las relaciones bilaterales y multilaterales de la Unión Europea, así como sus 28 estados miembros a nivel individual. Además de ello, algunos de estos países europeos han tenido un larga presencia durante el periodo colonial, mantienen lazos históricos, o tienen intereses económicos en Egipto. Dentro de este marco las diferentes políticas culturales se encuentran incluidas en las acciones exteriores de las relaciones culturales bilaterales y la cooperación, donde la proyección cultural es uno de los componentes de la diplomacia pública como una forma de soft power. La presente investigación tiene como principal objetivo profundizar en las relaciones bilaterales y la identificación de indicadores centrados en diversos aspectos cuantitativos y cualitativos de las relaciones bilaterales europeas desde el sector público, y analiza en detalle sobre cuál es la situación presente de la cultural en el contexto de las relaciones internacionales con un país estratégico del mundo árabe como es Egipto. Esta profundización de los diferentes factores, parámetros y indicadores permite identificar los diferentes factores exógenos y endógenos que tienen un rol determinante, juntamente con los objetivos explícito se implícitos, y otros elementos que se deben considerar como son las prioridades, las estrategias, instrumentos y actividades culturales. Las acciones consideradas son las de la Unión Europea y las de algunos de sus estados miembros, la cuales son revisadas y comparadas de forma sistemática. Esta investigación se centra en el estudio de case de cinco países europeos, los cinco estados miembros de la Unión Europea más poblados, y en diferentes campos específicos. Se inicia supervisando la forma como cada país individualmente presenta su política cultural exterior en sus páginas web oficiales, seguido por una revisión de las relaciones culturales bilaterales con Egipto. Luego en diferentes capítulos se verifica el rol de los centros culturales nacionales, la cooperación arqueológica, la educación universitaria, la investigación y la cooperación científica, la presencia de la cultura en la cooperación al desarrollo, y los media. Finalmente se analiza la presencia cultural de la Unión Europea en Egipto a través de diferentes acciones e iniciativas, y como las relaciones culturales bilaterales de los países europeos seleccionados encajan con ellas. El resultado obtenido ofrece una amplia y comprensiva perspectiva sobre cuál es la presencia de la cultura en las relaciones internacionales y la cooperación en el caso particular de Egipto. El análisis llevado a cabo permite concluir un lugar insuficientemente estructurado de la cultura en las relaciones exteriores europeas con Egipto, la falta de coordinación entre los diferentes actores involucrados, los intereses individuales, así como algunas incoherencias.

AbstractThe Arab World has sadly witnessed protracted conflict affecting several of its regions in recent years. Conflict-affected populations have been significantly impacted by chronic deficiencies in medical care including unprecedented numbers of refugees and migrants requiring ongoing support in neighbouring countries. Humanitarian response to crisis has historically focused on the supply of nutrition, water, and emergent trauma relief, followed by control and prevention of infections. Prevention and management of non-communicable diseases, specifically cancer, have been relatively neglected; however, with regional conflicts lasting for many years, cancer care has become an increasingly urgent issue to be addressed. The humanitarian community has stressed the need for situational assessment regarding disease prevalence and available resources, with identification of specific regional challenges. Lack of infrastructure, important diagnostic and treatment modalities, clinical experts and regulatory bodies are the main obstacles to cancer care at all stages from screening and prevention to therapeutics and palliation. The initial step to improving cancer care provision should be implementing needs-based priority assessment and policies within the context of governing bodies that control and monitor performance. Collaboration and coordination among national and international organizations and stakeholders are essential to improve data collection on which to base resource allocation and address growing disparities in cancer outcomes.

AbstractThe 300th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death in 1916 coincided with an unprecedented political crisis across the globe. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 brought to the fore the ambitions of the established and would-be colonial powers, conflicts between and within existing nation states, and disenfranchised groups’ aspirations for self-determination. Recent scholarship has demonstrated how the 1916 Shakespearean commemorations in countries such as Britain, Germany, Ireland, and the USA registered these political upheavals. However, research into the Shakespeare Tercentenary has so far neglected Egypt’s complex response to the occasion. Amidst developing political tensions, which were to culminate in the Revolution of 1919, Egyptian intellectuals nevertheless chose to commemorate Shakespeare’s Tercentenary. These commemorations, however, were marked by ambivalence: while expressing admiration for Shakespeare, Egyptian commentators questioned the appropriateness of celebrating an English writer instead of promoting Egypt’s, and the Arabs’, own national literature. This chapter examines the manifestations of these conflicting feelings, ranging from the heated press debates surrounding the occasion, through Cairo University’s celebrations, to tributes published by individual intellectuals, such as Ahmad Lutfi al-Sayyid and Mohammed Hafiz Ibrahim. In doing so, the chapter explores the ambiguities created by celebrating a cultural anniversary at a historical moment fraught with acute colonial tensions.

This research explores the impact of technology and culture on higher education in two Arab countries. In western countries where higher education is common, individuals regardless of their gender can meet, communicate, and collaborate at anytime at any place of their choice. This may not be true in Arab countries due to the social, cultural, and religious reasons. We argue that adoption of technology could provide a comparable learning environment to students in these countries. We present results of a case study based on surveys conducted in two universities, Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) in Jordan and Zayed University (ZU) in United Arab Emirates (UAE). Survey results show that adoption of technology has (a) improved the motivation and confidence level of students, (b) improved their communication and technical skills, (c) encouraged students to collaborate using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools, and (d) allowed students to be more independent. These improvements would not have been possible without technology in a gender-segregated society.

Coffee plays a significant role in today’s Arab culture, and it has long been considered one of the main aspects of Arab history, culture, heritage, and hospitality. It has even been recognized by UNESCO, which added Arabic coffee to its Intangible Cultural Heritage List following the application by several Gulf countries. This study explores the nation-building process of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through its heritage, with specific reference to the coffee pot (dallah). The UAE forms its national identity (the Emirati identity) by deriving it from a broader identity (that is, being Arab) and defining it to a regional identity (Khaleeji). Moving from a regional to a national identity is intended to unite the seven emirates under one standard identity, but at the same time contain common characteristic features and solidarity with Khaleej and other Arabs. Slight differences to strengthen the desired national (Emirati) identity and differentiate the UAE from the neighbors will be enough in creating national heritage. This study examines how the UAE attempts to create its own heritage, one that is common among its seven emirates, to unite them under one identity. The coffee pot, however, has common features with other Arab and Khaleeji countries, as can be clearly seen from the map. Meanwhile, the process is still in progress, and to date, no consensus has been achieved.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the social-economic situation in the Syrian Arab Republic in the period from the 60s of the last century to the present. It can be argued that of all the conflict hotbeds in the Middle East region, Syria has suffered the greatest losses. The real challenges for Syria now lie in the economy even more than during the active phase of hostilities. Syria needs deep reforms in the social-economic sphere. Thus, the study of the current stage of the social-economic development of Syria is relevant for understanding the internal problems of one of the key countries in the Middle East.

Introduction: Weight-based oppression is a widespread phenomenon in Western countries. External sources of weight-based oppression include exposure to stigmatizing or exclusionary social, cultural, economic, political and built environments, weight bias and discrimination, and weight-based bullying and violence. Internal sources of weight-based oppression are the internalized negative attitudes, values and beliefs people hold about body weight. Weight-based oppression is associated with a range of psychological, physiological and behavioral harms such as depression, anxiety, disordered eating, hypertension, allostatic load, cortisol reactivity and oxidative stress. Research on weight-based oppression is largely absent from the Arab region. The objectives of the study were to examine the internalized attitudes, values and beliefs related to body weight, and experiences of external weight based oppression, including teasing, bullying, stigmatization, and discrimination among staff, faculty and students at Qatar University. Methods: We conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 29 participants (25 females) aged 18 to 53 years who were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling. Thematic analysis was used to identify major themes. Results: Internal and external weight-based oppression were experienced by all participants and regarded as so common in Arabic culture as to be normative. There were five major themes that related to the various types of weight based oppression experiences, internalized feelings about weight based oppression, and the timing, source and impact of weight based oppression. Conclusion: Weight-based oppression in the Arab region is an important and unrecognized public health issue. Programs should be developed to reduce exposure to weightbased oppression in all sectors. Reducing teasing, bullying and negative experiences related to body weight in childhood should be a public health priority.

There is limited data from Arabic-speaking countries on risk factors for depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Country-specific data is necessary given differences in culture, demographics, and COVID-19 infection and mortality rates. This study intended to identify the factors associated with symptoms of depression-anxiety in the adult population of Qatar during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey in Qatar between July and December 2020 after Qatar’s first COVID-19 wave and before the beginning of the second wave. Depression-anxiety was defined as a cut-off of 20 or higher on the PHQ-ADS scale. Of 1138 participants, 71.05% were female, 69.0% Arabs, and 70.0% Non-Qataris. 77 % were < 40 years (the median age in Qatar is 32 years). In a fully-adjusted model, six variables were significantly associated with PHQ-ADS; Arab ethnicity (OR=1.67, p=0.026), never married (OR=1.69, p < 0.015), prior psychiatric history (OR=1.80, p=0.009), Social Media induced worries (OR=1.72, p=0.003), history of COVID-19 (OR=1.76, p=0.039), loneliness (OR=1.91, p < 0.001), and lower levels of religiosity (OR=0.96, p=0.039). The potential risk factors identified may assist with anxiety and depression prevention in future COVID-19 waves, similar national events and assist with early intervention to treat sufferers.

Political culture is the values, beliefs, and emotions that members of a society express about the political regime and their role in it (Pickering, 2022, p. 5). Norms, values, attitudes and practices considered integral to a “culture of democracy”, according to the Council of Europe, include: a commitment to public deliberation, discussion, and the free expression of opinions; a commitment to electoral rules; the rule of law; and the protection of minority rights; peaceful conflict resolution. The consolidation of democracy involves not only institutional change, but also instilling a democratic culture in a society (Balčytienė, 2021). Research on democratic consolidation in various countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) finds that a key impediment to consolidation is the persistence of old, authoritarian political culture that undermines political and civic participation. This rapid review looks at aspects of democratic culture and potential ways to foster it, focusing on educational initiatives and opportunities for civic action — which comprise much of the literature on developing the values, attitudes and behaviours of democracy. Discussion on the strengthening of democratic institutions or assistance to electoral processes is outside the scope of the report.