Latest FARAS periodical issue throws light on regional
trends.
The widening debate over the role of Arab armies, shifts in the roles of
proxies in conflict zones, the return of al-Qaeda to the front of global
jihadist landscape, the shifts in energy alliances in Eastern Mediterranean, as
well as the threat of insider attacks in security institutions, are all among
the trends featured in the 18th issue of Trending Events, the bi-monthly
academic journal of the Abu Dhabi-based Future for Advanced Research &
Studies (FARAS).
Role of
Arab Armies
In the
opening editorial titled "Armies: Why is there a focus on Armed Forces
in Arab Countries?", Dr. Mohamed Abdelsalam, Director of FARAS, proposed a critical approach towards
relating issues such as the military-civilian relationship, reforms in the
security sector, foreign military intervention as well as the future of Arab
armies. Special emphasis was placed on the issues of these armies from domestic and regional perspectives taking into
account special conditions in concerned countries, the central roles of armies
in propping up national economies at a time
of crisis as well as countering internal and external threats.
In Future Study titled “Proxies: Dual Employment of Non-State Actors
in Conflicts across the World”, Researcher in African Affairs at Al-Ahram
Foundation, Dr. Khalid Hanafi argues that the roles of proxy forces are no
longer limited to indirect intervention in wars, but have expanded into
peaceful domains to carry out missions such as easing and settling conflicts,
and peace-building in conflict zones. The contrasting context, he argues, feature diverse
types of proxies and their roles, their relationship with their sponsors, and
the limits of their loyalty and independence. The reliance on proxies is viewed
as part of involved states' adaptability to regional and international transformations
to reduce the cost of the intervention.
Fate of
Regional Blocs
The Future
Opinion segment offers answers to a range of regionally challenging and controversial questions. “What
is the Fate of the Perceived Idea of Regional Blocs?” is one question
addressed by Dr. Ahmed Yousef, Professor of Political Science at Cairo
University, analyzing the general implications of Brexit with a focus on its repercussions
on the Arab region.
The
question of “Whether Liberal Democracy Suffered a Setback?” was
addressed by Dr. Bahaa Makkawi, Associate Professor of Sociology and Head of
the Department of Political Science at Bahrain's Applied Science University, providing
an analysis of prospects and indicators of this regress across the world.
“Will Turkey Achieve Stability?” was addressed in the opinion piece penned by Turkish Professor Dr. Nurşin
Ateşoğlu Güney, Chair of the Department of Political Science and International
Relations at Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul, Turkey, and Vice President
of and Security and Nuclear Energy Fellow at the Wise Men Center for Strategic
Studies (BILGESAM). Her article
focuses on the repercussions of the June 15 failed coup attempt on the domestic
situation as well as Turkey's approaches to security and military threats.
Professor Kamal Bin Younis, Director of Arab African Strategic Studies
Forum, discussed the issues and challenges facing the Tunisian model of
political transition citing indicators of failures, security, economic and
social challenges facing the state as well as opportunities that can be seized
to support transition in the country, in an article titled “What are the
Problems Facing the Tunisian Model?”
Declining
Language of Dialogue
In the Future Analysis section, Samuel Greene, Assistant Professor
at National Defense College, UAE and A.J. Notle, Researcher at the Catholic University
of America, addressed the rising trends of the degeneration of political
dialogue language in an article named “Moral Breakdown: Repercussions of the
Deteriorating Political Dialogue Language in the US Elections”. They explain the reasons for
the phenomenon being, deterioration of political sophistication and statesmanship,
eroding social capital and widening social class divisions in the United
States.
Samuel
Marrero, Executive Officer at the Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for
Strategic Studies, a U.S. Department of Defense institution, wrote an analysis titled
“ISIS Retreat: Indicators Revealing al-Qaeda at returning to the forefront
of the Global Extremism Landscape.” The author stresses that ISIS decreasing
control over its key strongholds in Syria and Iraq does not mean the elimination
of the group. ISIS, he argues, will concentrate its presence in alternative
centers to expand regionally. Persisting factors that helped the group expand include political instability, social
disappointment and the breakdown of some states in the Middle East. Marrero
also cites indicators of al-Qaeda's fresh
return and expansion within the landscape of global extremism.
Turkish
researcher in international development and politics, Serhat Cubukcuoglu,
discusses the topic of “Orderism: Preliminary
Signs of a Russian ideology challenging Western democracy.” The foundations
of this ideology, he says, include, for
instance, prioritization of stability over democratization, the view that
Western democracy led to inequality, chaos and instability and an inclination
to focus on religious and conservative values to counter secularism.
Researcher
in international relations, Dr. Yusra Al-Sharqawi,
puts the focus of her analysis on divisions in American society to address the
topic of “Racial tensions: The Widening Protests of African Americans in the
United States.” Increasing racism of US police, escalating protests against
police violence and the underlying reasons of
a sense of inequality among African Americans in the US were also addressed in the analysis.
Dr. William Gueraiche, Associate Professor, and Chair of the Department of
International Relations at the American University in the Emirates wrote on “War
Images: the Media Coverage in Asymmetrical Conflicts.” The article focuses
on the emerging trends of asymmetrical media wars, political utilization of
pictures in light of the states' loss of control over the flow of information, and
the armed non-state actors' use of cyberspace and social networking sites to
manipulate information, attract the attention of media, as well as carry out
the missions of promotion, recruitment and funding.
In the security
studies section of this issue, the topic of “Insider Threats: Internal
Breaches in US Security Agencies” was addressed by Hussam Ibrahim, Head
of the International Studies Program at FARAS,
where he focuses on US policies to prevent these breaches and in particular the
procedures for issuing security
clearances.
Tamer
Badawi, a Researcher in political economics, discusses the “Gas Conflict:
Shifts in Energy Alliances in the Eastern Mediterranean,” and argues that these changes
are linked to Turkey’s reconciliation
with Israel, and the agreement between Russia and Turkey over the TurkStream
natural gas pipeline project, which will supply Russian markets. The article
also discusses Russia's increasing military presence in the Mediterranean, the
rapprochement between Greece and Cyprus, in addition to the increasing
discoveries of gas reserves in the Mediterranean.
Among the economic topics of the new issue of FARAS' periodical, the Co-Founder
and Managing Director of Delta Research Center, Dr. Ahmed R. El-Safty, and Head
of Economic and Social Studies Unit at Delta Research Center, Mohammed
El-Sanousi, analyze the “Outsourcing Reform: the Increasing Role of Consultancies
in the Arab region”, and elaborate on the increasing profits of the firms
operating in the government sector, the growing role of global consultancies in
proposing visions for economic reforms as well as future strategies for
economic development and diversification of the sources of national income of
the client states.
Mona
Mustafa Mohammad, Researcher at FARAS,
addressed “Privacy Breaches: Repercussions of
Augmented Reality Applications.” Her elaborate analysis asserts that
the widespread use of these applications and
the increasing availability of images, information and electronic content in
the real world environment of users, have led to
integration between reality and the virtual. The widespread of these
technologies led to its usage in the fields of military training, printing,
education, technical support, personal assistance and air navigation. She further
argues that escalating security threats, espionage,
and cyber beaches are among the applications’ negative implications.
The Workshops
segment covers key trends addressed by the latest FARAS workshops and seminars. Topics include Non-traditional
Threats: How to Protect Critical Infrastructure
from Cyber Breaches, Threats to Stability: Security Challenges
and Prospects in Algeria and Features of Hybrid Warfare from the
Reality of International Experiences.
In another supplement, How Does the Other World Think?, the Academy
Fellow at Chatham House, Nikolay Kozhanov, presents an analysis of the ”Coming
Danger: Russian Pre-emptive Policies to Counter Foreign Fighters”, while
Associate Professor of International Relations at Jahangirnagar University in
Bangladesh, Shahab Enam Khan, discusses the “Hague Tribunal's Ruling: A New Phase
of Conflict in the South China Sea.”
Santo Wool Shaul, Director of the Kush Center for Research and
African Studies, presents an analysis of ”Influential Powers: African Efforts
to Enhance the Role of the Continent in International Politics”, while Doctoral
Student in political science at the University of Granada, José González, writes
an analysis on “Multilatinas: Prospects of Latin Companies' Global Expansion”.
International
trade features in the State of the World section of the journal, where
Adviser at the Al-Siyassa Al Dawliya magazine of Al-Ahram Foundation, Karen
Aboul Kheir, discusses “Endangered Globalization: Future of Global Trade amid
the Escalating Indigence in Western Societies.”
In the State
of the Middle East section, Marwa Sobhi, an Assistant Professor at the
Faculty of Economics and Political Science at
Cairo University, places a focus on “Profound Shifts: Erdogan's Domestic and
Foreign policies in the wake of the Failed Coup.”
The Future
Concepts supplement offers analysis of the theoretical concepts and
frameworks associated with the rising phenomenon of lone wolf terrorism. The Executive Editor-in-Chief of Trending
Events periodical, Shady Abdelwhab, analyses "Individual Terrorism: Definition,
Patterns, and Main Features,” while Ali Baker, a researcher at Al-Siyassa Al-Dawliya magazine
of the Al-Ahram Foundation, focusses on "Possible
Jihad: Reasons Terrorist Organizations Resort to Unorganized Terrorism."
In the same supplement, Head of Societal Transformations Program at FARAS,
Hala Elhefnawy, discusses the topic of “Black Widow: The Use of Jihadist Women
in Terrorist Attacks”, while Assistant Professor of Political
Science at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University,
Mohammed Abdallah Younes, discusses “Lone Wolf: The Main Approaches to Counter
the Phenomenon of Lone Wolves.”
"The
45th President: Exceptional Elections in the History of the United States" is the title of the Future Report supplement of the latest
issue of FARAS journal where the editor offers
an elaborate analysis titled, “The American Dilemma: Seven Domestic and
Foreign Challenges Facing the next President.” Furthermore, Assistant
Professor at Cairo University's Faculty of Economics and Political Science,
Raghda El-Bahi discusses the topic of "Complicated
Process: How US President is Elected?" While Amr Abdul Ati, a Doctoral Student in US Affairs and Associate
Editor of Al-Siyassa Al-Dawliya magazine elaborates on "Trump
Vs. Hillary: Who is the Next US President?" to analyze the strengths
and weaknesses of presidential candidates, sources of fundraising for campaigns
and advocacy groups supporting candidates.
Assistant Professor of Political Science at Assiut University, Ahmed El-Shoura
Abu Zeid, discusses “National Priorities: Domestic Issues Featured in Presidential
Candidates' Programs”, while Professor of International Relations at Cairo
University's Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Dr. Riham Bahi,
analyses the topic “Coming Challenges: the Middle East in Candidates' Foreign
Policy Programs.”
The Future
Report supplement also presents an infographic illustrating the electoral
process in the United States, the changing results of polls as well as funding
for election campaigns.