One overcast morning in the spring of 2015, a man wakes up, gets ready for office and walks along the manicured streets of Dubai whistling his favorite tune. The same evening, he walks back to his sea-facing apartment and switches off the blinding lights. He starts gazing at the neon-covered ceiling, jostling with himself what must have conspired within the space of a day to have lost his job! Unprepared and unaware that in the next 96 days' rollercoaster, he will have to re-live the same questions, till the ghosts of his past, the guilt of his present and the uncertainty of his future beckon his deepest fears! The zealous eventfulness of his job-seeking turns into a tapestry of his own life, matched by a mosaic of gripping self-introspection, and unmatched by the ruthless, swanky, pretentious glamor of the city, he chose as his muse!
Comparative politics students will benefit from CQ Researcher's award-winning, non-partisan reporting that looks at today’s most important problems, ranging from democratization and regime change to policies on immigration, welfare, and religion. Each essay identifies key players, explores what’s at stake, and shows how past and current developments impact the future.
International Issues in Social Work and Social Welfare is a collection of readings from CQ Researcher on various topics relating to Social Work in a global context. The articles will be of great supplemental value for professors looking to infuse international issues into a variety of courses in the social work curriculum, including: Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare, Human Behavior in the Social Environment (Macro theory), Social Policy, and International Social work. It will also be useful in courses on multicultural and cross cultural counseling. The article selections are as follows: * Human Trafficking and Slavery * Child Soldiers * Women's Rights * Rapid Urbanization * Aiding Refugees * Disaster Preparedness * Wounded Veterans * Religious Fundamentalism * Energy Liberalism * Oceans in Crisis * Arian Flu * Anti Americanism
"Dubai" is a remarkable success story. From its origins as a small fishing and pearling community, the emirate has gone from strength to strength, having established itself as the premier trading entrepot of the Arabian Gulf and, in more recent years, having boomed into a massive metropolis of some two or more million people, most of whom are expatriates engaged in an increasingly diversified economy that has become synonymous with startling and innovative architecture. Following a detailed historical background, Davidson's in-depth study demonstrates how Dubai's pioneering post-oil development strategies were implemented against a carefully managed backdrop of near complete political stability, despite the lack of democratisation and genuine civil society.He then addresses the problems that may surface as the need for sustained foreign direct investment encourages far-reaching socio-economic reforms, many of which may affect the ideological, religious, and cultural legitimacy of the traditional monarchy. He also analyses Dubai's awkward relationship with its federal partners in the United Arab Emirates, before highlighting some of the hidden costs of being the region's most successful free port - namely its attractiveness to international criminal fraternities, the global black money economy and terrorist networks.
The COVID-19 pandemic has, with alarming speed, dealt a heavy blow to an already-weak global economy, which is expected to slide into its deepest recession since the second world war, despite unprecedented policy support. The global recession would be deeper if countries take longer to bring the pandemic under control, if financial stress triggers defaults, or if there are protracted effects on households and firms. Economic disruptions are likely to be more severe and protracted in emerging market and developing economies with larger domestic outbreaks and weaker medical care systems; greater exposure to international spillovers through trade, tourism, and commodity and financial markets; weaker macroeconomic frameworks; and more pervasive informality and poverty. Beyond the current steep economic contraction, the pandemic is likely to leave lasting scars on the global economy by undermining consumer and investor confidence, human capital, and global value chains. Being mostly a reflection of the recent plunge in global energy demand, low oil prices are unlikely to provide much of a boost to global growth in the near term. While policymakers' immediate priorities are to address the health crisis and moderate the short-term economic losses, the likely long-term consequences of the pandemic highlight the need to forcefully undertake comprehensive reform programs to improve the fundamental drivers of economic growth, once the crisis abates. Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group Flagship Report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies, on a semiannual basis (in January and June). The January edition includes in-depth analyses of topical policy challenges faced by these economies, while the June edition contains shorter analytical pieces.
Now a major television series starring James Norton (War & Peace, Happy Valley) and created by Oscar-nominated screenwriter and film director Hossein Amini (Drive) and James Watkins (The Woman in Black), co-produced by BBC, AMC, and Cuba Pictures. In this powerful and groundbreaking work, award-winning author and journalist Misha Glenny takes us on a journey through the new world of international organized crime. Tracing the history of the shadow economy, Glenny exposes the nexus of crime, politics, and money that has come to shape and inform the post–Cold War era. From gun runners in the Ukraine to money launderers in Dubai, cyber criminals in Brazil, and racketeers in Japan, McMafia builds a breathtaking picture of a secret and bloody business. This edition features a new chapter reflecting on the expansion of McMafia culture in the past decade and its infiltration of major institutions of the global elite — including the most powerful centres of government — brought to light by revelations such as WikiLeaks and the Panama Papers.
This book examines whether Islamic finance and Islamic economics is challenging the orthodoxy of the money markets. Can ethical finance combined with the prohibition on interest and speculation really work in the global economy? With a political economy approach, the book explores how the industry has grown in modern times – from a short-lived bank in an Egyptian city in the 1960s through to a global industry that is today valued at US$2.05 trillion. From the revelation as articulated by the Prophet Muhammed in the seventh century through to the gleaming 21st century skyscrapers of Dubai and Kuala Lumpur, the book covers the end of European colonialism, the controversial utterances of self-styled religious leaders, the impact of Islamophobia, and the efforts to end poverty through Islamic microfinance. The book uncovers an industry that is both profitable and changing the face of contemporary capitalism.
Recommendations -- Methodology -- Migrant construction workers in the United Arab Emirates -- Exploitation of migrant construction workers -- UAE labor law -- Workers' human rights and government obligations under international law -- Acknowledgments -- Appendix 1. Human Rights Watch letter to UAE Minister of Labor -- Appendix 2. UAE government response to Human Rights Watch's letter.
From the visionary bestselling author of The Second World and How to Run the World comes a bracing and authoritative guide to a future shaped less by national borders than by global supply chains, a world in which the most connected powers—and people—will win. Connectivity is the most revolutionary force of the twenty-first century. Mankind is reengineering the planet, investing up to ten trillion dollars per year in transportation, energy, and communications infrastructure linking the world’s burgeoning megacities together. This has profound consequences for geopolitics, economics, demographics, the environment, and social identity. Connectivity, not geography, is our destiny. In Connectography, visionary strategist Parag Khanna travels from Ukraine to Iran, Mongolia to North Korea, Pakistan to Nigeria, and across the Arctic Circle and the South China Sea to explain the rapid and unprecedented changes affecting every part of the planet. He shows how militaries are deployed to protect supply chains as much as borders, and how nations are less at war over territory than engaged in tugs-of-war over pipelines, railways, shipping lanes, and Internet cables. The new arms race is to connect to the most markets—a race China is now winning, having launched a wave of infrastructure investments to unite Eurasia around its new Silk Roads. The United States can only regain ground by fusing with its neighbors into a super-continental North American Union of shared resources and prosperity. Connectography offers a unique and hopeful vision for the future. Khanna argues that new energy discoveries and technologies have eliminated the need for resource wars; ambitious transport corridors and power grids are unscrambling Africa’s fraught colonial borders; even the Arab world is evolving a more peaceful map as it builds resource and trade routes across its war-torn landscape. At the same time, thriving hubs such as Singapore and Dubai are injecting dynamism into young and heavily populated regions, cyber-communities empower commerce across vast distances, and the world’s ballooning financial assets are being wisely invested into building an inclusive global society. Beneath the chaos of a world that appears to be falling apart is a new foundation of connectivity pulling it together. Praise for Connectography “Incredible . . . With the world rapidly changing and urbanizing, [Khanna’s] proposals might be the best way to confront a radically different future.”—The Washington Post “Clear and coherent . . . a well-researched account of how companies are weaving ever more complicated supply chains that pull the world together even as they squeeze out inefficiencies. . . . [He] has succeeded in demonstrating that the forces of globalization are winning.”—Adrian Woolridge, The Wall Street Journal “Bold . . . With an eye for vivid details, Khanna has . . . produced an engaging geopolitical travelogue.”—Foreign Affairs “For those who fear that the world is becoming too inward-looking, Connectography is a refreshing, optimistic vision.”—The Economist “Connectivity has become a basic human right, and gives everyone on the planet the opportunity to provide for their family and contribute to our shared future. Connectography charts the future of this connected world.”—Marc Andreessen, general partner, Andreessen Horowitz “Khanna’s scholarship and foresight are world-class. A must-read for the next president.”—Chuck Hagel, former U.S. secretary of defense This title has complex layouts that may take longer to download.
