Journal of Arabian Studies最新文献

{"title":"Heritage Tourism in Kuwait: Prospects for Economic Diversification","authors":"Radhika Lakshminarayanan","doi":"10.1080/21534764.2019.1647668","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2019.1647668","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Recent volatility in oil markets and the economic constraints of a budget deficit are compelling “rentier” states like Kuwait to seek various avenues for economic diversification. This article suggests that promoting heritage tourism could potentially transform the economy and propel tourism growth overall. It seeks to identify the prospects for heritage tourism development through an exploration of the tangible and intangible heritage of Kuwait. The paper provides an insight into challenges and constraints facing heritage tourism development in Kuwait including the need for training, education, image branding and marketing. Finally it suggests a framework for sustainable heritage tourism. Primary data was collected through field work in heritage institutions and museums and informal interviews with staff and visitors, and complemented by institutional brochures, official websites, newspaper reports, tourist information and government databases.","PeriodicalId":37102,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Arabian Studies","volume":"4 1","pages":"112 - 92"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86936301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"What Influence Do Advisory Assemblies Have? A Print Media Analysis of the UAE’s Federal National Council, 2011–15","authors":"G. Burton","doi":"10.1080/21534764.2019.1625192","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2019.1625192","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Where does the UAE’s Federal National Council fit in the scholarship on comparative legislative studies? Is it a “transformative” and “active” assembly (i.e. it makes legislation and policy) or is it an “arena” and “reactive” assembly (i.e. it focuses on public debate and policy influence)? Constitutionally, the FNC is portrayed as one of the Arabian Gulf region’s weaker assemblies. This article challenges that assumption. An analysis of the FNC’s media coverage in two newspapers in 2011–15 shows that its members’ actions resulted in the body acquiring a more expansive role. Members went beyond their formal revising powers of bills to propose legislation and funding and challenge ministers. The analysis also identifies members’ subject priorities (i.e. the economy and social security) and backgrounds, including more media attention accorded to members from smaller/poorer emirates (i.e. not Dubai and Abu Dhabi) and little difference between those who were elected and appointed.","PeriodicalId":37102,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Arabian Studies","volume":"79 1","pages":"13 - 32"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76665055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Troubled Waters: Insecurity in the Persian Gulf","authors":"P. M. Young","doi":"10.1080/21534764.2019.1625196","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2019.1625196","url":null,"abstract":"in the traumatic aftermath of 9/11, Miller records the initial attempts by Saudi officials –– as well as their counterparts in other GCC states –– to cast doubt upon suggestions that the attacks were carried out largely by Saudi citizens, with Bandar bin Sultan suggesting that “if Iran had not targeted Gulf tankers during its war with Iraq in the 1980s... . America would never have entered the region to protect Gulf shipping” (p. 105). Miller concludes that “such denial, diversionary tactics and torturous arguments pointed to the sheer magnitude of the crisis that the 9/11 attacks, bin Laden and Al-Qaeda represented for the Saudi elite” (ibid.). Other chapters in the book examine various aspects of economic diversification and development in the GCC states, and the growth of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha into aspirant global hubs in the 2000s. While Miller notes that the GCC did achieve technocratic successes in certain areas, such as harmonization of regulations, the final pages of Desert Kingdoms to Global Powers also make clear just how unexpected was the split within the GCC that tore apart the organization in the year after the book was published. Thus, Qatar’s new emir “demonstrated a willingness to heal the worsening rift” between Qatar and Saudi Arabia after he came to power in 2013 (p. 263), but Miller also makes the prophetic, in retrospect, observation that a latent concern existed among other GCC states –– that “Riyadh wants to hijack legitimate security concerns in order to extend its own influence across the region” (p. 267). This happened in 2017 to Qatar, where Miller is based, and any updated edition of this book surely will have an additional chapter on the Gulf rift and its implications for regional politics and international relations. For now, though, Desert Kingdoms to Global Powers succeeds masterfully in explaining how the Gulf states got to where they are, and provides plenty of clues as to where they may go next.","PeriodicalId":37102,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Arabian Studies","volume":"14 1","pages":"116 - 118"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75061041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Saudi Kingdom: Between the Jihadi Hammer and the Iranian Anvil","authors":"Mark C. Thompson","doi":"10.1080/21534764.2019.1625197","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2019.1625197","url":null,"abstract":"Persian Gulf Security System”, that describes one win-win scenario. The absence of other suggested scenarios, and the limited list of other scholars’ work, suggests opportunities to focus on problem-solving strategies. Perhaps the focus should shift from substance to process, especially regarding the obvious lack of peaceful dispute-resolution mechanisms, capacity, and mindsets in the region. Chillingly, the author declares that, in this unstable landscape, the use of force rather than negotiation is the least damaging choice among available options (p. 119). The book left this reader particularly concerned about the ability of the younger, more belligerent generation of leaders to handle skillfully the security dilemmas they face, along with sectarianism, extremism, and the human security needs of their citizens. Mismanagement of these issues could easily lead to devastating results for the whole region. The author also acknowledges the importance of human security— so it would have been useful to provide data about issues of human security faced by each Persian Gulf country, including population trends,more demographic and economic data, and a discussion of citizens’ access to jobs, food, housing, and health care. What do these security threats look like in the coming years? While the book is well-written and easy to read, the author uses several similarly named political science concepts that may serve to confuse readers who do not possess the necessary scholarly IR background. These include the concepts of security, insecurity, securitization, security architecture, security complexes, security dilemma, security guarantee, and security paradox. To this reviewer’s mind, this slim volume could also have benefited from further editing to eliminate some of the redundancies in later chapters. Chapter organization seemed to force some of these redundancies. Nonspecialist readers might have wished for more discussion of the origins of some of the theories Kamrava applies, especially the security strategies by which states power balance, hedge, and bandwagon to increase their own security (pp. 34, 40–42, 89–90, 105–08, 116–19). Examples of “collective” or “common security systems” would have helped this reader (pp. 34, 117). In conclusion, Kamrava, a prolific author, provides a fearless examination of the persistent tensions in the most volatile region in the world, along with the security architecture that makes it persistently unstable. One hopes that the author plans to write a new book in which he applies this security analysis to the specific circumstances of the sanctions against Qatar.","PeriodicalId":37102,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Arabian Studies","volume":"54 1","pages":"118 - 120"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86067111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring the Nexus between Highly-Skilled Migrants, the Kafala System, and Development in the UAE","authors":"M. Hvidt","doi":"10.1080/21534764.2019.1649827","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2019.1649827","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article explores the nexus between immigration of highly-skilled persons and economic growth in the Arab Gulf states, until now a significantly understudied topic. It is argued that long-term growth primarily stems from technological progress and the article conducts a qualitative analysis of the degree to which the group of highly skilled migrants contributes to technological progress. The paper focusses on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but reflects general issues pertaining to the Arab Gulf states. It concludes that the policy framework that manages the migration system, the so-called Kafala (sponsorship) system, indeed has positive effects, namely that it ensures that all migrants are in employment and the skills of the migrants complement rather than overlap with the skills of the locals. However, asymmetric power balance between sponsor and migrant, the built-in inflexibility in relation to job mobility, and the lack of a broader sense of inclusion in the hosting country all diminish the contribution of the highly-skilled migrants to these economies. A culture of transience prevails which leads to short term thinking, less innovation and less likelihood of entrepreneurship. Finally, the article finds that due to demographic realities, lack of incentives for the migrants to pursue knowledge transfer and the general educational level in society, transfer of technology most likely takes place from one migrant to the next, thereby bypassing the local population.","PeriodicalId":37102,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Arabian Studies","volume":"60 1","pages":"75 - 91"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88976933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Saudi Arabia under Ibn Saud: Economic and Financial Foundations of the State","authors":"T. Hilton","doi":"10.1080/21534764.2019.1625198","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2019.1625198","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37102,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Arabian Studies","volume":"13 1","pages":"120 - 121"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74999095","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Perceptions of Women’s Roles between Traditionalism and Modernity in Qatar","authors":"Kaltham Al-Ghanim","doi":"10.1080/21534764.2019.1646502","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2019.1646502","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Women’s participation in public life in the Arabian Peninsula is affected by tradition and limits their opportunities for socio-economic development. This study focuses on the social structures that impose gender inequality. Through in-depth focus group discussions with groups of men and women in different age groups and including both working and non-working individuals, gender roles are examined and the view of the different groups of men and women in Qatar of the roles that women are supposed to play inside and outside the home. Although some changes are occurring due to modernization, including education and other government policies, they are proving relatively minor: obstacles include deep-rooted kinship structure and cultural elements that limit women’s participation in the public sphere.","PeriodicalId":37102,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Arabian Studies","volume":"97 1","pages":"52 - 74"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76952438","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Oman’s Response to a Rising Iran: A Case of Strategic Hedging","authors":"Mohammed Binhuwaidin","doi":"10.1080/21534764.2019.1625191","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2019.1625191","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract No state in the Gulf region currently enjoys stable relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran except for the Sultanate of Oman, and Oman is the only Gulf state to have maintained friendly relations with Iran since the 1970s. This raises the question about how Oman manages to maintain its relationship with Iran, which is considered a regional rival. This article analyzes Oman’s foreign policy approach to Iran, arguing that its strategy of hedging has been the main pattern and the ultimate reason for the sustenance of the relationship. Oman’s hedging strategy towards Iran is mostly driven by pragmatic incentives to preserve security and achieve political stability.","PeriodicalId":37102,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Arabian Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"1 - 12"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88905717","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Meanings of Women’s Agency: A Case Study from Qatar on Improving Measurement in Context","authors":"Yara Qutteina, Laurie James-Hawkins, Buthaina A. Al-Khelaifi, K. Yount","doi":"10.1080/21534764.2019.1649828","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2019.1649828","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The measurement of women’s agency poses numerous challenges, including multi-dimensionality and context-specificity. This challenge is especially large for non-Western contexts that adapt measurement instruments without rigorous testing and comprehensive understanding of construct meanings in place. In this paper, we present a case study from Qatar where we investigate the face validity, comprehension and functionality of women’s agency scale items. Cognitive interviews were conducted with twenty-four women to capture their interpretations of decision-making, freedom-of-movement, and gender attitudes scale items. The majority of women originally reported that they made their own decisions; yet, further probing revealed otherwise. While women seemed to understand, as intended, the freedom-of-movement item, the items measuring gender attitudes were generally reflective of broader local societal norms rather than the women’s own opinions. This research highlights the need for deeper exploration into women’s understanding of an agency scale before its use in a new context.","PeriodicalId":37102,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Arabian Studies","volume":"37 1","pages":"33 - 51"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84528588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Oil and Institutional Stasis in the Persian Gulf","authors":"Mehran Kamrava","doi":"10.1080/21534764.2018.1546929","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2018.1546929","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Oil has seriously impacted the institutional development of the state in the Arabian Peninsula. More specifically, the sudden and unprecedented acquisition of massive oil revenues resulted in the freezing of the state’s formal and informal institutions, at the point at which petrodollars were injected into the state’s coffers. From then on, state leaders were able to deploy the state’s wealth to dictate the pace and direction of institutional change. Over time, any institutional change has been directed towards enhancing regime security, and the pace of change has been calculated and deliberately slow. Any political opening has been dictated by the logic of state power maximization (in relation to society). At the same time, partly to ensure its popular legitimacy and partly through the vision of its leaders, the state has deployed its massive wealth both to foster rapid economic and infrastructural development, and to enhance the living standards of its citizens. In other words, whereas oil may have stunted institutional development –– i.e., an institution’s curse –– it has been an economic blessing.","PeriodicalId":37102,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Arabian Studies","volume":"15 1","pages":"1 - 12"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90627787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}