Papers by Hussein Solomon
African Security, 2009
Eight years ago we printed three letters to President Obama at the cusp of the new administration... more Eight years ago we printed three letters to President Obama at the cusp of the new administration (Volume 2, Issue 1, 2009). Two prominent themes infused those letters: First, the traditional approach to security that focuses on the state is a poor fit for Africa. Rarely do African states threaten their neighbors. Interstate war is rare. Intrastate conflict is less rare. The second theme was the importance of dialogue. This was a reflection, in part, to the awkward rollout of AFRICOM. As Mark Twain once said, "History does not repeat itself, it just rhymes." The issue of engagement takes on a new meaning in the early days of the Trump administration. Africa's importance to the United States has already been questioned. Yet President Trump does have a strong interest in economic competition with China, and Africa is an important playing field. Possibly more concerning is that the new president apparently privileges the Department of Defense over the Department of State. This echoes the charge that AFRICOM signaled the militarization of the U.S. Africa policy. Ironically, AFRICOM was structured to include the State Department. The possibility of defunding the State Department and USAID is not reassuring for Africa.
Arab MENA Countries: Vulnerabilities and Constraints Against Democracy on the Eve of the Global COVID-19 Crisis, 2020
Patriarchy has its origins in the Middle East. This legacy is still apparent in the Middle East w... more Patriarchy has its origins in the Middle East. This legacy is still apparent in the Middle East where gender discriminatory legislation and attitudes remain the norm. What are the reasons for such misogynistic practices? For some scholars, the Islamic faith and related cultural practices lay at the heart of the problem. Others place their emphasis on more structuralist explanations such as economic considerations and ongoing insecurity in the MENA region. Despite the challenges confronting women, this chapter also maps the positive trends of a post-patriarchal order in the region. These include women taking up arms to defend themselves, political mobilization on the part of women as they challenge both authoritarianism and patriarchy and the rise of feminist Islamic scholarship. The momentum for a post-patriarchal order also exists because of changing inter-generational attitudes about the place of women in society. A younger, more educated generation holds less gender bias than their parents’ generation.
Arab MENA Countries: Vulnerabilities and Constraints Against Democracy on the Eve of the Global COVID-19 Crisis, 2020
The MENA region is engulfed in crisis. This predicament emanates from domestic factors like the a... more The MENA region is engulfed in crisis. This predicament emanates from domestic factors like the artificial nature of the state and rentier economies to external actors supporting regimes against their citizens. As a result of this, several states are failing and are losing their sovereignty in the process. States, however, have been complicit in their own demise as they have eroded their own capacities to govern by nepotistic practices and by turning their citizens against them as well as supporting non-state actors in an effort to gain a strategic advantage in their region. State elites need to create more inclusive economies and polities and engage more constructively with their citizens who increasingly embrace secular and democratic norms if they are to survive this crisis.
Arab MENA Countries: Vulnerabilities and Constraints Against Democracy on the Eve of the Global COVID-19 Crisis, 2020
This chapter attempts to close a gap in the recent literature on Arab MENA countries economic dev... more This chapter attempts to close a gap in the recent literature on Arab MENA countries economic development: how globalization affected human values in this part of the world. First, we assess the overall picture of the degree of globalization according to the Zurich KOF-Index data series, affecting the MENA countries. We then go on to use new comparable indices of global value development derived from the latest set of World Values Survey data and determine the Arab MENA countries’ place on a new factor analytical index of Global Civil Society, building on Grinin et al. (Islamism, Arab spring, and the future of democracy, Springer, Cham, 2018) and Solomon and Tausch (“The age of ignorance” and the civic culture of democracy: A multivariate analysis based on World Values Survey data. In: Islamism, crisis and democratization. Springer, Cham, 2020, pp 23–85). We relate these results (country factor scores) with macro-economic and social and political indicators, presented in Tausch and Heshmati (Globalization, the human condition and sustainable development in the twenty-first century: Cross-national perspectives and European implications. Anthem Press, London/New York/Delhi. 10.7135/UPO9780857286550. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84939789242&doi=10.7135%2fUPO9780857286550&partnerID=40&md5=32618c3ba9b7101853ea357f86de2703, 2012a; Sociologia 44(3):314–347, 2012b) and Tausch (Jewish Polit Stud Rev 30(1–2):65–225. Available at http://jcpa.org/article/migration-from-the-muslim-world-to-the-west-its-most-recent-trends-and-effects/ (with data definitions and sources). Free data download available from https://www.academia.edu/37568941/Migration_from_the_Muslim_World_to_the_West_Its_Most_Recent_Trends_and_Effects, 2019a; Int J Heal Plan Manag, 10.1002/hpm.2781, 2019b), and the globalization indicators of the KOF-data series (Gygli et al., Rev Int Organ 14(3):543–574, 10.1007/s11558-019-09344-2, 2019). Our statistical calculations were performed by the routine and standard SPSS statistical program (SPSS XXIV), available at many academic research centres around the world, and we relied here on the so-called oblique rotation of the factors, underlying the correlation matrix. The SPSS routine chosen in this context was the so-called promax rotation of factors, which in many ways must be considered to be the best suited rotation of factors in the context of our research. Our comparisons reveal that the Arab MENA countries would be well advised to further social globalization.
Arab MENA Countries: Vulnerabilities and Constraints Against Democracy on the Eve of the Global COVID-19 Crisis, 2020
With the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping across the MENA region, how are the region’s governments resp... more With the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping across the MENA region, how are the region’s governments responding to the threat posed. Some like the UAE have been ahead of the curve taking a slew of pre-emptive measures to minimize infections. Others, like Iran and Turkey, inadequate, delayed and fragmented responses have resulted in their becoming epicentres of the spread of the virus. War-ravaged Libya and Yemen, meanwhile, have no capacity to control the virus. Neither does Tripoli and Aden control the entire country in order to take the necessary steps to curb infections. What is needed are leaders with the necessary foresight to mitigate the impact of the virus whilst preparing for a regional and international order.
Arab MENA Countries: Vulnerabilities and Constraints Against Democracy on the Eve of the Global COVID-19 Crisis, 2020
Political Islam has been a major force across the MENA for much of the twentieth century. Reachin... more Political Islam has been a major force across the MENA for much of the twentieth century. Reaching the zenith of their political ascendancy in the immediately aftermath of the 2011 Arab Uprisings, it is clear that Islamism is on the wane across the region. Opinion polls demonstrated that the Arab street, in particular the youth, are becoming more secular, less conservative in their attitudes and more suspicious of the role of religion in the public sphere. What is driving this disenchantment with Islamist parties relates to their aligning themselves with anti-democratic forces, the endemic corruption and nepotism they have demonstrated once in office, their inability to govern and their internal divisions. Our multivariate empirics of the support rates for Political Islam in the region relied on data from the Arab Barometer survey (5). If the people of the entire Arab world had a free vote in a referendum, the following rules and regulations still would gain an absolute majority: Ag...
Arab MENA Countries: Vulnerabilities and Constraints Against Democracy on the Eve of the Global COVID-19 Crisis, 2020
The politics of identity is a source of major conflicts across the MENA region. Rejecting essenti... more The politics of identity is a source of major conflicts across the MENA region. Rejecting essentialist notions of identity, this chapter argues that sectarianism only becomes an issue when it is instrumentalized by political entrepreneurs. It examines how sectarianism has played out in Syria and Libya as well as the quest for an independent Kurdistan. The chapter explores the different approaches adopted by MENA states to manage the politics of difference. These include secessionism, federalism, consociationalism and nation-building. Various country case studies are provided as each of these approaches is assessed – from Syria and Morocco to Lebanon and Oman. Ultimately, however, the politics of identity calls upon mature political leadership with a vision and intellect to forge inclusive nation-states in an increasingly fractious region.
Arab MENA Countries: Vulnerabilities and Constraints Against Democracy on the Eve of the Global COVID-19 Crisis, 2020
The MENA region is characterized by numerous crises. These range from the Covid-19 pandemic sweep... more The MENA region is characterized by numerous crises. These range from the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping through the region to religious fundamentalism, violent sectarianism, vast economic discrepancies, pressing environmental challenges, the intrusions of external actors in the region, and a debilitating authoritarian culture. All of these variables are exacerbated or ameliorated by globalization – a reality that no state can wish away. These challenges can be mitigated by political elites engaging in robust institution-building creating structures fit for purpose whilst at the same time laying the foundation of values amongst citizens like trust in those institutional structures.
Islamism, Crisis and Democratization, 2019
The poor performance of Islamists once in power together with the failed Arab Spring protests has... more The poor performance of Islamists once in power together with the failed Arab Spring protests has resulted in some scholars positing the Islamic exceptionalism thesis. According to this, Muslim societies are unique in their inherent rejection of modernity, democracy and secularism. Flowing from the Islamic exceptionalism thesis is the argument that Islam itself needs to be reformed. Rejecting such a position, this chapter argues that one needs to make a distinction between the political aspects of Islam and the distorted view of the faith as promoted by Islamists. What is needed is not an Islamic Reformation but reformation of Muslim interpretations of Islamic teachings. Surveys have also demonstrated that Muslims desire to be both religiously observant and politically free. Drawing from the works of John Locke, Alfred Stepan and Juan Linz, this chapter argues that a polity is possible which is both Islamic and democratic. What is key to realize this happy outcome is what Alfred Ste...
Perspectives on Development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region, 2020
Contemporary Review of the Middle East, 2015
Political Islam continues to gain adherents across the African continent. In an attempt to unders... more Political Islam continues to gain adherents across the African continent. In an attempt to understand why this is the case, this article explores the historical evolution of political Islam or Islamism. Three case studies are then provided to examine the implementation of this ideology—the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Sudan’s National Islamic Front and Al Shabab in Somalia. In conclusion, we examine the future of political Islam from the perspective of secularism.
J. R. Bowen, 2012, A new anthropology of Islam Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978 0 ... more J. R. Bowen, 2012, A new anthropology of Islam Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978 0 521 52978 5.
INTRODUCTION Zaire is, arguably, the quintessential reflection of the current malaise affecting A... more INTRODUCTION Zaire is, arguably, the quintessential reflection of the current malaise affecting Africa. In Mobutu's vast empire, many of the symptoms are reflected – from corruption, nepotism and kleptocracy, to ethnic conflict and an absence of democracy; from economic stagnation and environmental degradation, to foreign intervention. It is thus important to understand the unfolding crisis in the Zairian state: as a microcosm reflecting the larger continent's problems, understanding Zaire means understanding Africa.
Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Africa, 2015
When Captain Amadou Sanogo staged his coup against Malian President Toure on 22 March 2012, one o... more When Captain Amadou Sanogo staged his coup against Malian President Toure on 22 March 2012, one of the reasons he gave for his actions was that Toure did not supply the Malian armed forces with sufficient heavy and new weapons to take on the Tuareg rebellion in the north. Little did Captain Sanogo realise that his coup and the resultant power vacuum in the capital, Bamako, would result in the Tuareg Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA) seizing control of northern Mali and the important towns of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal.1 The secular and Tuareg nationalist MNLA was soon displaced by Iyad Ag Ghali’s Ansar Dine (Defenders of the Faith) Islamist fighters and their allies, AQIM.
This paper analyses Iran’s nuclear foreign policy in depth. It looks at the motivations for the p... more This paper analyses Iran’s nuclear foreign policy in depth. It looks at the motivations for the pursuit of nuclear weapons, the minimal risks involved in such a strategy and the limited scope of alternative Western responses. After a thorough analysis we arrive at the conclusion that Iran’s foreign policy is one that has been in the making for several years and that Iran has waited for the appropriate time to ensure its goals are achieved with minimal risks. Iran has placed the West in a “lose-lose” situation, as the West has to make a choice between offering it vast economic and political incentives and facing a nuclear Iran.
<p>More often viewed as a developmental or a humanitarian challenge rather than a security ... more <p>More often viewed as a developmental or a humanitarian challenge rather than a security challenge, addressing the vast array of African public health problems has increasingly come to be seen as a critical human security priority. While many have criticized the securitization of health issues, the cross-cutting linkages to other political, social, and economic issues are real and so too are their implications for security. In addition, most health challenges in Africa were previously seen as localized problems threatening only the well-being of specific populations, but in today's globalized world they can have profound negative implications far beyond the original source of the problem. While some international public health threats, such as disease pandemics, are nothing new the ability of new disease epidemics to transcend international borders and continents at a speed and breadth is heretofore unknown in human history.</p>
Islamic State and the Coming Global Confrontation, 2016
Despite having a vast number of forces arrayed against it—the US coalition, Putin’s Moscow, Iran ... more Despite having a vast number of forces arrayed against it—the US coalition, Putin’s Moscow, Iran and its proxy Hezbollah, Kurdish Peshmerga, and the regimes in Baghdad and Damascus—IS is growing stronger. Reasons for the resilience displayed on the part of the jihadis include encouraging polarization between groups and then benefiting from this process and its diverse funding sources—from oil sales to the trafficking of antiquities and narcotics—have allowed it to build a war chest in excess of US $2 billion. With these funds, IS has deployed soft power—digging sewage systems, providing stipends to families, to earn the loyalty of its “citizens.” IS has also displayed superior military strategy, combining conventional military doctrine with asymmetric warfare.
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Papers by Hussein Solomon