‘SAUDI VISION 2030’: A VIABLE RESPONSE TO YOUTH ASPIRATIONS AND CONCERNS?

Since Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud unveiled Saudi Vision 2030 (The National Transformation Programme, 25 April 2016) a great deal of analysis has focused on the potential impact of Vision 2030 at the national level. Significantly, Saudi Vision 2030, which promises a better future and better governance, is raising hopes and expectations amongst young well-educated Saudis. Nevertheless, how has Saudi Vision 2030 been interpreted by young educated male Saudis many of whom are struggling to enter the labour market at a time of austerity and economic uncertainty? This paper discusses young male perceptions of Saudi Vision 2030 including their expectations and hopes for the Vision. In fact, an understanding of how young Saudis perceive Vision 2030 is not only pertinent in the Saudi national context (or indeed multiple Saudi domestic contexts), but also has wider regional relevance considering oil-market developments and economic policy.     

Monetarism and economic ideology

This paper looks at the economics of ‘monetarism’. After a discussion of the conceptualization of money and the way it functions, the mechanisms by which ‘monetarism’ analyses the relationship between the money supply and price formation are highlighted. It is argued that these are inadequate, largely because they are couched at an aggregative macro-level. A reformulation is suggested based upon the necessity to define the economic agents in the economy whose practices and processes provide the basis for the price formation and money-supply generation. The concept of a ‘money-supply’ is raised and the difficulties of defining and controlling this in a developed financial system are discussed. Finally a gesture is made towards the way in which an alternative financial mechanism might develop.     

Globalization and the future of the nation state

This article addresses the issue of whether the nation state has a future as a major locus of governance in an increasingly ‘globalized’ economic and social system. It begins by considering the development of the sovereign state and argues that international agreements between states were important in establishing the power of the state over society. It goes on to consider the changing capacities of the state in the modern world. Extreme versions of the 'globalization' thesis are then challenged, and it is argued that national-level economic processes remain central and that the international economy is far from ungovernable. Major nation states have a pivotal role to play in creating and sustaining such governance. However, their role is less than as autonomous national macro-economic managers, than as agencies that are representative of their populations and sources of legitimacy for new forms of governance. The central function of the nation state is that of distributing and rendering accountable powers of governance, upwards towards international agencies and trade blocs like the European Union, and downwards towards regional and other sub-national agencies of economic co-ordination and regulation.     

Transnational Radicalization,Diaspora Groups,and Within-group Sentiment Pools: Young Tamil and Somali Canadians on the LTTE and al Shabaab

ABSTRACT

In recent years, the Tamil and Somali diasporas have come under intense scrutiny by the media and national security agencies in Canada. This is due to concerns that members of both communities may hold political grievances associated with their respective homelands that could be acted upon by joining or supporting transnational terrorist groups. Drawing on 168 in-depth interviews with youth and young adults in Toronto’s Tamil and Somali diasporas, we provide a comparative analysis of the varying ways that existing sentiment pools can operate to mobilize broad-levels of support for, or vilification of, the framing strategies of the LTTE and al Shabaab, respectively. Our findings show that frames that portray the LTTE in a positive light resonate deeply with the young Tamil-Canadians we interviewed, characterizing a “narrative fidelity” between these frames and the existing sentiment pool. By contrast, there exists considerable disconnect between the framing strategies of al Shabaab, their supporters, and existing sentiment within the Somali diaspora – a divide that illustrates the notion of “framing failure”. We conclude with a discussion of the dynamic nature and inherent malleability of group-level sentiment pools, and highlight why this may be important from a national security standpoint.     

Sexual coping,general coping and cognitive distortions in incarcerated rapists and child molesters

Abstract

Sexual coping, general coping and cognitive distortions were investigated in 25 rapists, 36 child molesters and 25 violent offenders. Rapists did not report more support for rape-supportive distortions than the violent offender comparison group. Child molesters scored higher than the other groups on the measure of molestation-supportive distortions, although mean scores were at the low end of the scale. Consistent with previous research, all offender groups reported ineffective coping styles and child molesters reported using more emotion-oriented coping than the non-sexual offenders. Child molesters but not rapists scored higher than violent offenders on deviant aspects of sexual coping, although mean scores were at the low end of the sub-scales. Evaluation of these comparisons was aided by effect sizes. The effect sizes reveal that there may indeed be differences between rapists and the comparison group with respect to cognitive distortions and sexual coping. Modest correlations were found between deviant sexual coping and cognitive distortions. The findings are interpreted in terms of etiological development and the sexual offence process.     

Eastern Figures: Orient and Empire in British Writing

This article outlines the labour impacts and social consequences of the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis and 2008–09 global financial crisis on Southeast Asia. Both had adverse consequences on output, employment, income and poverty in the region, although the impact of the global financial crisis was much less severe compared to the Asian financial crisis. Economies recovered quickly from both crises. However, labour markets continue to be characterised by informal, vulnerable and precarious employment. The crises and the ensuing efforts of employers to resort to increased flexibility in labour hiring in both crisis and recovery periods fanned labour protests despite the diminutive size of the trade union movement and the underdeveloped system of industrial relations in most countries. In turn, these protests have triggered national and regional debates on rules for labour contracting, minimum wage adjustments and social protection. These debates have remained unresolved even as the region is gearing up for fuller economic integration in 2015 labelled as the ASEAN Economic Community.