What Factors Determine the Allocation of Aid by Arab Countries and Multilateral Agencies?

This article provides a statistical analysis of the determinants of Arab aid allocation using Heckman's two-step estimator. It is found that poorer, Arab, Islamic and Sub-Saharan African countries are more likely to receive some positive amount of Arab aid (gate-keeping stage). The same is true for countries not maintaining diplomatic relations with Israel as well as those with voting patterns in the United Nations General Assembly similar to Saudi Arabia. Arab and more populous countries also receive a higher share of the total aid allocated (level stage). The same is true for Islamic countries in the case of bilateral aid and countries with voting similarity in the case of multilateral aid. Donor interest, in particular Arab solidarity, plays a clear role at both stages, whereas recipient need as measured by a country's level of income only affects the gate-keeping stage, not the level stage.     

Al-Wefaq and the February 14 uprising: Islam,nationalism and democracy – the Shici-Bahraini discourse

Al-Wefaq's complex nature led to ambiguity over the relationship between religion and politics and over the balance between Islamic ecumenism and sectarianism. While the Shi^ci uprising presented a national and democratic agenda, questions remain over the party's full commitment to democracy and its loyalty to the national framework in the current regional turmoil with the empowerment of Shi^cis and disintegration of nation-states. There could be a discrepancy between the declared aims of an oppositional movement and its actions once it assumes power. The problematic legacy of minority–majority relations in Bahrain, the country's political culture and the difficult example of post-2003 Iraq, are further barriers to advancing full democracy. If the Shi^ci majority gains power the party may become less democratic and more sectarian. Yet, it will also have much to lose given Bahrain's strategic alliance with the US and its position as a financial services hub in the region.     

The star of David in a cedar tree: Jewish students and Zionism at the American University of Beirut (1908–1948)

The American University of Beirut's emergence as a hub of Arab national and cultural identity in the first half of the twentieth century has been well documented by historians. The simultaneous Zionist presence on campus has been largely overlooked. Zionist ideas were predominantly promoted by Palestinian Jewish students who formed a small but vocal minority at AUB prior to 1948. Faculty and non-Jewish students also regularly collaborated with and traveled to Zionist institutions in Palestine for academic, athletic, and leisure purposes. For Arab students on campus, therefore, Zionism was not an abstract concept, but rather a national identity embodied by fellow classmates and friends on campus. As the conflict in Palestine increased in the 1930s and 1940s, so too did political activism and tensions on campus between Zionist and Arab nationalist students. This article analyzes this unique period of exchange, collaboration, and friction at AUB, which came to a swift end with the outbreak of the 1948 War. By focusing on the interactions between Arab and Zionist Jewish students at AUB, I seek to extend the ‘relational’ approach towards Jewish-Arab contact beyond Palestine's borders.     

中国与阿拉伯国家生态环境领域合作研究——兼论防沙治沙合作与技术输出

中国与阿拉伯国家在科技与生态环境合作是近些年乃至未来中阿经贸合作凸显的一个新领域,双方合作潜力巨大,合作领域广泛,合作意义深远.     

“阿拉伯之春”与颜色革命

\"阿拉伯之春\"既有颜色革命的部分特征,但又不等同于颜色革命。它指的是发端于突尼斯继而几乎席卷整个阿拉伯世界的,为推动政府进行自上而下的改革乃至要求推翻本国专制政体的自发的、内生性的街头运动。阿拉伯世界政局动荡的内部原因是其各自国内积重难返的政治、经济问题,外部原因在于美西方十几年来不断在该地区进行的\"民主\"渗透。美西方在阿拉伯世界强推西式民主,在经济、政治、安全三方面酿成一系列的苦果并形成恶性循环,客观上使阿拉伯民众对西方\"民主\"\"自由\"的幻想趋于破灭,将使中东地区在很长时期内都难有宁日。