Now that it is in power, the Muslim Brotherhood must speak openly about its strategy for Egypt
"You can't eat half the loaf and still have it all" is an old Arab adage that sums up the reality of the situation of President Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and elsewhere in the region, columnist Areeb Al Rantawi wrote in the Jordanian daily Addustour.
"This party's presence in power has compelled it to relinquish half of the programmes, slogans and positions that it brandished when it was entrenched in opposition," the writer said. "This is normal and [the Brotherhood] should approach it with a great deal of realism, explanation and analysis rather than pretend to be holding on to old stances."
For more than three decades, the Brotherhood almost constructed a fourth great pyramid with all its Anti-Camp David slogans.
However, the narrative changed once the Brotherhood realised that it was on its way to power and had to show "adherence to signed treaties and respect for Egypt's international commitments", the writer added.
This has become the chorus with which the Brotherhood responds to any questions regarding the Camp David Accords.
"The Brotherhood's critics, such as myself, weren't expecting that once he became president, Mr Morsi would wage a new war against Israel. Similarly, we didn't expect that his Brothers would turn their backs on all the rules and determinants of Egyptian foreign policy all at once, " the writer went on to say.
"All we wanted was for any of them to step forward and explain to us in a direct and clear language what happened, what are the Brotherhood's reflections today, and what is its strategy for the future."
Egypt and the world are anxious to get an idea about the Muslim Brotherhood's priorities and about how it will deal with Hosni Mubarak's burdensome legacy in foreign affairs, namely the Palestinian cause and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
But what happened in fact is that the Egyptian president appointed an ambassador to Tel Aviv, as per the accords' terms.
Not only that, but the Egyptian ambassador delivered quite a warm protocol letter from his president to the Israeli president. "That is nothing short of a scandal," opined Al Rantawi. "Then they tried to cover it up."
Since his election, President Morsi hasn't once referred to Israel in any of his speeches and statements. The Brotherhood prefers to persevere in its denial strategy.
"We are aware of Egypt's circumstances. We don't want it to dive into untimely adventures and confrontations, but we reserve our right to be informed about the Brotherhood's vision. We want them to tell us what their plan B entails, now that plan A has turned out to be nothing more than a mobilisation tool," the writer concluded.
Political spring comes with a 'cultural fall'
Politics is not the sole cause of the mess plaguing the Arab Spring countries; culture has a great, if not greater, responsibility in it, wrote Ibrahim Arafat in an opinion article in the Doha-based paper Al Watan.
"The Arab uprisings sparked the spring of politics, but have left culture unchanged and governed by the same old bad values," he wrote.
Politically speaking, constitutions are being drafted, parties and civil society organisations can now be freely formed, and new, freer media outlets have been launched.
But when it comes to culture, distrust, accusations of collaboration, hatred, conspiracy thinking and egocentric tendencies linger among politicians, he wrote.
The atmosphere of a "political spring" with the values of a "cultural fall" is both paradoxical and perilous. This paradox is a time bomb, as peoples can toil politically for the sake of freedom and democracy, but then end up recreating dictatorships for not having changed their culture.
"Political forces that seek democracy are acting towards each other in an undemocratic fashion … because of the [existing] culture and way of thinking."
The Salafists have come to light in Tunisia and Egypt, but they still cannot grasp that all politics, unlike religion, is relative. Liberals are no better. Most of them call for democracy from their ivory towers with no direct contact with the masses, he concluded.
The time is right for changes in the West
The West led the way in entrenching the values of human rights, justice and liberty long before the Arab Spring. But these values were incomplete and the time is ripe for a Western Spring, wrote Algerian journalist Abdelkarim Reda ben Yakhlaf in the pan-Arab newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi.
"We thought that whose who felt for the Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust would feel for the killing of Palestinians in the Israeli Holocaust; we thought that human life is more precious than oil; that the divine being and the Prophet Mohammed would be treated, at least, with the same respect accorded to the memory of the Holocaust victims," the writer noted.
"We thought that humans are humans, no matter what their religion, colour, language or gender."
The Arab Spring will taste bitter unless a Western Spring takes place to establish thorough justice and liberty.
"Our rulers, former and current, would not stay in power without the West's consent," he noted. "The West knew well what was happening in the Arab world but kept silent."
Anti-capitalist movements, the global economic crisis and the widening rift between classes in Western countries could cause regimes to fall, leading to an awakening of scruples, he said.
* Digest compiled by The Translation Desk
translation@thenational.ae
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
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- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
RESULT
Brazil 2 Croatia 0
Brazil: Neymar (69'), Firmino (90' 3)
Karwaan
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Four stars