US senator Lindsey Graham said on Monday during a visit to Beirut that he envisions a future defence agreement between America and Lebanon, provided the country strengthens its army and curbs the influence of Hezbollah.
Mr Graham said he hoped to see “a Lebanese army, well-trained, well-equipped, that protects all Lebanese and has respect among every community". He added that such a force could pave the way for deeper ties with Washington, including a defence pact.
"It is in our country's interest to make sure this country [Lebanon] survives, because you represent the best hope for the region," he added.
Separately, he told This Is Beirut that he was “optimistic” because of the Lebanese diaspora, estimated at about 20 million worldwide, which has “done very well”. “We have a lot of Lebanese in our country,” he said.
The US senator urged Lebanon’s leaders to make “hard decisions quickly”, warning that Hezbollah’s continued presence as an armed group was “a wall to growth and integration into the region".
The Lebanese Cabinet recently voted to endorse a US plan to disarm Hezbollah and other militant groups, and to assert a state monopoly on weapons.
“This is a very pluralistic society. One thing you have going for you is that Christianity is able to thrive here, worship freely, do business and live in peace – something that is not true in much of the Middle East,” Mr Graham said.
“My advice to you is to keep that diversity and try to find a way to get Hezbollah disarmed, because if you can't achieve that, then a lot of doors stay locked. But the day that Hezbollah is disarmed, and the Lebanese military is the protector of the country for all Lebanese, then many doors could open.”
Mr Graham warned that as long as Hezbollah kept its weapons, Lebanon’s growth, integration with the West and regional stability would remain limited.
“The Lebanese people have to decide to disarm Hezbollah, not me," he said.
The senator's trip to Lebanon included an earlier visit to the US embassy, where he paid tribute to those killed in terrorist attacks in the 1983 Hezbollah bombings of the mission and a marine barracks.
The visit appears to be a message to Lebanese authorities that expanded relations with the US, including aid, will depend on progress in dismantling Hezbollah.
Mr Graham has long been a proponent of stabilising the Middle East through ending Iranian support for its proxies in the region.
He told The National last year that the biggest regional problem was an “out of control Iran”, and that US President Donald Trump would “put them in a box”.
His visit comes as US envoys Tom Barrack and Morgan Ortagus were due in Lebanon after meetings in Israel, where they reportedly pressed Israel to scale back its attacks on the country.
Mr Barrack, the US envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkey, told The National last month that the Lebanese armed forces are widely regarded as the “best, neutral, reliable mediator” in the current crisis but it operates “on a shoestring budget”, forcing UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, Unifil, to fill the gap with 10,000 troops.
Mr Barrack met Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun last week and said afterwards that Lebanese leaders had “done their part” and that “now what we need is Israel to comply with that equal handshake”.
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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.”
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
THE%20SPECS
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Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Mane 51', Salah 53'
Chelsea 0
Man of the Match: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Aston martin DBX specs
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Top speed: 291kph
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: Q2, 2020
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
