In the past month we have been reminded once again that, even after decades of co-ordinated efforts to counter them, violent extremists continue to present a threat to societies around the world.
Last week, a ceremony commemorating Armistice Day was targeted in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Several individuals, including foreign diplomats, were wounded. It followed a spate of other terrorist attacks in France and Austria.
Although police investigations in all three countries continue, the wave of violence has been linked to tensions arising from ongoing debates in France around free expression, competing notions of what is sacred and the integration of immigrant communities. For many, the issue points to a wider question of how Western countries approach integration policies.
The failure to address integration in Europe in a viable and sustainable manner has global consequences. Through the migrant crisis and other events that have captured Western headlines in recent years, Europeans have become very familiar with the notion that socio-political issues that plague the Middle East have an impact on their daily lives. But as the events in Jeddah last week demonstrate, Europe’s politics can affect the day-to-day security of those living in the Middle East.
On Friday, EU member states’ interior ministers issued a statement outlining their response to the situation. It reaffirms their commitment to secure borders, cross-country police co-operation and the need to tackle online radicalisation.
In recognition of the role of integration in bolstering these efforts, the statement also highlights the need to address “social cohesion”. It is a worthy concept for Europe’s policymakers to pin down, and an area in which the approaches taken by various EU member states lack any real uniformity.
In the 1957 Treaty of Rome, a precursor to the treaties that eventually formed the European Union, European states declared their commitment to achieving an “ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe”. But the identities and demographics that constitute Europe’s peoples are very different today than they were six decades ago. European unity is a more complicated, more diverse and, ultimately, richer aspiration now.
A police officer in Nice, France, inspects flowers in front of Notre Dame basilica, before a mass to pay tribute to terrorist attack victims on November 1, 2020 in Nice, France. Getty
Europe's politics can affect the day-to-day security of those living in the Middle East
In France, public institutions historically have sought unity through a top-down approach, in which the French state’s secular values crowd out any others in the public square. Detractors – and there are many – point out that such an approach has alienated religious communities, and has contributed to a rise in extremism. It is hardly a coincidence that a disproportionate number of ISIS recruits in the terrorist group’s heyday were French citizens.
Britain, an EU member until this year, has in its own recent history taken the contrary approach. Its leaders have viewed integration as an organic process. The state, therefore, hardly need interfere.
Even such a laissez-faire attitude, however, has drawn fair criticism. Many allege that the British approach has resulted in certain communities living separately from the rest of society. This, say the critics, leads to cultures of abuse and radicalisation. It is no secret that Britain has its own extremism problem.
Europe’s policymakers are right to debate the subject. Doing so allows the moderate majority to have its say in the conversation. Not doing so risks ceding the issue to political extremes.
Until now, the choice between France’s approach and that of Britain has often been framed as one between intolerance and tolerance. But a sensible middle ground must be found – one that respects the sacred role of religion in believers’ personal lives while allowing common ground to shine in the public square. Any strategy that causes extremists to proliferate their kind, whether by alienation or by appeasement, only serves to make society less tolerant – and less tolerable – for everyone else.
Conservative MPs who have publicly revealed sending letters of no confidence
New Zealand 9 (Pens: Barrett 2 Drop Goal: Barrett)
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
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.”
'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'
Rating: 1 out of 4
Running time: 81 minutes
Director: David Blue Garcia
Starring: Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham
