INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS

Arab Insight Summer 2008: Emerging Financial & Economic Trends

15 July 2008

Recent changes within the Arab world are transforming the region. However, even as the area evolves, political stagnation and crises remain, leaving the Western world uncertain of regional dynamics. The Summer 2008 issue of Arab Insight addresses two separate, yet connected themes.

The first examines current socioeconomic trends that exert far-reaching influence on democratic reform. Sparked first by the wave of economic privatization the swept the region since the 1990s, these trends are more recently linked to changes in political Islam ignited by spiking oil prices and sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf, and the advancement of electronic communication.

Secondly, several articles in this issue are dedicated to examining the abundance of politically-related conspiracy theories that pervade the region, their spread, and the socio-cultural vehicles that shape them through analysis of conspiracy in Arab media, religious institutions, and educational curricula.

The electronic version of this issue is available for free on our website: www.arabinsight.org, or by downloading the full PDF here.

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Arab Insight, Vol. 2, No. 2, Summer 2008: Emerging Financial & Economic Trends

I. Change in the Arab World

• "Gulf Investments in the United States: Unwelcome Money"
  Jassim Al-Mannaie, United Arab Emirates
  
• "Islamic Banking: Myths and Facts"
  Sara S. Al-Rifaee, Iraq
  
• "Arabs and the 2008 American Election: Hopes and Predictions"
  Arab Insight staff
  
• "Egyptian Islamists and Nonviolence: Views from the Prison Cell"
  Diaa Rashwan, Egypt
  
• "Downloading Democracy: Bloggers in the Gulf"
  Afraa Ahmed Albabtain, Kuwait
  
• "China in the Middle East: Perspectives from the Arab World"
  Mohamed Bin Huwaidin, United Arab Emirates
  
• "Economic Reform and Political Openings: Lessons from Algeria"
  Mohamed Ratoul, Algeria

2. Reality Check: Conspiracy Theories in the Arab World

• "The Modes of Arab Conspiracy Theories"
  Mohamed Abdel Salam, Egypt
  
• "Skepticism in the Arab World: The Base of Conspiracies"
  Hani Nasira, United Arab Emirate
  
• "Inventing Fiction? Conspiracy Theories in Arab Media"
  Hamdy Hassan Abdul Ainien, Egypt
  
• "Teaching Fiction? Conspiracy Theories in Arab Public School Curricula"
  Hoda Al-Bakr, Egypt
  
• "Preaching Fiction? Conspiracy Theories in Religious Institutions"
  Nezar Eltahawy, Egypt

Visit our website: www.arabinsight.org.

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To submit articles, letters or commentary, please contact the editor: Mohamed Elmenshawy , WSI Cairo Office Director, 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW , Washington , DC 20036; e-mail: Mohamed@taqrir.org.