Download or read book Regionalizing Oman written by Steffen Wippel and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-08-16 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume addresses the historical structures and current dynamics of Oman’s regionalization processes and their political, economic and social dimensions. It is based on an interdisciplinary and trans-regional dialogue between scholars from different social sciences and area studies such as political science, economics, management, economic and social geography, history, social anthropology and linguistics as well as Middle East/West Asian, gulf and African studies, and develops four major axes of research: - Oman’s integration into global and regional flows of goods, capital, people and ideas; - The multi-scaled political negotiation of such integration (or disintegration) processes; - Consequences of suchlike processes and forms of regionalization for (translocal) actors; - Ideas and strategic communication of regional belonging and the constitution of regions. Each chapter deals with one or more of these issues. Part I deals with concepts of regionalisation and region-building and presents different approaches that accentuate certain dimensions of these processes and come from different disciplinary backgrounds. Part II focuses on the translocal, transnational and (trans)regional movement of people, their practices and imaginations, be they contemporary labour in- and out-migrants, returnees from Eastern Africa or nomadic tribal members. Part III takes a closer look particularly at economic issues and regionalisation processes that are mainly based on multiple trade links, regional development policies or politics of regionalism. Part IV analyses political and socio-cultural issues in regional and global perspectives.
Download or read book Regional Security in South Asia and the Gulf written by Umer Karim and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-02-24 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As we move towards a world without superpowers, the dynamics within and between regions are of growing significance. Against this backdrop, this book explores the links between South Asia and the Gulf, which have existed for centuries but are undergoing important shifts in the transition to multipolarity. With a special focus on India, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka and Oman, this volume brings together scholars from across these regions to investigate what the decentring world order means for the relationship between South Asia and the Gulf. It employs Regional Security Complex Theory to examine the changing global patterns of power and their impact on the inter-regional patterns of amity and enmity between states in South Asia and the Gulf. It employs both constructivist and realist approaches, seeking to understand how power and social processes influence the political and security linkages between these regions.
Download or read book The Geopolitics of Region Building in the Black Sea written by Yannis Tsantoulis and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-17 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offering theoretical insights on region building, this book explores the attempts to formulate a political and institutional vision for the Black Sea region in the post-9/11 era and in the context of the enlargements of the EU and NATO. It investigates in depth these attempts, viewed as a failure by the key actors involved, in order to understand how regions emerge in international politics as well as how and why they may fail to come into being. To this end, the book explores a range of factors that impacted region building in the Black Sea, considering the role of region builders involved, their practices and the context of their actions, and the spatial representations and security discourses that were integral to the region building process. Hence, attention is paid to how these factors both enabled and constrained the discursive construction of the Black Sea region, thus identifying the elements that distinguish the Black Sea from other successful cases of region building. Based on critical approaches towards international relations and political geography, this book both expands and deepens the scope and understanding of regions and will thus appeal to academics and students in the fields of International Relations, Security Studies, Political Geography, and Regional Integration.
Download or read book The Transnational Middle East written by Leïla Vignal and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-10-04 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Middle East has been undergoing new crises since the powerful socio-political uprisings known as the Arab Spring took place in several countries in 2011. Some countries are experiencing a long-term collapse of their political and social structures out of internal conflicts and external interventions. The Transnational Middle East posits that, in the Middle East, the development of regional dynamics, of processes and circulations of all kinds, can be documented. In this regard, the approaches it develops — ‘bottom-up’ regionalisation, ‘globalisation from below’ — allow for a better understanding of the ways in which the Middle East is part of global transformations. The book analyses how, through their practices, Middle East societies elaborate a regional space which is not institutionalised. Based on fieldwork in the Middle East, the book provides venues for further theoretical elaboration on globalisation and contemporary societies, as well as on processes of regionalisation. It draws on the emergence of genuine regional spaces of culture, art, economic activity, human circulation — which supplement and do not contradict other infra-national, national, or global social processes. As in other areas of the world, these transformations are to a large extent the mode of the Middle East’s insertion into globalisation. In this respect, they go against standard narratives of the supposed ‘exceptionalism’ of the region. This book will be a great contribution to comparative politics, Middle Eastern studies, globalisation and international relations.
Download or read book Urban Oman written by Sonja Nebel and published by LIT Verlag Münster. This book was released on 2016 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book traces urbanisation patterns in Oman looking at the coastal strip of Muscat Capital Area. This metropolitan region emerged within the last 50 years almost out of nowhere and is now home of the majority of the national and expatriate population of Oman. Urbanisation, and the socio-political, economic and environmental aspects attached to it, become an index of the radical spatial transformation of the Sultanate. This process, if managed well, also holds the key to sustainable urban development. Urban Oman invites geographers, planners, urban designers, architects, decision-makers and scholars of Gulf Studies to rethink the emergence of Muscat Capital Area and to embrace the urban Oman. Sonja Nebel, architect and urban planner, is researcher and consultant with focus on international urban development, rehabilitation and urban management, affiliated to TU Berlin and GUtech, Oman. Aurel von Richthofen, architect and urbanist, is working on urban renewal and spatial planning strategies, and is currently researcher at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore affiliated to the ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
Download or read book Oman s Transformation after 1970 written by J.E. Peterson and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2024-06-06 with total page 647 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Oman's 1970 coup launched a new political and economic structure that was created by and for Sultan Qaboos. The initially haphazard construction matured into a durable structure that continues under Sultan Haitham. This work details the early construction of the Qabusid state in the 1970s-1980s, emphasizing the interplay between personalities and the process of institutionalization. The narrative continues to the present demonstrating the resilience of the Qaboosid system.
Download or read book Initiatives of Regional Integration in Asia in Comparative Perspective written by Howard Loewen and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-03-12 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume offers to compare and explain variances of regionalism in Asia by disclosing the distinctive features of regional arrangements and how they evolved during the 1990s and 2000s against the background of a changing global environment. Moreover, it takes up a genuinely ‘inter-Asian’ perspective. By analysing and comparing diverse manifestations of regional integration agreements across Asia and its different sub-regions, it sets out to track their common characteristics and sub-regional facets with respect to their establishment, design and consequences. In addition, political processes accompanying their negotiation and implementation are scrutinized. The analysis encompasses nine case studies written by renowned scholars who together as a group combine an extraordinary mixture of different disciplinary backgrounds as well as expertise on shapes and processes of regional integration in different parts of Asia. The case studies seize on some of the most important features and controversial issues characterizing the second regionalism. Such are the emergence and impact of overlapping FTAs, regional financial and sub-regional economic integration and cooperation, power and the politics of regional integration as well as the nexus between conflict resolution, state failure and regional integration.
Download or read book Sustainable Development and Planning IX written by C.A. Brebbia and published by WIT Press. This book was released on 2017-10-11 with total page 863 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Containing papers presented at the 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development and Planning this volume brings together the work of academics, policy makers, practitioners and other international stakeholders and discusses new academic findings and their application in planning and development strategies, assessment tools and decision making processes. Problems related to development and planning are present in all areas and regions of the world. Accelerated urbanisation has resulted in both the deterioration of the environment and quality of life. Taking into consideration the interaction between different regions and developing new methodologies for monitoring, planning and implementation, new strategies can offer solutions mitigating environmental pollution and non-sustainable use of available resources. Energy saving and eco-friendly buildings have become an important part of modern day progress with emphasis on resource optimisation. Planning is a key part in ensuring that these solutions along with new materials and processes are efficiently incorporated. Planners, environmentalists, architects, engineers and economists have to work collectively to ensure that present and future needs are met. The papers in the book cover a number of topics, including: City planning; Regional planning; Rural developments; Sustainability and the built environment; Sustainability supply chain; Resilience; Environmental management; Energy resources; Cultural heritage; Quality of life; Sustainable solutions in emerging countries; Sustainable tourism; Learning from nature; Transportation; Social and political issues; Community planning; UN Sustainable Development Goals and Timber Structures.
Download or read book Handbook Near and Middle East States written by Markus Porsche-Ludwig and published by LIT Verlag Münster. This book was released on 2021-12 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook presents precise yet accessible up-to-date information about the geography, history, culture, politics, and economy of 26 Near and Middle East states, ranging from Morocco to Pakistan, from Turkey to South Sudan. The targeted readership consists primarily of scholars, students, teachers, journalists, and other mediators of political education as well as anyone interested in politics. It is a basic work that contributes to comparative assessments of this hugely important and diverse region.
Download or read book Region Building in Africa written by Daniel H. Levine and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-05-19 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This landmark book is the first of its kind to assess the challenges of African region-building and regional integration across all five African sub-regions and more than five decades of experience, considering both political and economic aspects. Leading scholars and practitioners come together to analyze a range of entwined topics, including: the theoretical underpinnings that have informed Africa's regional integration trajectory; the political economy of integration, including the sources of different 'waves' of integration in pan-Africanism and the reaction to neo-liberal economic pressures; the complexities of integration in a context of weak states and the informal regionalization that often occurs in 'borderlands'; the increasing salience of Africa's relationships with rising extra-regional economic powers, including China and India; and comparative lessons from non-African regional blocs, including the EU, ASEAN, and the Southern Common Market. A core argument of this book, running through all chapters, is that region-building must be recognized as a political project as much as if not more than an economic one; successful region-building in Africa will need to include the complex political tasks of strengthening state capacity (including states' capacity as 'developmental states' that can actively engage in economic planning), resolving long-standing conflicts over resources and political dominance, improving democratic governance, and developing trans-national political structures that are legitimate and inclusive.
Download or read book Indicator Based Monitoring of Regional Economic Integration written by Philippe De Lombaerde and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-05-02 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together experts from different world regions. It presents various experiences with building indicator systems for monitoring the implementation of regional economic integration policies such as preferential trade areas, common markets or economic and monetary unions. The volume discusses both the technical and governance aspects of such systems, and best practices. The regional experiences that are covered include: the European Union, Eurasia, ASEAN, the East African Community (EAC), COMESA, CARICOM, the African-Caribbean-Pacific Group, and the Americas. In addition, various chapters discuss cross-cutting methodological challenges related to trade-related indicators.
Download or read book Constructing Oman s Peaceful Identity written by Giulia Daga and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Under Construction Logics of Urbanism in the Gulf Region written by Steffen Wippel and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-02-17 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interdisciplinary in approach, this volume explores and deciphers the symbolic value and iconicity of the built environment in the Arab Gulf Region, its aesthetics, language and performative characteristics. Bringing together a range of studies by artists, curators and scholars, it demonstrates how Dubai appeared - at least until the financial crisis - to be leading the construction race and has already completed a large number of its landmark architecture and strategic facilities. In contrast, cities like the Qatari capital Doha still appear to be heavily ’under construction’ and in countries like the Sultanate of Oman, ultra-luxury tourism projects were started only recently. While the construction of artificial islands, theme parks and prestige sport facilities has attracted considerable attention, much less is known about the region’s widespread implementation of innovative infrastructure such as global container ports, free zones, inter-island causeways and metro lines. This volume argues that these endeavours are not simply part of a strategy to prepare for the post-oil era for future economic survival and prosperity in the Lower Gulf region, but that they are also aiming to strengthen identitarian patterns and specific national brands. In doing so, they exhibit similar, yet remarkably diverse modes of engaging with certain global trends and present - questionably - distinct ideas for putting themselves on the global map. Each country aims to grab attention with regard to the world-wide flow of goods and capital and thus provide its own citizens with a socially acceptable trajectory for the future. By doing that, the countries in the Gulf are articulating a new semiotic and paradigm of urban development. For the first time, this volume maps these trends in their relation to architecture and infrastructure, in particular by treating them as semiotics in their own right. It suggests that recent developments in this region of the world not only represen
Download or read book The Small Gulf States written by Khalid S. Almezaini and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-12-08 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Small states are often believed to have been resigned to the margins of international politics. However, the recent increase in the number of small states has increased their influence and forced the international community to incorporate some of them into the global governance system. This is particularly evident in the Middle East where small Gulf states have played an important role in the changing dynamics of the region in the last decade. The Small Gulf States analyses the evolution of these states’ foreign and security policies since the Arab Spring. With particular focus on Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, it explores how these states have been successful in not only guaranteeing their survival, but also in increasing their influence in the region. It then discusses the security dilemmas small states face, and suggests a multitude of foreign and security policy options, ranging from autonomy to influence, in order to deal with this. The book also looks at the influence of regional and international actors on the policies of these countries. It concludes with a discussion of the peculiarities and contributions of the Gulf states for the study of small states’ foreign and security policies in general. Providing a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the unique foreign and security policies of the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) before and after the Arab Spring, this book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of Middle East studies, foreign policy and international relations.
Download or read book Community and Autonomy in Southern Oman written by Marielle Risse and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-06-21 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores how there is latitude for people to make their own choices and how the chances to assert independence change over time in a Muslim, Arab, tribal culture. The book first gives a brief overview of day-to-day life in the Dhofar region of southern Oman, then focuses on how the traits of self-control and self-respect are linked in the everyday actions of several groups of tribes who speak Gibali (Jibbali, also known as Shari/Śḥeret), a non-written, Modern South Arabian language. Although no work can express the totality of a culture, this text describes how Gibalis are constantly shifting between preserving autonomy and signaling membership in family, tribal, and national communities. The work reflects observations and conclusions from over ten years of research into the history and culture of the Dhofar region along with longstanding, deep involvement with both men and women in the Gibali community.
Download or read book Foodways in Southern Oman written by Marielle Risse and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-30 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Foodways in Southern Oman examines the objects, practices and beliefs relating to producing, obtaining, cooking, eating and disposing of food in the Dhofar region of southern Oman. The chapters consider food preparation, who makes what kind of food, and how and when meals are eaten. Marielle Risse connects what is consumed to themes such as land usage, gender, age, purity, privacy and generosity. She also discusses how foodways are related to issues of morality, safety, religion, and tourism. The volume is a result of fourteen years of collecting data and insights in Dhofar, covering topics such as catching fish, herding camels, growing fruits, designing kitchens, cooking meals and setting leftovers out for animals. It will be of interest to scholars from a range of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, food studies, Middle Eastern studies and Islamic studies.
Download or read book Zanzibar Was a Country written by Nathaniel Mathews and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2024-04-09 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Zanzibar Was a Country traces the history of a Swahili-speaking Arab diaspora from East Africa to Oman. In Oman today, whole communities in Muscat speak Swahili, have recent East African roots, and practice forms of sociality associated with the urban culture of the Swahili coast. These "Omani Zanzibaris" offer the most significant contemporary example in the Gulf, as well as in the wider Indian Ocean region, of an Afro-Arab community that maintains a living connection to Africa in a diasporic setting. While they come from all over East Africa, a large number are postrevolution exiles and emigrés from Zanzibar. Their stories provide a framework for the broader transregional entanglements of decolonization in Africa and the Arabian Gulf. Using both vernacular historiography and life histories of men and women from the community, Nathaniel Mathews argues that the traumatic memories of the Zanzibar Revolution of 1964 are important to nation-building on both sides of the Indian Ocean.
