For centuries Saudi Arabia epitomized conservatism. Guided by Islamic values and teachings, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) stayed away from the extravagance of the western world and the country...Show moreFor centuries Saudi Arabia epitomized conservatism. Guided by Islamic values and teachings, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) stayed away from the extravagance of the western world and the country’s entertainment industry suffered as a result. In the past decade, however, Saudi Arabia has begun to emerge as a possible global centrepiece in the entertainment industry, marking a primary step in the shift of Saudi Arabian ideology. Under new leadership, Saudi Arabia is entering a new era, where entertainment plays an important role in the country’s development.Show less
This thesis attempts to explain why Saddam Hussein could not mobilise collective Arab support for his invasion of Kuwait in the early 1990s, despite his use of pan-Arab rhetoric, arguments and...Show moreThis thesis attempts to explain why Saddam Hussein could not mobilise collective Arab support for his invasion of Kuwait in the early 1990s, despite his use of pan-Arab rhetoric, arguments and justifications. Saddam’s failure to gather support from all Arab states became incontrovertible when an anti-Iraq coalition was formed by the United States which consisted of various Arab countries, including Egypt and Syria. Based on qualitative historical analysis of secondary sources, discourse analysis of Iraqi speeches and content analysis of economic documents, Egyptian and Syrian newspaper articles, this thesis argues that Saddam’s failure was caused by the decline of pan-Arabism and the rise of national statism in the Arab world since the late 1960s. Case studies of Egypt and Syria during the First Gulf War make clear that these countries prioritised the state over the (pan-)Arab nation by advancing state instead of pan-Arab interests and valuing state sovereignty and state power over pan-Arab unity.Show less
Abstract This thesis explores the connection between the two driving forces behind the phenomena women’s empowerment and gender equality in the Arab Gulf region. These driving forces are (1)...Show moreAbstract This thesis explores the connection between the two driving forces behind the phenomena women’s empowerment and gender equality in the Arab Gulf region. These driving forces are (1) international (Western) standards (top-down approach) and (2) efforts by Arab women themselves (bottom-up approach). The social change, which has taken place in the recent years, has created new spaces and visibility for Arab Gulf women. However, it is argued with a postcolonial feminist theoretical framework that international development standards and Western liberal & Orientalist narratives often overshadow Arab Muslim women’s agency in their liberation by portraying them as oppressed and silent. As such, the existence and role of Islamic feminism is analysed to challenge these Western liberal & Orientalist narratives. This study employs various case studies as its qualitative research method, which are spread between two analytical chapters which provide a critical discourse analysis of the two approaches outlined above. Analysis of the top-down approach discusses the existing international framework of female empowerment and gender equality and relates it to the UAE as regional case study. Analysis of the bottom-up approach discusses the case of Saudi Muslim women’s rights activist Manal al-Sharif to challenge both the national patriarchal and Western neoliberal narratives, which belittle women’s agency in their own increasing empowerment. Ultimately, this thesis will focus on a how female empowerment as a regional phenomenon can be analysed within a global context.Show less
In 2016, the Jordan Compact (JC) agreement brought together the government of Jordan and major international donors to pledge support to Syrian refugees. It represented a new form of refugee...Show moreIn 2016, the Jordan Compact (JC) agreement brought together the government of Jordan and major international donors to pledge support to Syrian refugees. It represented a new form of refugee management that incorporates humanitarian help and long-term national development objectives. This thesis analysed how the JC is much more than a humanitarian project and led to the commodification of refugees. To answer this question, a historical analysis of the neoliberal restructuring in Jordan and a critical discourse analysis of the JC was conducted, using a neo-Marxist framework. The results show that a new humanitarian-development paradigm increasingly renders refugees as resilient objects of economic opportunity, leading to their exploitation in the labour market, and serves as a legitimising mechanism for the continuation and deepening of neoliberal restructuring. This study emphasises that humanitarian projects are inherently political and never neutral, and that while “turning the Syrian refugee crisis into a development opportunity” may sound like an appealing proposition, the conjunction of development and humanitarianism proves not to be compatible, as it leads to the exploitation and commodification of refugees in a newly emerged realm of capital accumulation.Show less
