Who’s to blame for this economic crisis? It’s an important question for governments in Cairo, Islamabad, and Manila: as I wrote last week, they face the challenge of finding jobs for the rising number of migrant workers returning home.
So it’s no surprise many governments are pointing to the West, in particular America, as responsible for factory closures and job losses. This is what makes today’s crisis different, for example, to the Asian crisis a decade ago.
I’ve been looking for evidence of “finger-pointing” in the Arabic and Chinese media. But it strikes me that not everyone is behaving in the same way.
Read Full Post
The Silk Road was, for a while, the world’s largest construction site. From Beijing to Dubai, skyscrapers were erected at a frightening speed. But the economic crisis has taken its toll and the construction sites are closing. Migrant workers are feeling the pinch as they back their bags and head home.
This is a big problem for the Silk Road’s economy. The region accounts for 65 million of the world’s 190 million migrants, according to the World Bank. Many live no more than a few years abroad and most send money home. The two biggest earners, India and China, receive $57 billion annually. It’s a figure equivalent to Microsoft’s annual revenues.
Read Full Post
News network Al Jazeera dominated coverage of the recent fighting the Gaza. Owned by the Emir of Qatar, and headquartered in the Middle East, the channel has a dominant presence in the Middle East. This was evident during the Gaza conflict when its intensive coverage put its competitors to shame.
Al Jazeera knew it too. It paid for large advertisements on the New York Times website explaining to American viewers how they can access its English-language coverage through the internet. This was another ‘Afghanistan moment’, or an opportunity for the channel to win new viewers with its exclusive coverage.
Al Jazeera is one of the Silk Road’s most compelling stories. Yet its influence isn’t limited to the Middle East. The channel has also inspired other Silk Road countries, in particular China.
Read Full Post
The Dubai story has taken some hard knocks in recent months.
Its massive construction program has tended to rely on debt rather than oil. Debt markets however have collapsed as a result of the financial crisis. There is also talk of oil-rich Abu Dhabi having to bailout its neighbor. Dubai’s critics claim that the emirate simply rode a global tide of cheap credit. And, as the Chinese say, when the tide is out, the rocks appear.
I disagree. I’m still a big of Dubai. A recent article in Al Quds Al Arabi underscores why. The author reports how many Iranians, who had bought property in Dubai during the boom years, are now suffering losses. Painful stuff no doubt. But the more important message is why Iranians, and the rest of the world, had flocked to Dubai in the first place and, I believe, will continue to do so in the coming years.
Read Full Post
Ahmed Mussa speaks good Chinese. He should. He’s the Palestinian Authority’s envoy in Beijing. I watched his interview on Xinhua, China’s state news agency, earlier this week. For thirty minutes he argued the Palestinian case in front of his Chinese host. He criticized Israel. But also opposed the rocket attacks by Hamas. He talked of the links between Arab Jews and Arab Muslims. He also worried that the Arab states would fail to unite in opposition.
The fighting in Gaza shines a spotlight on relations between China and the Arab world. No surprise, but the state of relations has changed rapidly over the past decade.
Read Full Post
Is it the end of the Silk Road story? It’s tempting to assume falling oil prices is bad news for the region. After all, the Silk Road accounts for 49% of the world’s oil production. Yet, oil isn’t everything. The region is also the world’s largest manufacturing hub, its factories producing everything from steel to DVD players.
It might sound surprising, but the factories matter more than the oil rigs. How so? The Silk Road is a net oil importer no different to America or Europe. A majority of its economies, accounting for 80% of the region’s total output, consume more oil than they produce. Its oil-hungry factory owners are welcoming the falling oil prices just as they are in the rest of the world.
Read Full Post
Indonesia’s Bali is a beautiful island. But Lombok, its neighbor, is less spoilt. Emaar, Dubai’s giant property developer, agrees. It plans to build a resort on Lombok. Of course, the resort will cater to big spending Americans and Europeans. But it will also cater to Muslims from all parts of the Silk Road. Why? It’s big money these days.
Indonesia has so far struggled to attract Muslim tourists in spite of its status as the world’s largest Muslim country. It’s missing out. Muslim tourists have started travelling to countries more sympathetic to Islam since September 2001. The number of Arabs travelling to Egypt, for instance, has surged in the past few years. Today, it’s the Pyramids, not Disneyland.
Read Full Post
Worried about the economic crisis? China and Saudi Arabia think they have the answer. The two countries are looking to home-grown solutions. Chinese villagers and Saudi investors might not appear to have much in common. But they do. Both are so far resilient to the global downturn.
Take the example of Chinese manufacturers who have long relied on American consumers. Not anymore. Exports to America have slumped as a result of the economic crisis. Inventories are piling up in the country’s warehouses. What to do? The government has offered Chinese villagers rebates to buy stockpiled consumer goods like mobile phones, washing machines, and Plasma TVs. It’s not just domestic manufacturers who are participating in the scheme; global brands, like Panasonic and Siemens, have also rushed to join.
Read Full Post
