Provides the ‘how to’ for international practitioners doing business in the Middle East. A clear and comprehensive approach takes the reader through the different aspects of business that are recognisable globally but nuanced for the Middle East context. Written by leading authors in the field, the book draws on research rather than conjecture.

Trade and the Environment presents the most important published articles and papers which are essential to an understanding of the complex interrelationship between trade and the environment - an area which reflects the increasing concern about the protection of the earth's environment and natural resources. The book examines the subject from three perspectives. The first section offers an economic analysis of the trade and environment relationship, including the problems of cost and the methodological approaches to analyses of trade and environment; and exploration of how international and national trade and environment policies affect each other and an investigation of how firms and corporations adjust their strategies to respond to environmental regulation. The second section, which is devoted to the legal aspects of the conflict between trade and environmental policies, explores the implications of existing international trade agreements for good environmental practice and investigates the effects of national environmental laws on international trade. The final section is concerned with government policy and the way in which national governments construct international 'regimes' which affect the interplay between trade liberators and environmental regulators. Trade and the Environment provides a clear insight into an area of current concern and points to future issues in the rapidly emerging trade and environment regime.

This book collects selected articles addressing several currently debated issues in the field of international macroeconomics. They focus on the role of the central banks in the debate on how to come to terms with the long-term decline in productivity growth, insufficient aggregate demand, high economic uncertainty and growing inequalities following the global financial crisis. Central banks are of considerable importance in this debate since understanding the sluggishness of the recovery process as well as its implications for the natural interest rate are key to assessing output gaps and the monetary policy stance. The authors argue that a more dynamic domestic and external aggregate demand helps to raise the inflation rate, easing the constraint deriving from the zero lower bound and allowing monetary policy to depart from its current ultra-accommodative position. Beyond macroeconomic factors, the book also discusses a supportive financial environment as a precondition for the rebound of global economic activity, stressing that understanding capital flows is a prerequisite for economic-policy decisions.

This book focuses on the market issues facing Asian industrialization and the possibility, feasibility, and sustainability of China integrating the Asian economics. How China's rise affects Asian market and the economic relation between China and other Asian economies? The book looks into this issue from market and regional perspectives and concludes that: Asian industrialization including China makes the unified regional market as the common goal of Asian economies; the integration of Asian markets is also a key strategy for China in the next 5-10 years; China may become a major player or even a leader in integrating regional markets; however, it will be a longtime process depending on China's economic strength in the future.

This book addresses topical questions concerning the legal framework of trade in services, and assesses how these issues are dealt with in GATS and in selected preferential trade agreements. In addition, the chapters discuss whether the differences and similarities (if any) are evidence of greater coherence or greater divergence. The book combines the individual analyses to provide a more comprehensive picture of the current law on services trade liberalisation.A quarter of a century after the conclusion of the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS), international law on trade in services is still in a state of flux: on the one hand, countries increasingly conclude bilateral and regional trade agreements with sections on trade in services that aim at a further liberalisation of services trade. On the other, the GATS structure remains the dominant model and serves as the basis for many preferential trade agreements. In addition, new aspects such as electronic commerce, data protection and taxation are now emerging, while issues that had already manifested in the mid-1990s such as financial services regulation, labour mobility, and telecommunications continue to be problematic. Usually, the debates focus on the question of whether preferential trade agreements serve as a stepping-stone or stumbling block for trade liberalisation at the multilateral level. However, it can be assumed that rules on trade in services in preferential trade agreements will coexist with the global GATS regime for the foreseeable future. This raises the question of whether we're currently witnessing a drive towards greater coherence or more divergence in agreements on trade in services.

This book presents a new framework for the 'trade and environment' debate and discusses the ways in which the EU and the WTO address this topic: positive, negative and non-integration. It analyses areas like food safety and renewable energy from the perspectives of legal and political science, and economics, and includes contributions focusing on various approaches, such as harmonisation, regulatory cooperation and judicialisation. In the 21st century, especially in our current times, where free trade and economic integration are increasingly being called into question, it is even more vital to find convincing normative answers and ways to address the very complex relationship between trade and environmental policies. Debunking some of the myths concerning positive and negative integration and the relationship between the two, this book is a valuable contribution to the debate on globalisation.

Immigration is right at the top of the political agenda for the 21st century. This book draws together and unifies analysis of immigration into the major EU countries and the US, presenting in an accessible and clear way the major trends and dramatic developments of the past decade. While the influence of the welfare state on immigration incentives is a key issue, various other influences on both legal and illegal migration are analysed, together with the implications of migration for the market outcomes on these two continents.

This textbook offers a comprehensive picture of the world economy, the global business environment, and international business. The book is divided into three parts, the first of which introduces readers to the essentials of the world economy, including its typology, key concepts and theories, the dynamics of the world economy, and key actors and institutions. It also addresses macroeconomic and financial indicators for economic growth and forecasting and discusses major modern trends and problems, such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, patterns of globalization, shifts in global economic power, and developmental, social and environmental challenges. In turn, the second part focuses on the global business environments, presenting country and regional studies. The third part addresses macro and micro aspects of international business, featuring contributions on topics such as global economic governance, global capital flows, multinational corporations, global value chains, international trade and its regulation and practice, international knowledge transfer, international labor migration as well as foreign aid, external debt, and business culture in international business.

This book explores America's decline as a global power, arguing that the implosion of Pax Americana was initiated by the process of globalization, preceding the collapse of the Soviet Union by nearly a decade. The era of Pax Americana, and with it American hegemony, is conclusively passed, and will not return in current global conditions. There is a stark contrast between the present epoch and the postwar era of American hegemony (1945-1979) in which the United States, at least outside of the Soviet sphere of influence, largely managed the international economy and reigned over international politics and relations. Drawing on both theoretical and empirical evidence, this book shows that the era of globalization unleashed forces-social, political, and economic-which broke down the status quo of American hegemony. Author Cyrus Bina also establishes that since the Iranian Revolution (1979), US involvement throughout the Middle East, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and now notably in Ukraine has been motivated by the freefall of American hegemony and an attempt to get it back by direct or indirect military force. Bina utilizes these contexts for wider analysis and critique of a number of theories commonly used to analyze economy, polity, geopolitical, and dynamics of crisis and social change in capitalism. This book will be of great interest to students, academics, and policymakers on subjects of Economics, International Relations, Global Studies, International Political Economy, Political Geography, Sociology, and postwar History.

Viewing the Arctic as a key region for global development in the 21st century, this book offers a cross-disciplinary conceptual framework for understanding what international cooperation is, why it is difficult and what kind of alternative views can apply in the Arctic. Written by Arctic experts, the book presents major trends and scenarios for international cooperation in the Arctic up to 2035 and future prospects for international cooperation in the Arctic in various sectors: energy, business and economy, transportation and logistics, climate change, diplomacy and security, culture, innovations, higher education and research. Implications of the scenarios for global development are discussed in the light of the United Nations Agenda for Global Development and Sustainable Development Goals. The book offers a cross-disciplinary conceptual framework of international cooperation in the Arctic and discusses implications of this framework for global development. Filling the gap in analytical understanding of international cooperation, this book will be of interest to academics, students and professionals concerned with global development and the Arctic region.

This book presents new research related to climate change policies and effects. It discusses the implications of climate change on issues pertaining to international relations and economic development, and the question of how climate change could jeopardize the international system as we have known it until today. It aims to provide an empirical basis and epistemological framework to discuss the effects of climate change on economic growth, social development and welfare as a global phenomenon influenced by policies carried out transnationally and by national governments. Case studies from around the globe are presented.

A large and growing academic literature seeks to analyse the key aspects of the International Monetary Fund's operations from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. This two-volume set draws together what are generally acknowledged to be the most important contributions. In the main it focuses on the economics of the IMF but also reflects the fact that a full understanding of the Fund will only be achieved if its political dimensions are also addressed. The collected articles demonstrate the way in which research on the IMF has evolved over time. They cover the role of the IMF, the determinants of IMF lending, conditionality and the implementation and effects of IMF programs, the prolonged use of IMF resources as well as the IMF's own reserve asset, the Special Drawing Right. No serious student of the IMF will want to be without this up-to-date and comprehensive collection.

Changing the Indian Economy: Renewal, Reform and Revival explores the fact that post-Modi India is witnessing unprecedented socioeconomic change, truly labeled as Modi's Mantra and his attempts to morph the Indian economic landscape. India is using an intelligent economic process for its renewal and growth, however, in a recent study by Nomura, 2016, The Japanese Financial Services firm, it is reported that there is downside risk to India's baseline forecast of 7.8 per cent GDP growth in 2016. Although the report suggests that there was a mid-cycle consolidation in mid-2014, the recovery seems to be losing momentum. This book offers a novel, but inclusive outlook to the entire post-Modi economic overhaul.

This volume presents a broad sweep of modern economic history underpinning aid, trade, development and globalization in the last half century and the salient challenges facing the global community today. The author draws on his long years as an academic and development practitioner to recommend what needs to be done to cope with the backsliding of the fight against global poverty, fractured geopolitics and the threats to the multilateral economic order. The new, revised edition analyses how unilateralism, rising protectionism and the Covid-19 pandemic seriously threaten global sustainable development. It concludes with recommendations on the policy changes needed to make globalization more equitable and development more sustainable. This book will be of interest to researchers and students of economic development and economic history, as well as all those concerned about global inequality and sustainability.

Bank failures, near failures, and crises are common throughout the world, and particularly in the major G-10 trading countries, including the United States, Germany, and Japan. But equally common are the bailouts by national governments, when they perceive that bank failure will result in severe economic distress. Gup examines these events, focusing on happenings in the particularly volatile years since 1980, and finds that nonperforming real estate loans, even more than fraud, are the primary cause. His wide-ranging investigation casts doubt on the effectiveness of bank regulation and makes clear that with globalization and emerging technologies, change in regulatory methods is needed. This book is essential for scholars, students as well as professionals in international banking, finance, investment, and world trade.

The rise of the institutionalist and evolutionary approaches in economics has posed a serious intellectual challenge to the dominant neo-classical paradigm. This book draws together leading scholars in the fields of institutional and evolutionary economics who apply cutting-edge research to one of the most controversial issues of our day, namely, the role of the state.The authors offer a sound methodological guide to the research in this fast-evolving area of economics. They provide a firm theoretical foundation for the role of the state and review the history of policy making. They also use country studies to reinforce their approach, including the role of the state in the Asian Crisis, the current debate on state reform in Japan, public administration in Central and Eastern Europe and the practice of state reform in Brazil. This book will inspire readers to reassess their views on the role of the state and state reform.

This book explores the relations between the EU and the BRICS in the areas of politics, economic development, trade and security. The contributions cover topics such as the position of the EU and BRICS in the global order and the EU as a "normative power," as well as the evolution, characteristics and institutionalization of BRICS and the roles of its member countries Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. The book will appeal to researchers and scholars interested in the rise of BRICS and the resulting challenges and opportunities for the European Union and Global Governance.

This book purports to investigate and compare the economic development experiences in both Taiwan and South Korea in last two decades. Taiwan and South Korea's economic development after WWII is a well-known story. However, their development after the successful post-war industrialization has not been comprehensively studied. The book examines whether the three factors -the role of private business, government policy, and foreign influence-that had contributed to Taiwan's and Korea's post-war development, are still relevant during the post-industrial development era. Researchers in the fields of global political economy, Asian economic development and East Asian studies will find this book a fresh and invaluable contribution to the literature. The book will also be of value to policy makers in developing countries in drafting their national development policies, diplomats conducting economic diplomacy with Taiwan and South Korea, and business people planning to expand their business interests in Asia.

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the vulnerabilities of socio-economic systems globally and exposed the risks that natural capital degradation imposes on human health, economy, and society. This book studies the environmental challenges faced by developing economies in a post-COVID-19 world. Exploring diverse case studies from South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, the volume discusses the impact that economic development and, recently, COVID-19 has had on the environment, ecology, and economy of these regions. It analyses nature conservation policies aimed at minimizing ecological damage arising from economic development and discusses the policy objectives of sustainable development. It also highlights the significant role that environmental economics networks have played in capacity building, framing of policies using ecological economics tools, and developing a local leadership trained in addressing local sustainability issues. An important contribution to the study of environmental economics of the Global South, the book will be of interest to students and researchers of economics, environment, development studies, development economics, environmental policies, and South Asia studies. It will also be useful for policymakers and NGOs working in this field.

Neoliberal economic reforms over the last four decades have altered the economic cartography of emerging market economies such as India, particularly in the context of international trade, investment and finance, and in terms of their effects on the real economy. This book examines the issues of financialization, investment climate and the impact of trade liberalization. By analysing these three features of neoliberal reform the book is unique, since it accommodates both a mainstream neoclassical approach and a non-mainstream political economy approach. The major questions answered by this book, cover three basic lines of enquiry pertaining to neoliberal reforms. They are (a) how financialization as a new process affects the real economic health of emerging market economies characterized by globalization; (b) how the changing form of international trade in the new regime impacts upon the informal economy, and employment and trade potential in the home country; and (c) how global investment has shaped the real economy in emerging countries like India. The book will be extremely useful for postgraduate students of international economics, particularly development economics and political economy, including researchers with a keen interest in India.

Most social scientists are familiar with the concept of the Silk Road. In recent years, however, it is the New Silk Road that has been on the lips of many. This short guide is addressed to all those eager to learn more about this new road. The New Silk Road resembles the old road in that it represents an ensemble of relationships and connections among several distant places. The author depicts some of them and presents people, institutions and projects connected to the road. Moreover, the various meanings and values attributed to the new road by different people across the world are explored. The book seeks to reveal the implications and meanings the New Silk Road has for the world we inhabit and for its future. "Adam Nobis's [...] is a much-needed, relevant and interesting publication. It is relevant because it addresses processes unfolding before our eyes and impacting our real, socio-cultural world. It is interesting, for it discusses these processes in an original way and competently combines synthesis with analysis. It is much-needed as it offers the readers a wealth of detailed information about the developments it depicts." Leszek Kopciuch, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin "This modestly-sized book is an outcome of the author's painstakingly meticulous effort to put together scattered pieces into an imposing mosaic that is the New Silk Road. [...] With Nobis's guide in hand, the reader can feel at ease traversing, both physically and imaginatively, the paths that stretch between China and Europe." Leszek Koczanowicz, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw

Africa's oil and gas industry is facing extraordinary circumstances. An ongoing energy transition and new efforts to decarbonize the world are weighing on oil demand. The shale revolution is exacerbating these pressures. And of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought havoc on markets around the world, accelerating and intensifying existing trends. External headwinds are forcing African petroleum producers to re-examine their strategies. Conventional petroleum resources here should be globally competitive, but growth has lagged because of conditions above the ground, not below. Restrictive fiscal regimes, inefficient and carbon-intensive production, and difficulties in doing business are preventing the industry from reaching its full potential. As companies delay projects and cut costs, planned capital expenditure in 2020-2021 has fallen from $90 billion pre-COVID-19, to $60 billion now. To remain competitive, African producers and governments must adapt. But how can they do it when the economic order is being remade? The Road to Recovery addresses these challenges head-on, detailing all of the major challenges facing African oil and gas stakeholders, as well as workable solutions that will keep the industry on a strong and stable growth path. Again and again, our oil and gas sector has proven its resilience and adaptability. The world still needs oil and gas, and Africa still holds enormous untapped potential. The African Energy Chamber will remain a committed partner of choice for the industry as we advance into an uncertain future.

An authoritative guide to Africa's economic development and prospects. This is volume 4 in a major international research project coordinated by the African Economic Research Consortium and bringing together the top academics in development economics, trade policy and international economics from Africa, Europe and North America. This fourth volume draws upon the theoretical framework and detailed studies of both individual countries and regional schemes of the previous three books to present an analysis of Africa's prospects for economic development, regional integration and co-operation and her changing place in the world economy today.

The book deals with the key aspects of social and economic inequalities developed during the transition of the formerly planned European economies. Particular emphasis is given to the latest years available in order to consider the effects of the global crisis started in 2008-2009.

As important as state-to-state and multi-state cooperation have long proven to be, many countries in the Global South have yet to fully explore its potentials. Despite their shared history of slavery, colonialism, and underdevelopment, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean currently show a lack of significant cooperation. Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean: The Case for Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation, therefore, makes the case for an increased and renewed effort at bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the three regions. In this multidisciplinary work, scholars make the case for renewing, continuing, and deepening relationships between the people, the state, and the non-governmental organizations in the three spheres-taking not only an economic and political point of view, but also considering sociological, geographical, and historical perspectives as well.