Growing Global
Israel and Lebanon: Relations Under Stress
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jacob Abadi
This paper provides an analysis of the course of Israeli-Lebanese relations and its purpose is to shed light on the contacts between the Maronites in Lebanon and the State of Israel. The paper traces these contacts to the interwar period when the leaders of the Maronite community who regarded the Jews as the descendants of the Biblical Hebrews, sought to provide a Phoenician identity to Lebanon that could help them develop their unique culture. It demonstrates that despite the movement’s failure the contacts laid the background for cooperation between the two communities which survived the vicissitudes of the Lebanese civil wars and still plays a role in Israeli foreign policy. The paper explores the attempts of the founders of the state of Israel to continue these contacts. It shows how the Israeli government continued to search allies among the Lebanese Christians following the entry of the PLO and the subsequent War of Lebanon in 1982. It discusses the connection between Israel and the Lebanese army during that war and assess the advantages and disadvantages of this alliance to both sides. Moreover, it assesses the impact of this relationship on the massacre of Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. And finally, it discusses the impact of the rise of Hezbollah on the Israeli-Maronite connection. The paper is based on government documents books and periodicals.
Nationalist Isolationism as Geopolitical Strategy: The United States as a Case-Study in the Rejection of the New Globalization
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Black Hawk Hancock
President Donald J. Trump, withdrawing from multi-lateral treaties, such as the Iran Deal, the Paris Climate Accord, NAFTA, and Trans-Pacific Partnership, dismissing the United Nations Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court as institutions lacking legitimacy, as well as considering NATO "obsolete" and putting forth the possibility of withdrawing military troops and closing military bases, is bringing an end to U.S. hegemony. However, these events must simultaneously be viewed as nationalist and isolationist geopolitical strategies against the new globalization. This paper begins by parsing President Trump’s statement from his United Nations speech of September 25th, where he claimed the United States was going to “reject the ideology of globalism and accept the ideology of patriotism.” Second, the paper goes on to show how this statement crystalizes President Trump’s imperatives of tightening national security, securing economic corporate tax cuts, and imposing draconian anti-immigration regulations to put “America First.” Third, it analytically separates the political, economic, and socio-cultural factors that get conflated in this statement, as well as in his counter-intuitive geopolitical strategies in general. In doing so, this paper illustrates how these analytically separate components get intertwined and become reinforcing, such that political policies which have economic effects, take on socio-cultural significance through the lens of identity politics. The paper concludes with a discussion of how a case-study of U.S. nationalism and isolationism proves vital for conceptualizing the questions that need to be asked to reconfigure the international liberal order in the face of the U.S.’s retreat from global leadership.
Engines of Growth in the Developing World: Examining the Reasons for, and the Likely Effects of the Romance between China and Some African Countries
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sunday Akin Olukoju
This paper examines Chinese incursion into Sub-Saharan Africa with a view to determining the reasons for, as well as verify if and how some of such partnerships are benefiting the various parties involved. While Asghar and Hussain (2014) identified financial development as a factor that powers economic growth in the developing countries, the duo also see this as a two-way traffic with foreign direct investment (FDI) and subsequently, trade openness, as factors powering growth. To be more specific, Dong and Fan (2017) examined the effects of China's aid and trade on its overseas direct investment (ODI) in 50 African countries from 2002 to 2013, and both concluded that the aid China offers will crowd out its investment in these countries. Case study analysis is the main method of inquiry. Mourao (2018) pinpointed dynamic national markets with a large population and significant forest area as determinants of Chinese preferences. Mourao affirmed that these factors constitute the most preferred reasons for the allocation of Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in 48 African countries between 2003 and 2010. Mourao also identified increased political stability and regulatory quality, with government effectiveness as other factors that make this move efficient. This paper investigates possible implications such as whether these factors are driven locally and/or by outside influence, and why; as well as possible short and long term effects, while identifying likely engines of growth with accompanying implications.
