How the Crises in Lebanon have Exacerbated the Calamities of an Already Wrecked Syrian Economy
Lebanon has been under political, economic, and regional turmoil since late 2019. The 17th of October revolution, the banking crisis, and the Beirut port explosion have all been either a cause or effect of this turmoil. Syrians, who make up a large majority of Lebanon’s…
Kafala-nomics
Everyone has different opinions on the Kafala system. Most of these opinions, however, are derived from either a philosophical or political perspective, with little work done to quantify the issue. This will be the aim of this article, to take a completely numbers-based approach and…
The Politicization of Terrorism: What The Deal Between the US and Sudan Means
In 1993, the United States accused Sudan of sheltering members of Hezbollah, an Islamist political party and militant group based in Lebanon that the United States deems as terrorists. As a result, Sudan was added to the U.S State Department’s State Sponsors of Terrorism List….
The Belt and Road Initiative: China’s trillion-dollar project to dominate global trade
It’s 2013, Xi Jinping is delivering a speech in Kazakhstan1 in which he mentions a new economic belt going along the old silk road, the ancient corridor linking Asia to the European continent and the middle east for approximately 2,000 years. A month later he…
The Future of Iran/US Current Nuclear Negotiations
Introduction: A week ago, a new round of the US /Iran nuclear negotiations started. Even though it was the 7th round since Biden resumed the talks with Iran after Trump withdrawal from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement, it’s the first round under…
The Benefits of the Integration of Poland into the European Union
Introduction The decline of the Soviet Union was one of the 20th century’s biggest changes to the global geopolitical structure in general, and Europe in particular. Together with the rise of China, which started right after and continues until today, it has changed the…
Understanding the global supply chain crisis
In 2020, following the international spread of the Covid-19 virus, the shutdown of the global economy lead to deep and unprecedented changes in today’s globalized and capitalistic societies. While the public health sector suffered the most during the pandemic years, another sector that was also…
Challenges of Economic Development in Moldova: Why is Moldova So Poor?
Since 1991, the tiny Eastern European republic of Moldova, occupying a mere 33, 843.5 kilometers square of territory and sandwiched in between its mother-state of Romania to the west and Ukraine to the east, north, and south, has stood out to economists, political scientists, and…
Post Russia-Ukraine War: A New World Order?
Two regions announced independence, got denied their independence by the former Soviet country, leading to Russian intervention in support of the two states with a wide scale war around the time of the Olympics in Beijing, China. This is not the story of the Russia-Ukraine…
Diverging narratives: Russian and Western propaganda
The recent escalation of events that led to the Ukraine-Russia crisis has had many countries officially blaming Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin. Among the many recriminations that came with attacking Ukraine virtually unprovoked, according to the Western narrative, the speeches that Putin has delivered…
The Heat is on: The Impact of Climate Regulations on Industry Productivity
Abstract This paper presents the results of a randomized experiment varying the method of selection of industries, the characteristics of the selected industries and their input towards respecting environmental regulations. I find it extremely important for companies to abide by these governmental climate regulations…
Restructuring subnational governance in Lebanon
The wave of mass protests that started in October 2019 starkly brought the dire state of Lebanon’s infrastructure and public services to the public’sattention. In a country where subnational governments (SNGs) are already chronically underfunded, the ongoing economic, financial, and monetary crisis in Lebanon has…
The Ripple effect of Strategic Leadership
This paper aims to discuss Ripple Labs, Inc. from a strategic angle, looking into its strategic positioning to critically analyze the effectiveness of the leadership style of its CEO Brad Garlinghouse, as a resilient transformative leader within his institution and the crypto space. Based on…
Research: Global Economic Outlook 2021: Regional and Sectoral Disparities
The year 2020 has been dictated by the ever-growing spread of the pandemic. The exponential proliferation of Covid-19 has caused entire economies to cease operations as the number of cases and subsequent deaths keep rising. As policymakers weigh the health costs of the pandemic to…
Research: Cryptocurrency (lack of) Regulations: Overview, Risks, and Opportunities
In early 2017, cryptocurrency became a global ubiquitous topic when Bitcoin value to US dollar increased in over 200 percent from 2014, and by around 4,000 percent by late 2017. This rapid increase is reflected in the nominal value of Bitcoins from less than $0.01…
The Dollarization Curse: Hard Peg Choices to Cure the Currency
Lebanon is one of the most highly dollarized countries in the world. The experience of the past two years of its multi-tiered economic crisis – already notorious as a crisis of historic proportions – leaves no doubt that any rescue attempt undertaken at this critical…
Research: Small and medium-sized enterprises in the United Arab Emirates
Due to their immense role in the growth of national economies, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been at the center of attention for policy makers in both developed and developing countries. SMEs make up to 99 percent of total enterprises in most developed countries,…