The Biden administration has, quite naturally, prioritised resolving some of America’s greatest domestic challenges, particularly the Covid-19 pandemic and the bitter partisan divide that has led to deep social fissures across the country. In fact, President Joe Biden will be dedicating a significant portion of his first many days in office sorting out matters at home, leaving his foreign policy team to deal with the pressing issues beyond its borders.
Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin will have their work cut out, as they go about the difficult task of re-engaging with an international community less trusting of the US following four chaotic years under the preceding Trump administration. Moves have already been made to assuage concerns among fellow members of the Nato security alliance, as well as treaty allies in East Asia, regarding American commitment towards their security. There is promise of a five-year extension to the New START arms control treaty with Russia, and the US State Department is already reviewing its North Korea policy.
There is also good news with regard to the Middle East.
Curiously, the Biden administration seems to have cooled on the one talking point its key personnel harped on during the political transition over the past couple of months: the revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which Donald Trump withdrew the US from almost three years ago. Iran, in turn, went on to breach major parts of the deal. These breaches include resuming uranium enrichment at 20 per cent purity, increasing Tehran’s low-enriched uranium stockpile by 12 times the amount allowed under the accord and testing advanced centrifuges.
Mr Blinken and Mr Biden’s National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, had previously expressed their keenness to pursue a two-track strategy of reviving the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – or JCPOA – and lifting sanctions against Tehran before negotiating with the regime over their ballistic missiles programme.
The Biden team has since sought to tamp down expectations. There are signs that they will, instead, build on the Trump administration’s pressure tactics against Iran with a view to curb its destabilising activities in various parts of the Middle East, as Mr Blinken himself recently put it. He said returning to JCPOA is predicated upon Tehran’s compliance, while confirming that these conditions are not being satisfied at present.
“We are a long way from there,” Mr Blinken told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. “We would then have to evaluate whether they were actually making good if they say they are coming back into compliance with their obligations, and then we would take it from there.”
Antony Blinken has slowed down talk of rushing into talks with Iran. Reuters
Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence, also said that a decision to return to the pact is not imminent. “[Mr Biden] has indicated that if Iran were to come back into compliance, he would direct that we do so as well. And I think, frankly, that we are a long ways from that,” she said.
Perhaps the new administration has other foreign policy priorities, particularly collective security in East Asia amid what it perceives to be the rising threat of China. Perhaps the Biden team listened to concerns expressed by voices in the Middle East about the dangers of returning to talks with an Iranian regime that has made ideological expansion across the region its ultimate goal. Indeed, it should be clear by now the damage being done by the Iranian regime, which includes the creation and sustenance of armed proxies in countries with weak governments, such as Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Many politicians in these countries are little more than puppets being controlled by Tehran.
Perhaps the escalating tensions between the Trump administration and the regime in recent months have led to the pause, at least for the time being.
Leaders of the GCC countries in the Saudi city of Al Ula this month. AFP
Yet, despite the shift in mood in Washington, the Gulf countries will be watchful and the Biden administration should look to the Gulf Co-operation Council to play a vital role in keeping the peace.
It is clear that the GCC is determined to put its concerns and interests on the table if the Biden team were to begin renegotiation of the nuclear deal in the future. Amid the uncertainty, the six-nation grouping has sought to remind the administration of its unique understanding of Iran’s behaviour. As neighbours, the Gulf countries are all too aware of the consequences of Tehran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz. “Whatever you [Washington] know about the region, we know more,” Nayef Al Hajraf, the GCC Secretary General, told me recently. “We are trusted partners and we have a strategic relationship.”
Indeed, the Biden administration must understand the GCC’s role as a responsible stakeholder in a region that is otherwise riddled with a range of issues. Even as other countries struggle to deal with the economic fall-out of the pandemic, the Gulf nations are already focused on diversifying their economies and empowering their youth. And for what it's worth, they have always been advocates for constructive dialogue with all their neighbours – including Iran.
As the former US Special Representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, said, the Biden administration will do well to “listen” to the region. “They will look to the people of the region to explain three things: one, why the region remains very important to Americans; two, what the region is doing to deal with these problems itself and can be counted on by the United States to do; and thirdly, what the region needs the United States to do.”
One of the truisms about an overstretched America, as Mr Jeffrey pointed out, is that there is only so much this administration can do – as there was only so much the previous administration could do. It must therefore rely on its partners on the ground. The dangers of not doing so are real.
“The last thing the new administrations wants," according to Mr Al Hajraf, "is to have a destabilised region that will affect the supply of the energy, which will further destabilise economic reform in the region and create tensions – fuelled and fed by Iranian behaviour."
Raghida Dergham is the founder and executive chairwoman of the Beirut Institute and a columnist for The National
La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
Asia Cup Qualifier
Venue: Kuala Lumpur
Result: Winners play at Asia Cup in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in September
Fixtures:
Wed Aug 29: Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore
Thu Aug 30: UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman
Sat Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal
Sun Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore
Tue Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu Sep 6: Final
Asia Cup
Venue: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Schedule: Sep 15-28
Teams: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, plus the winner of the Qualifier
Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
Option 2: 50% across three years
Option 3: 30% across five years
RESULTS - ELITE MEN
1. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 57:03
2. Mario Mola (ESP) 57:09
3. Vincent Luis (FRA) 57:25
4. Leo Bergere (FRA)57:34
5. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 57:40
6. Joao Silva (POR) 57:45
7. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 57:56
8. Adrien Briffod (SUI) 57:57
9. Gustav Iden (NOR) 57:58
10. Richard Murray (RSA) 57:59
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
