It's time for the minorities in the Arab world to understand that tyrants will not protect them
Minorities in the Arab world must realise that their future is not with tyrants or generals, but rather with the majorities around them, Faisal Al Qassem wrote in an article in the Doha-based newspaper Al Sharq.
Abraham Lincoln's quote that one cannot fool all of the people all of the time unfortunately does not apply to some Arab world minorities. History has shown instead that they can be duped and used to achieve contemptuous goals, the writer said.
Colonialists have used minorities as a cat's paw to interfere in the countries they sought to colonise. The colonisers would justify their intervention by saying that they were protecting minorities from the injustice of majorities, just as they have used the spreading of human rights and democracy to achieve their ends.
Russia has long talked about protecting Orthodox Christians; and western colonisers such as France have traded on the notion of protecting the Druze, Alawites, Christians and others. Alas, their plans would usually be successful, with minorities - who were unable to see they were used only as a Trojan horse by the occupiers - becoming a thorn in the side of majorities.
Although the colonisers are gone, many minorities have not learnt from the colonial experience and have fallen once again into the trap of tyrants. The same old tricks of the colonisers have been used by Arab tyrants and generals to present themselves to the world as protectors of minorities - even though it is just a game to reach their goals.
The Arab Spring has come to show that minorities have not at all learnt from the colonial period. Many of them have allowed themselves to be toys in the hands of the tyrants whose people have finally risen against them after decades of tyranny. Instead of joining the majority to seem freedom and dignity, many minority groups have sided with the regimes.
Minority leaders have failed to see that minorities are being basely used by threatened regimes whose only goals is to stay in power.
In fact, many dictators have been able to drive a wedge between majorities and minorities by committing crimes against the latter and blaming the former.
Most such crimes have been carried out by tyrannical regimes in a bid to tell the world that insurgents target minorities as well, according to the writer.
Shortly after the protests in Egypt were broken up, there were reports of attacks on churches, and fingers were immediately pointed at Islamist protesters, before any inquest was conducted.
Many people have believed such reports and failed to recall the confessions of jailed former interior minister Habib Al Adly, who revealed that the old regime used to order him to attack churches to gain the world's support.
Many Arab countries could learn from India
Arabs can learn a lot of lessons from India's commendable experience, from their non-violent struggle against British colonialism to their successes with their economy and democracy, argued Saudi columnist Hussein Shobokshi in the London-based newspaper Asharq Al Awsat.
There is no doubt that India is now a very important country. It is Asia's third-largest economy after China and Japan, and it is the biggest democracy in world, the writer noted.
India has an unparalleled number of minorities, ethnicities, faiths, sects, languages and cultures, all living under the umbrella of law and justice, the writer said. He added that he always believed that had Pakistan and Bangladesh remained part of India, it would have better for those nation's citizens as well as for India.
The situation of Muslims in India is definitely better than that in Pakistan and Bangladesh, the writer said.
India's experience has many lessons for Arab nations, considering that it started as a third-world nation laden with illiteracy, corruption, infighting and poor infrastructure and yet managed to get off the ground.
This has been achieved thanks to a culture of coexistence, reform, accountability and governance, adopted on the ground in the form of legislation and policies, rather than as mere slogans used to achieve other ends, according to the columnist.
How to put a ruler in the driver's seat
While some Arab rulers cling to their golden chairs until death, Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg elected to leave his office for a day and became a taxi driver so he could listen to his people firsthand, Hassan Al Zaabi wrote in a satirical column for the UAE-based paper Al Emarat Al Youm.
Mr Stoltenberg went incognito to hear people's unfiltered political views, without any fraud or expressions such as "under your directives, sir" and "hearts ooze out of love for your majesty", the writer noted.
Al Zaabi asked: What if the same idea occurred to an Arab leader?
In this case, you would see palace employees instantly arranging a new road with 10 lanes, clearing it of all other traffic, and "accessorising" the taxi with five or six passengers from the ranks of the secret services.
The job of these plainclothes officers would be to ride in the back seat to sing the praises of the leader's justice, wisdom and insight, as well as his driving, his car's brakes, the air-conditioning system, and even the smell of his car's carpet, the writer said.
The officers would receive some handsome rewards for performing this "national role". Meanwhile, the ruler would announce that, to fulfil the people's wishes, he has decided to stay in power for another century.
* Digest compiled by Abdelhafid Ezzouitni
AEzzouitni@thenational.ae
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Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
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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.”
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