NEW YORK // Vali Nasr's view that the West should push for business with the Muslim world rather than an Islamic reformation has significance beyond academia because the Iranian-born professor has the ear of the US administration.
Mr Nasr is an adviser to Richard Holbrooke, US special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, but his new book presents a strategy for correcting troubled relations with the wider Islamic world beyond the thorny "Af-Pak" region.
Forces of Fortune: The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What it Will Mean for Our World, takes the examples of Dubai and Turkey to explain how building vibrant new economies before instituting political reform can help to combat extremism and transform relations with the West.
Although his theory might seem to be self-evident to many Muslims, a US public more used to politicians talking of war rather than business with Islam, seems intrigued.
"I wish you'd told us that 10 years ago," quipped Jon Stewart, a comedian, after Mr Nasr appeared on the Daily Show television programme to promote his book last week.
Mr Nasr rejects the "clash of civilisations" theory that posits inevitable conflict between Islam and the West.
He says extremism and anti-Americanism took hold in the Muslim world because of the failure of authoritarian governments, supported by the West, to develop a sizeable middle class with a vested interest in openness to trade and global developments.
"After 9/11, there was a fear in the West that any opening to the Muslim world would be a threat. There was also a sense that Muslims would be incapable of reform or supporting democracy or capitalism," said Mr Nasr in a telephone interview from Washington.
"Islam as a religion is neither a threat nor as impervious to change as many assume."
Mr Nasr argues that it is better to push for economic reform first, then democratisation will follow. Political change is hard to impose and more likely to come when there are authentic demands from a local middle class for the rule of law and an open regulatory framework in which to do business.
"For a while, the West focused on democratisation in the Arab world, not the economy, but it should have been the other way round," Mr Nasr said. "First, there should be economic reform creating a middle class that is integrated into the world economy. Then, down the road, political reform is much easier.
"If you look at South Korea, Taiwan or Turkey, political and cultural reforms followed economic reform."
He spoke about the West's "problem of perception" in seeing the Muslim world through a prism that equates the failure of secularism with absolute extremism.
To prove the contrary, his book is peppered with anecdotes about conservative Muslims combining their piety with thriving and successful business enterprises. Religion was a private matter for them and did not interfere with the need to create networks and contacts to run their companies.
He dismissed talk of Dubai's demise as overblown, saying debt and real estate troubles only proved its unshakeable connection to the global financial system, much of which remains shaky because of a credit crisis that began in New York.
Other Arab emirates or countries might not adopt the Dubai model wholesale, he said, but they are starting to emulate some of its reforms so that, for example, people can get a passport or telecommunications connection in one day.
"Dubai has proven something about the Muslim world. If Muslims are put in a deregulated, open market system with proper laws, they are every bit as capable of acting as rational economic actors as anyone else around the world," he said. "They are just as capitalist as anyone else."
He urged the West to reconsider aid policies aimed at either stabilising authoritarian Arab governments or at helping an amorphous poor mass.
Assistance should be better targeted to create a bigger bourgeoisie, such as opening markets and providing trade and technical advice, he said.
"Market access to Muslim countries would help them to sell what they produce," he said. "The West needs to see Muslims as anyone else around the world because they represent a 1.2 billion-strong market."
Meanwhile, Muslim countries had proved adept at stemming Islamic extremism, particularly after the Iranian revolution, but they needed to move urgently on economic development and reduce state patronage, he said.
Mr Nasr was not able to discuss matters relating to US policy related to Afghanistan and Pakistan, a region under fierce debate as the Obama administration considers a possible increase of troops in the region.
But he did say that he was focused on developing a position for the American government to bring more stability to Pakistan, which was left further battered by the global financial crisis.
"Muslims are consumers and I mean this in the positive sense that the West should understand they are no different from anyone else," he said.
"They can also be ferocious, capitalist producers and perfectly capable of being part of the global economy."
sdevi@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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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.”
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
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Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
RESULT
Manchester United 1 Brighton and Hove Albion 0
Man United: Dunk (66' og)
Man of the Match: Shane Duffy (Brighton)
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Who is Tim-Berners Lee?
Sir Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in a household of mathematicians and computer scientists. Both his mother, Mary Lee, and father, Conway, were early computer scientists who worked on the Ferranti 1 - the world's first commercially-available, general purpose digital computer. Sir Tim studied Physics at the University of Oxford and held a series of roles developing code and building software before moving to Switzerland to work for Cern, the European Particle Physics laboratory. He developed the worldwide web code as a side project in 1989 as a global information-sharing system. After releasing the first web code in 1991, Cern made it open and free for all to use. Sir Tim now campaigns for initiatives to make sure the web remains open and accessible to all.
The cost of Covid testing around the world
Egypt
Dh514 for citizens; Dh865 for tourists
Information can be found through VFS Global.
Jordan
Dh212
Centres include the Speciality Hospital, which now offers drive-through testing.
Cambodia
Dh478
Travel tests are managed by the Ministry of Health and National Institute of Public Health.
Zanzibar
AED 295
Zanzibar Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, located within the Lumumba Secondary School compound.
Abu Dhabi
Dh85
Abu Dhabi’s Seha has test centres throughout the UAE.
UK
From Dh400
Heathrow Airport now offers drive through and clinic-based testing, starting from Dh400 and up to Dh500 for the PCR test.
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