Arabs, Turks and Iranians: Prospects for Cooperation and Prevention of Conflict, July 2024

We Should Be Mindful of 'Economic War Crimes'

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The October 7 Hamas Attack and Israel's Response in Gaza

 Hamas made a strategic mistake and committed a war crime by killing civilians during its October 7 attack on Israel. The large number of Israeli civilian casualties brought worldwide condemnation against Hamas. Israel's response has been excessive and disproportionate. Israel could have avoided the mass casualties of thousands of women and children. Thousands more Palestinian residents of Gaza are at risk of death and injuries because of the food, water, electricity and internet blockade. The United States has a moral duty to use its leverage on Israel  to impose a humanitarian ceasefire.  

The world has a moral and humanitarian duty to call for a just and fair two-state solution, that creates an independent state for Palestinians next to Israel. Israel has a right to exist and live in peace. The Palestinians have the same right. Countries that call for the destruction of Israel are wrong. Countries that ignore the rights of Palestinians are wrong. The government of Iran must respect the public opinion of the majority of Iranians and modify its policy toward Israel. It must abandon the call for the destruction of Israel and focus on securing a homeland for Palestinians and a dignified peace. In doing so it will bring its position closer to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey and pave the way for improved relations with these regional neighbors.   

THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE: ARE CHINA’S INVESTMENTS SENSITIVE TO THE QUALITY OF GOVERNANCE IN A HOST COUNTRY? (July 2023)

 

This article uses statistical analysis to explore the correlation between the quality of governance in a host country and the size and nature of China’s investments in that country, based on the available data for 2005-2020. We focus on two types of Chinese economic engagements with each host country: direct investment by Chinese firms and the volume of service contracts awarded to Chinese firms for construction projects.
Overall, our statistical analysis demonstrates that China’s direct investments and service contracts both show significant correlations with the governance characteristics of the host country. At the same time, we observe a large degree of diversity in the significance of specific governance indicators across regions and economic sectors. The Regulation Quality indicator, for example, has a strong positive correlation with total investment and total service contract, but the significance is lost when the sample is restricted to the MiddleEast or South Asia.

The most intriguing finding of our research is that in some sectors, the correlation between governance indicators and China's direct investments and service contracts varies significantly. The Voice and Accountability indicator has a positive correlation with China's direct investments but a negative correlation with China's service contracts for the entire sample. This suggests that China is awarded more service contracts in less democratic countries of these regions. An alternative explanation is that Chinese firms prefer to invest directly in more democratic countries and operate as contractors in less democratic
countries. Similarly, we find a positive correlation between the absence of corruption and China's service contracts, but no significant correlation with its direct investments.

Xinge Ruan: Bachelor of Art in Economics & Psychology, May 2023, Brandeis University.
xingeruan(at)brandeis.edu

Nader Habibi: Faculty, Crown Center for Middle East Studies, and Department of Economics,
Brandeis University. nhabibi(at)brandeis.edu
(Affiliated faculty of the Center for Global Development and Sustainability)
Acknowledgement: We would like to express our gratitude to the As

Link to the entire article: https://heller.brandeis.edu/gds/pdfs/working-papers/china-governance