Globalia Magazine 3rd edition by izmedien

GLOBALIA

Magazine

Quarterly | Issue 03 | August 2008 EUR 6, USD 9, GBP 4.50, AED 32, MYR 29, ZAR 60

A new focus on the world Cover story: The Power of shopping. Supermarkets dominate global retailing. Eurasia: War over Caspian oil. Pipelines, resources and nationalism. Law: From Cordoba to Marrakesh. The time for Ibn Rushd has arrived.

Beginning of the end? Reasons for the rise in oil prices, page 18.

EDITORIAL By Abu Bakr Rieger.

COVER STORY The Power of shopping. Supermarkets dominate global retailing.

INTERVIEW An overlap of interests. Painting a new picture of Afghanistan.

ECONOMY Beginning of the end? On the reasons for the rise in oil prices.

BUSINESS Worldwide importance. Consumer brands in the Muslim world.

A new Silicon Valley. Masdar, the newest city in Abu Dhabi.

AFRICA China and Africa. A new empire in the making?

The mosque of Soweto. A promising sight of what is to come.

CONCEPT AND EDITORIAL

China and Africa. A new empire in the making?, page 30.

EURASIA War over Caspian oil. Pipelines, resources and nationalism.

42 46

Chaos in Afghanistan. A country ravaged by power groupings and greed.

LAW From Cordoba to Marrakesh. The time for Ibn Rushd has arrived.

CULTURE The city of today. Reflections on the way we live in cities.

CHIEF EDITOR Abu Bakr Rieger PUBLISHER IZ Medien GmbH Beilsteinerstr. 121 12681 Berlin Germany ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sulaiman Wilms DISTRIBUTION IZ Medien GmbH PRINTING msk marketingserviceköln

MEDIA

GLOBALIA Magazine reserves the right to shorten letters. Readers’ letters, guest articles and quotations do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Editors, nor do articles by named authors.

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EDITORIAL

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

EDITORIAL

In her latest book, however, she recognises

EDITORIAL

another side of Islam. The Italian journalist believes that traditional Muslims trading

BY ABU BAKR RIEGER

practices and Islam’s economic laws speak more strongly today than ever before amid a global economy that appears no longer to recognise

The third edition of Globalia comes at a time

comprehensive viewpoint as it moves beyond

of grave geopolitical and economic upheaval.

old friend-and-foe imagery. One of our principal

All over the world people are worried that we

objectives is to link the knowledge from the final

Many Western intellectuals and academics have

may be on the verge of a financial crisis similar

Revelation to the conclusions of European

entered already into a different, more

to that of the 1920s. Inflation, energy, oil,

philosophy.

stimulating discourse about Islam’s contribution.

resources – these are the themes that are

any limits whatsoever.

Globalia, naturally, will continue to report on

concerning strategists and decision-makers on

In the mid-term we plan to establish our own

every continent.

think tank which will aim to deepen and document in detail Globalia’s key themes by

this fascinating thread. “Travel educates” – a basic principle which

The latest conflict between Georgia and Russia

providing additional background information

anyone who has spent time with people in

ought also to be interpreted in this context. A

and analyses. We are currently building up a

different corners of the world will confirm. One

fundamental shift in the way things are assessed

global network of freelance journalists,

of life’s most profound experiences is to uncover

globally is brewing in the Caucasus.The coming

academics and correspondents, and we will

the different destinies of human existence. One

decades will no longer be defined by the so-

soon be presenting our philosophy in more

of Globalia’s major projects is to present people

called War on Terror but rather, by the battle for

detail on a dedicated website.

and their destinies.

geopolitical dominance in Central Asia. Is buying synonymous with power? Of course

Again and again it is Africa which provides

Globalia analyses this topic by asking the

it is. It is basically the consumers who have the

such a rich source of this material. Nowhere else

following questions: could it be that resource-

power to determine prices and supply. However,

can the negative effects of globalisation be

rich Russia has been the real winner of the Cold

there are large tracts of the Western world

witnessed more powerfully. And it is always

War? In the long term, what position will Russia

where the market no longer functions; it has

extraordinary when one meets people who,

and the West adopt vis-à-vis China? What does

been superseded by monopolistic distribution.

despite all the difficulties, remain profoundly

it mean for the world’s new nomos that

As a long-term result, what was originally the

positive and open.

pipelines have become the arteries of a global

power of buyers is restricted. A number of years ago, the Mosque of Soweto,

economy? The owners of big supermarket chains are to

a township on the fringes of Johannesburg,

If you have been watching the news about the

be found at the top of the lists of the world’s

was the object of a repellent racist attack in

Caucasus recently, you will have noticed how

richest people. In his article, Sulaiman Wilms

which it was damaged seriously by an bomb.

fundamentally differently media like CNN and

reports on people’s varying experiences with

RussiaToday report on the same events. Political

Europe’s food giants. He considers it important

Last year I visited the mosque and found people

claims to power are now conveyed by television

that these experiences are considered in the Gulf

there of great warmth and hospitality, and

channels.

region’s strategic and urban planning.

without any resentment whatsoever. I am very glad to hear that after much effort the mosque

Of course, the Russian media are less prominent

Napoleoni’s

has been restored and inaugurated. Globalia

on a global scale. But for a balanced picture it

relationship with Islam has been one of

reports on the re-opening of this highly symbolic

is very important to find out more about what

criticism. She saw many Muslims as having

the Russian intelligentsia think about the

been infiltrated by modern ideologies over

consequences of globalisation.

recent decades, and that a philosophy based

recent

years, Loretta

place of prayer.

on opposition to the Enemy had become more At Globalia we also consider the struggle

important than an everyday life-practice based

between media to represent a challenge to our

on Divine Unity.

COVER STORY

shopping changed dramatically – a “culture

THE POWER OF SHOPPING SUPERMARKETS DOMINATE GLOBAL RETAILING

of need” arose. “This was no coincidence” write German authors Schartau and Valet,“supermarkets are

The retail sector is the last stage in the value-

planned down to the tiniest detail by

added chain, the connecting link between

advertising psychologists. Packaging designers

production and the consumption of the goods by

and marketing experts” know the instincts of the consumers better than they do

the end-consumer. While the consumer in the first

themselves.The strategy of advertising is not

instance may experience his retailer locally, the

only an aim in itself but is necessary, because it minimises sales personnel. Manipulation

goods on sale are obtained globally and, because

is part of business and allows supermarket

of the expansion of the large corporations, the

chains to reap rich profits. So rich, in fact, that

forms of retailing increasingly resemble each other very closely, wherever you are in the world.

the two richest Germans (they’re brothers) are owners of the supermarket chains Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd. Anyone who thinks that the route he takes

You might be in a huge European supermarket

And, have we really asked ourselves whether

around the supermarket is random, or even,

looking for family packs, or you might be out

this form of buying does justice to our

dare we say, a product of his own will, is

and about in Kuala Lumpur, in a luxury

traditions? Look at China, for instance, where

mistaken.The Swiss journalist Reto Schneider

shopping centre where you can buy, despite

financially strong consumers in areas of

explains that even the aisles are subject to a

the supposed “clash of civilisations”, goods

affluence can buy dairy products – unlike

conscious sales logic “It is in the interest of

from the West which otherwise seems so far

their forefathers. Are they aware that their

shop owners that the customer moves

away.

demand for products made from milk has a

through as much of the shop as possible,

direct effect on the local market in Germany?

because a simple rule holds good: the more

Ironically, it is from the West that new

The issue in question here is the model of

products a customer sees, the more he buys.”

inspiration is usually expected. It is there in

integrated production, distribution and sale,

This is where the findings of brain research

particular in the return to models that

which is becoming more and more aggressive.

are employed, such as the curious fact that

represent alternatives to the dominant

Worldwide chains are forming huge

people prefer to go round a shop in an

supermarkets and shopping centres. Europe

conglomerations through their vertical and

anticlockwise direction.

is witnessing a return to local markets. In the

horizontal integration and globalisation.

Netherlands, for example, regular markets

That this applied logic is bordering on

provide a colourful element which the

The psychology of shopping

manipulation is tacitly tolerated. “Large

townspeople would not wish to live without.

Mass psychology plays an important role

format packaging,” according to Schneider,

Europeans find it remarkably easy to

when we go shopping. In his documentary The

“sells a product more expensively than small

understand the obligation in Islamic law

Century of the Self, British documentary-

format packaging.” This is an exploitation of

which demands that markets remain free.

maker Adam Curtis explains that through the

the acquired associations of the customer.

More and more people prefer to buy products

triumphal spread of psychoanalysis in the

The same applies to the presentation of goods.

from local craftsmen instead of going to

Ford era of the twenties, consumerism became

When they are piled up on a palette the

faceless shopping malls in abstract peripheral

dominant – with the help of one Edward

customer thinks he is seeing cheaper goods,

locations.

Bernays. It was through him that attitudes to

even if this is not the case.

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

COVER STORY

Supermarkets rule

an established form of retail trade for several

numerous individuals – the individual traders,

The supermarket forced itself into prominence

decades. Since the 1980s, food discounters,

that is – whereas it is one single person who

as a sales model in the USA during the first

whose share of the market has since risen to

has control over market and sales in the

third of the last century, and in Western Europe

40 per cent, have enjoyed a boom. It is above

supermarkets.

from the end of the fifties onwards. The first

all a change in consumer habits which has

supermarket belonging to Switzerland’s

contributed to a constant change in the

The suppliers to the big chains, in particular

Migros was opened in 1948. The defining

structures of this business.”

the farmers, also regard these business practices with concern. In a recent study,

philosophy of the first attempts at such marketing was “pile it high and sell for rock-

The assessment of the European Parliament

America’s National Farmers’ Union described

bottom prices.” In Europe, supermarkets are

is quite different. Parliamentarians were

the consequences of supermarkets. The

defined as retail businesses with a minimum

concerned in February 2008 by a “misuse of

“retailer fees” imposed by the chains rep-

floorspace of anywhere between 400 and

power by the large supermarket chains.” The

resent a huge challenge for producers. There

1,000 square metres, in which fresh products

deputies demanded that the EU Commission

is a list of “trade fee requirements” which pro-

are sold and products from the non-food

examine the effects the concentration of the

ducers must pay to the retailers – fees for the

sector do not account for more than 25 per

EU supermarket sector is having on small

introduction of products, costs for presenta-

cent.

businesses, suppliers, employees and

tions, and payments to be made in order to

consumers, and to investigate in particular

ensure that certain goods stay on the shelf.

How you view this form of selling depends

“any abuse of the purchasing power which

on your perspective. Olaf Roik of the Union

can arise from such an accumulation and

As cheap as possible

of German Retailers (HDE) assesses

concentration.” In the classical form of the

Of all Western countries, it is Germany that

supermarkets as follows: “They have been

market, economic power is in the hands of

offers the lowest profit margins (only 0.7 per

International buying: custumers paying their shoppings in the United Arab Emirates

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

COVER STORY

cent before tax). This has led to a situation

In Europe in the not-too-distant future, it is

in which more than 40 per cent of food

expected that the food trade will be divided

turnover in Germany is generated by the so-

into just two segments: discounters for the

called “discounters”, which differ from the

majority of people, and speciality delicatessen

supermarkets (even if they belong to the same

food and/or organic supermarkets for the

chain) in their poorer service, smaller ranges,

higher wage earners. And many fear, with

and bulk goods. Discounters have made a

good reason, that both models will be

bad name for themselves in recent years by

controlled by the large retail conglomerations.

ill-treating employees and contravening their personal rights.

International trends In the past, German companies were known

In Germany, more than 70 per cent of the

throughout the world as producers of cars and

food trade is controlled by just five companies

machines. Today five groups of companies

(Edeka, Metro, Rewe, Schwarz and Aldi). The concentration of supermarkets and a

2001 saw the first ever retail business become

saturation of the domestic market have led

Shopping in the world’s

to “aggressive price wars”, according to

supermarkets brings the

an annual turnover of 220 billion US dollars

details supplied by the relevant associations.

comfortable certainty of

(380 billion in 2007) the American giant Wal-

Retailers hurried en masse to internationalise

always feeling at home,

Mart lay clearly ahead of Exxon Mobil and

their businesses, “as they saw a means in the globalisation of their retail – and also

be it in Berlin, Moscow

the largest corporate group in the world.With

General Motors, having succeeded in tripling its turnover since 1990. International retail

their buying – to escape this cut-throat

or Hong Kong, where

academics are already talking of a “retail

competition.”All the other businesses which

well-known supermar-

revolution” (Wright/Lowe, 2002).Through the

could not keep pace with this pricing pressure,

kets stock familiar ranges

takeover of the English ASDA chain,Wal-Mart

fell by the wayside.

of goods.

The supermarkets decide which suppliers

is also active on the other side of the Atlantic. Besides this the Americans also operate in Latin America and direct joint ventures in

provide consumers with which food and

with their headquarters in Germany are

China and Korea. Some observers consider

durable goods. No-one today can operate

among the top 20 food groups worldwide.

that it was as a result of Wal-Mart’s efforts

without them. The bigger their share in the

to gain a foothold in Europe that the European

market, the more they can exert their

A split is developing in the course of

food trade moved so suddenly towards

purchasing power on suppliers. Producers

globalisation. “Alongside the internationali-

concentration and consolidation, with the

have no choice but to accept the price

sation of their own operations through the

fusion of Carrefour and Promodes.

structure and supply conditions of the

building-up of their own or the taking over

retailer. The retailer employs unfair buying

of foreign branch networks and distribution

In the process, the large, globally active

practices against suppliers, like listing fees,

systems, a globalisation of procurement

retailers are abandoning more and more of

shelf rent, additional payments on the

and the development of global chains of

their old buying channels. More and more, it

opening of new branches and retroactive

value creation is taking place under the

is they who import goods directly from the

contract changes. Such unfair business

direction of retailers whose configuration and

developing countries and emerging markets.

conduct in Europe is leading not only to an

coordination can be quite varied,” says

Nearly all of the chains have opened

ever-increasing pressure on producers. This

Michael Wortmann in his description of the

purchasing offices in the producer countries

development is now also threatening the

changing structure and globalisation of the

that are important to them. This is especially

whole world.

retail sector.

true when it comes to the so-called “store

Image: AP Photo/Kent Gilbert

COVER STORY

brands” of the large corporations, which are

buying power. While large producers like Del

depriving the independent proprietary names

Monte, Chiquita and Dole had previously

of growing chunks of their market share.This

determined work and production conditions,

kind of global purchasing is described as a

this is now done by the supermarkets as they

“buyer-driven global commodity chain”.

acquire an ever increasing importance. According to information from other NGOs,

Supermarkets: a global and brutal purchasing power

the same applies to the tropical fruits marketed by the retail giant Tesco.

In emerging and developing countries, the supermarket chains make their appearance

“When the unions in Central America are

twice simultaneously. “While their expan-

asked about the changes in the last years

sion in the USA took 50 years, the develop-

they reply that it is the supermarkets which

ment of supermarkets in Latin America, which

are the new players.They determine the price,

hold a current market share of 60 per cent,

quality and the conditions of supply to which

needed just ten years,” reports Oxfam’s

production is geared in the chain of supply.

German retail sector expert Marita

The aggressive pressure on prices in Europe,

Wiggerthale. In Asia they have also spread

in the case of discounters, precludes any

like wildfire, while in Africa it has happened

possibility of fair wages being paid in the

only to a lesser extent. In countries like

banana and pineapple plantations.The strong

Thailand and the Philippines the super-

purchasing power of the supermarkets,

markets have long been able to secure a

coupled with their influence over the contents

considerable share of the market. This has

of the contracts, permits them again and

meant a significant cut in the earnings of

again to reduce prices. It is our opinion that

small farming businesses, because the leading

as long as this pricing pressure remains there

supermarkets no longer buy predominantly

will not be enough margin for the wages to

from wholesalers, which up until recently

be increased.”

had been the main outlet for their products. They were excluded from this marketing

The Oxfam study shows that male and female

strategy, powerless to act even while

workers on the pineapple and banana

watching it all happen. According to

plantations are also exposed to very high

Wiggerthale, the growing market share of

doses of noxious pesticides. Thus in Ecuador

the supermarkets may be explained “by rising

and Costa Rica, poisonous crop protection

incomes and increasing urbanisation in the

products are employed which have already

emerging countries.”

been outlawed in Europe, such as the pesticide ‘Paraquat’, which has not been allowed in

GLOBALIA

| Issue 03 | August 2008

In the so-called Third World, the large

Europe since 11 July 2007. Male and female

multinationals act not only as sellers, but

workers coming into contact with Paraquat

above all as purchasers. Research by Oxfam

suffer eye damage, nosebleeds, irritation and

has shown that, in the case of bananas and

burning of the skin, nausea, and vomiting.

pineapples, products sold in Germany have

According to Wiggerthale, “The use of such

been produced “in general under inhumane

poisonous substances must be stopped on

conditions,” says Wiggerthale of the

account of their extreme threat to man and

consequences of the supermarket chains’

the environment.”

COVER STORY

East and West – unified in the patterns of shopping

A new public space?

500,000 square metres of selling space, is set

area must be 20,000 square metres. As well

In today’s shopping centres – from the smaller

to become one of the largest shopping centres

as being easily accessible by public and private

versions in Europe to the giant megamalls in

in the world. The world’s largest gold souq

transport it must contain a variety of

China and the Arabian Gulf – some historical

will be among its attractions. The project has

businesses in order to attract people. Ample

links may still be recognised. Already in the

been designed by the planning office of Emaar

parking increases its attractiveness when

earlier era of Islam there existed covered and

Properties. An annual visitor quota of 35

compared with inner-city shopping streets.

million people is planned.

Great Britain, Germany, Austria and Turkey

open-air markets in Isfahan, Bukhara and

have seen the biggest concentration of malls

other centres of civilization, and these attracted traders from all over the world. Even today, the bazaar in Istanbul, with its more than 58 streets and 400 businesses, still attracts visitors and buyers from all over the world. Something similar is developing in European cities such as Brussels, Oxford and Milan. In the Belgian capital, 19th century

The Mall of the Emirates opened in September

in Europe, and recently some eastern

2005. Situated near to the Burj al-Arab, it is,

European states have also seen a boom in

with an area of 220,000 square metres, one

their development.

of the largest in the world and the largest at present in the Middle East. It has space for

In the USA, self-contained shopping centres

over 400 upmarket businesses, as well as

were first developed in the fifties. In the

more than 65 restaurants and cafes, and a

development of US cities, malls have played

supermarket.

an important role by shifting the retail sector

Jugendstil-arcades still fascinate sophisticated consumers.

from the heavily populated town centres to In order for shopping centres to be sustainable

the suburbs. This popular model has had

they need to have a certain area and a market

subsequently a long-term effect worldwide

The Gulf region has recently seen the

environment in order to attract the necessary

by transforming retailing everywhere.

appearance of some particularly large new

number of businesses and consumers. Experts

shopping centres. The Dubai Mall, with its

consider that the average minimum retail

Unlike supermarkets and discounters, the

COVER STORY

effect of shopping centres is not characterised

subject to private law – unlike city centres.

supermarkets and shopping centres is

by a process of concentration. At the same

This becomes particularly problematic when

inevitable. However, there are certainly

time most malls may be distinguished by the

more and more functions are transferred

alternatives which offer other means of trade

uniformity of the almost identical shops –

from city centres to shopping malls. In six

for both producers and consumers. As has

and perhaps by their notoriously tedious

US federal states, courts have recognised

become clear from the Fair Trade movement

atmosphere. Critics point to a wasting-away

the malls as the successors to the city centres

and the growing popularity of natural food,

of city centres, and with it an impairment of

and accorded citizens the right to political

it is quite possible that the wish of the

existing retail trade. In the USA in particular

activity there.

consumer can bring about significant changes in the economic landscape.

this has led to an appreciation of the suburbs and a depreciation of the inner cities.

In Austria the Audit Office has made an official study of the negative effects of shopping

It is also quite possible for it to be in the

According to George Glasze it is precisely in

centres. The trend towards such establish-

economic interest of all those concerned that

the Western context that shopping centres

ments has already caused considerable

alternative free markets are developed, based

have redefined the role of public space. By

damage: in some Austrian regions, one in five

on forms of trade which take into account the

means of private ownership, the possibility of

communities no longer has local shopping

desire to be able to trade at a local and

public access has been restricted everywhere,

amenities. Large shopping centres are now

personal level. One only has to look at the

to such an extent that an ‘alternative’ public

only allowed to be established in central

many specialist markets in Europe to see that

space is created specifically for consuming and

positions in order to protect country regions

this is true.

entertainment – but one which is only for

from a concentration of retail businesses. However, radical changes are needed for

the right clientele. This differs clearly from the ‘market’ or the ‘agora’ of Western

The outlook

alternatives to be found. It was no surprise

tradition. The nature of the private

It may seem at first that the dominance of

that free markets came into being in countries

management of the centres makes them

globalised retailing in the form of

like Argentina and Albania after their currencies collapsed. The sudden failure of the dominant economic form – forced by the circumstances of the time – brought people to the idea of free trade, and thus the free market, where everyone can participate on an equal footing. The United Arab Emirates, which boasts such very large shopping centres, is becoming increasingly important as a destination for European travellers. But it should not be forgotten that Europeans love the idea and the experience of the bazaar, which they can variety in places like Istanbul and in Morocco. We have enough shopping centres here at home. Maintaining the souqs would fulfil the aspirations of those visitors who are interested in the vitality and colour of such places. Text By Sulaiman Wilms

GLOBALIA

| Issue 03 | August 2008

INTERVIEW

An Afghan women with two of her children

war-opponents, this scientist has shed

AN OVERLAP OF INTERESTS

light on the background and motives

PAINTING A NEW PICTURE OF AFGHANISTAN.

behind what is being referred to as humanitarian intervention in the region. Dr. Conrad Schetter currently holds a post

The re-education process which is taking place in Afghanistan began with the fact that at the beginning of the intervention, the outside forces never made any attempt to understand the Afghans. So it was all about forcing Afghanistan to adopt a western model of state and society.

as a researcher at the Bonn-based Centre for Development Research (Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung, ZEF). Globalia: Dr. Schetter, what can science contribute towards the conflict in Afghanistan, which is reported mainly in political terms?

Like the seemingly endless Iraq War, the

there have also been a series of

Dr. Conrad Schetter: I think that uniquely

international presence in Afghanistan

developments that elude the usual cut-

science can offer clarification on the

and the Western armed intervention

and-dry definitions. We spoke with

Afghanistan situation. It can help to form a

which preceded it have come to

political affairs expert Dr. Conrad

differentiated picture of the intervention and

epitomise the period following 11

Schetter, who from his own experience

the things that are happening in the country.

September 2001. Here in the Hindu Kush,

has worked hard to change stereotypes

What is crucial is that science does not allow

where “democracy is being defended”,

of the situation in Afghanistan. Rejecting

itself to be monopolised, which means striking

not only do worlds seem to be colliding,

the simplistic stance of the Afghans as

a difficult balance. Science is needed in order

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

INTERVIEW

to provide assistance and advice. But it must

also affects the farmer for whom the only

Afghan perceptions and ideas have been

not be instrumentalised. Scientists must

way to eke out a living is through the drug

negated to this day.The idea was to transplant

always ask themselves whether they are still

economy. For sure, there are also highly

a single model onto the country in as short

acting on a scientific basis, or, whether they

ideologised Taliban, but the things happening

a time as possible.

have departed from such a foundation. They

there on an ideological level are also leading

must never allow themselves to slip into the

to counter-demonisation. In our eyes the

Globalia:What kind of relationship exists

role of pure political advisors and so become

Taliban are demons, but interestingly enough

between political interests – the

a part of the overall operation, like those

an increasing amount of anti-Americanism

establishment of democracy and values

American ethnologists whom we can now

can be seen in Afghanistan, in which the

– and economic interests – i.e. drug

observe as “embedded” accomplices to the

Americans are themselves being demonised.

cultivation, the arms industry and the

military. That surely is going too far. Science

This means we have a highly polarised picture

power industry? How does that balance

can, however, advise. Starting with the simple

in which everything that goes badly is

itself out from a Western point of view?

soldier who requires a different picture of

attributed to the other side.

Afghanistan, we can surely help prevent

Dr. Conrad Schetter: Observers from the West

conflicts from escalating, and to ensure that

Globalia:Two years ago you published an

tend to paint a uniform picture, according to

soldiers receive a more accurate picture of the

article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung in which

which the intervention is based either purely

country and its culture.

you used the term Umerziehungslager, or

on high ideals – leading Afghanistan back

re-education camp. Do you still stand by

into the community of nations and providing

that, and how should we understand it?

humanitarian aid – or, others claim, all about

Globalia: For reasons which are well known, starting with human-rights

geopolitical interests, the question of oil, and

violations that are uncontested and well

Dr.

term

the fact that Afghanistan borders more

documented, the Taliban is today

Umerziehungslager was of course provoca-

nuclear powers than any other country in the

considered the incarnation of evil. One

tive from the outset, especially since the word

world. I believe that these interests overlap

might say that, in the West, they have

Lager, or camp, carries such strong

in Afghanistan, and that the one set is

come to symbolise everything devoid of

connotations in German. But I still stand by

inconceivable without the other.What we are

human values. Is that a scientifically

it, yes, because I think that the camp expresses

seeing is the convergence of various different

tenable position?

the limit which is drawn in order to imply a

interests. Of course we cannot deny the

new set of values for Afghanistan, which is

geopolitical and economic interests, such as

Dr. Conrad Schetter: The Taliban have been

considered a single, uniform project. The re-

the control of energy routes and of natural

demonised since the middle of the 1990s,

education process which is taking place there

gas from Turkmenistan. I consider it unlikely

and then of course much more since 11

began with the very fact that at the beginning

that the Americans will withdraw completely

September 2001.Yes, they are considered the

of the intervention the outside forces knew

from Afghanistan, since Afghanistan is an

“demons of modern society”, there are many

next to nothing, and never made any attempt

important geopolitical location. But on the

references to them in those terms, or as the

to understand the Afghans. So it was all about

other hand there are of course these other

“dark underbelly of modernisation”. This is

forcing Afghanistan to adopt a western model

political and humanitarian aims. It means we

definitely the predominant image. However,

of state and society, without any consideration

have a whole agglomeration of interests,

I believe the Taliban must be considered with

of local values. It is easy to demonstrate, for

which is why it is almost impossible to tell

much more differentiation. They are by and

instance, that democracy has been held up

what the exact interests of each of the

large a local, rural movement in which

as the only legitimation, and that no-one ever

international players is.

ideological views play less of a role than

considered that there might be a different

simple

day-to-day

basis for legitimacy there. This includes the

Globalia: We have heard that a decision

circumstances. This begins with a tribal elder

simple fact that the population of Afghanistan

is to be made now about the planned

fighting to preserve his tribal traditions, it

in many cases think in different categories

increase of the German troop contingent,

runs through the unemployed youth, and it

than the international community.This is how

in order that the subject is kept out of

survival

under

Conrad

Schetter:

The

INTERVIEW

the election campaign. Do you think that

other hand, I can understand in a way that

the morning and with someone from the

is a good idea, or would you prefer

there ought not be a regular annual vote on

Taliban in the afternoon. There are networks

Germans to discuss the subject more?

our deployment in Afghanistan either since

that connect with the most diverse of parties.

is a process which always produces a lot of

It is very difficult to convey these things

Dr. Conrad Schetter: Both actually. I would

disquiet, with the result that Germany’s policy

through the media. I would like to appeal for

certainly prefer the subject to be discussed

on Afghanistan is thought about only at 12-

a picture of Afghanistan which is defined less

more by the German population. In my view

month intervals, which means the perpetual

by all these negatives, such as warlords and

politicians have always tried to circumvent

postponement of any long-term approach.

Taliban, and more by an understanding of

and diminish the topic of Afghanistan, and

The development of lasting concepts and

how Afghan society works.

to limit the question to whether 300 soldiers

actions based on long-term considerations

more or less should be dispatched. That

certainly presupposes that the Federal

Globalia: You have visited Afghanistan

precludes a debate on the real subject in

Government can work with a plan which is

yourself. What to you was the most

hand, one which I believe is crucial because

itself long-term. On the one hand, I support

impressive thing about this other society

it involves so many areas of politics that are

an honest debate but on the other hand, we

which appears so opposed to ours?

so important to our future. These include the

should think in terms of longer time-periods

role of NATO (if it continues to exist), the

when it comes to our military involvement in

Dr. Conrad Schetter: I can give you a good

distinction between development and secu-

Afghanistan.

example of an event which made a great

rity (in Germany we have now seen the

impression on me. I once took part in a Jirga,

boundary between the two dismantled), and

Globalia: To what extent are the core

or tribal gathering, in the deepest south-

then of course the whole question of the

theses scientifically grounded which we

east, on the border with Pakistan.There were

German army’s deployment in other countries.

encounter on all levels, be it television,

80 noble old men with long bushy beards

All these are central themes for the future,

newspaper or on-line? There is, after all,

and big turbans, totally archaic looking, just

which includes asking to what extent

a difference between reporting from

the way you would imagine it. Afterwards I

Germany wants to be involved in armed

experience and from what one imagines

asked my host reverently whether I could

conflict. But these themes are not being

to be happening.

take a photograph. So I took out my camera and photographed a venerable old man

discussed, which I find very disturbing. On the Dr. Conrad Schetter:That is very varied.There

with a big beard, a big turban and a weath-

are many journalists from the big daily papers

er-beaten face. He allowed me to take the

and

are

photograph, then he started to smile. He

permanently stationed in Afghanistan and

pulled out a mobile phone and took a photo

actually provide us with a very good depiction

of me. Somehow I realised that we have this

of the situation. I think the real problem is

idea of a very traditional Afghanistan, but

that reporting on Afghanistan has been

that the Afghans arrived in modernity a long

ensnared in bipolar thinking, which means

time ago. An Afghan, even if illiterate, can

that in end you have a picture of “Them and

use a mobile phone better than I can, and

Us”. “We”, the Germans as part of the

some of them are better informed about

intervention troops, only want good for the

global affairs than I. So they arrived at

country, while “they”, which means the

modernity long ago, but at a modernity

Taliban, are only up to no good. It is very

which is different from ours.

television

companies

that

difficult to convey grey areas in the media. Afghanistan does not consist of two poles

Globalia: Thank you very much for

with a clear boundary between. The country

speaking with us.

is predominantly a grey zone.There are many players who work with the German army in

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

Interview Islamische Zeitung

INTERVIEW

ECONOMY

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

ECONOMY

following assessment in a UN briefing: “We

BEGINNING OF THE END?

are not returning to the situation of three or

ON THE REASONS FOR THE RISE IN OIL PRICES

four years ago. We are going to face high energy prices for the foreseeable future with major investment necessary to secure a new

Speculation, strategies deployed by oil producers and oil consumers (including oil storage), wars, sanctions, internal political issues, the rapid industrialisation of heavily populated countries such as China and India, limited availability of equipment, professionals, and the materials needed to increase oil production to cope with increasing demand – these are just some of the factors that have a direct impact on international oil pricing.

supply, more efficiency, and methods that are safe for the environment.” Sachs also told IPS: “I don’t know whether we’ve reached peak oil now or we’ll reach it 10 years from now, but there is definitely a big strain on global supply and the world economy is growing so fast in terms of demand that it is hard to comprehend.” According to experts, most OPEC countries have been producing to capacity for several years and only Saudi Arabia, which still has the largest reserves, has been able to increase production recently, while at the same time

Rocketing oil prices in recent months have

How long oil reserves will last and when max-

of course further reducing its reserves.

made clear to almost everyone – especially

imum production capacity will be reached –

Although Saudi Arabia agreed in June to

at the petrol pumps – the significance of any

so-called ‘peak oil’ – or whether indeed it

increase its production by 200,000 barrels a

further shortage of this vital resource,

already has been reached: these are all urgent

day, this was not enough to mitigate a record

particularly for industrialised countries whose

questions in light of this crisis. It has been

rise in the oil price to around 150 dollars in

need for it is elementary. It is a situation

mainly producer countries – most but not all

July. For this reason, observers believe that

which has developed against a backdrop of

of whom are members of OPEC – who have

OPEC has only a limited influence over the

global increases in the price of basic food-

been made responsible for the rising prices,

price.

stuffs, such as rice, which affects poor peo-

but according to many experts there are more

ple in particular, and which has shown just

fundamental causes, including shrinking oil

There is an ever-increasing thirst for oil in

how problematic things become when

reserves, and production capacities which

countries like China and India, a need which,

agricultural land is set aside specially for bio-

have neared their peak while demand

given the ongoing industrialisation of these

ethanol, the bio-fuel extracted from plants,

continues to increase. But there are also other

countries, is bound to continue. More energy

because this inevitably leads to a shortage

aspects like the current weakness of the dollar,

will be required – but that energy will also

of agricultural land for food. Given its

market speculation, and real or potential

have to be environmentally friendly.

increasing scarcity too, water could play as

political instabilities in some oil producing

important a role in the coming decades as

countries. Since these factors may well persist

Just how this matter will be resolved is still

oil does these days.

into the future, oil prices can hardly be

quite unclear, especially since the emergence

expected to fall significantly in the long term.

of the aforementioned bio-fuel problems.The

Problems regarding the supply of food and

seriousness of the crisis was made clear by

water have already prompted experts to speak

Jeffrey Sachs, a special advisor to the UN

the announcement in the middle of July that

of ‘peak food’ and ‘peak water’.All this points

Secretary-General and former director of the

President Bush had lifted the 1992 prohibition

to a basic crisis in present-day capitalism.

United Nations Millennium Project, gave the

against drilling for oil off the US coast. This

ECONOMY

area is estimated to be home to up to 18 bil-

port for the very poor – in order that ‘a signal

will prevail. A lot of people are earning a

lion barrels of oil.

is sent to consumers about the rise in prices.’

fortune through the myth of a lack of oil,” claims Al-Badri.

Presidential candidate Obama, until recently

However, the then President of OPEC, Chakib

reticent on the subject, has also given the

Khelil, announced that the decision about oil

The International Atomic Energy Agency

go-ahead. In Germany, where a gradual

production quotas would only be made in

(IAEA), which represents the interests of the

abandonment of nuclear energy was decid-

September at the Organisation’s regular

oil-importing industrial countries and which

ed upon a few years back, things are suddenly

conference in Vienna. OPEC countries are

is close to the OECD, says that demand is the

looking up for supporters of nuclear power,

responsible for almost half of world oil

cause, a demand which from 2010 will grow

and the proportion of the populace who

consumption.

much quicker than the supply of crude oil. Thus, according to the IAEA , the high prices

approve of its continued use has also risen, according to surveys. In July, the finance

Speculation?

are justified, and as observers note, they lend

ministers of the G8 countries (Canada,

If speculation in financial markets had been

credence to the demands of industrial

Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan,

a significant cause of the high oil prices, then

countries for an increase of oil production.

Russia and the USA) met in the Japanese city

one would have expected a kind of crash to

of Osaka and put pressure on the oil

follow, and then a clear fall in prices. Because

It is likely that both views are correct, as

producing countries to increase their

of the constantly climbing commodity prices

speculators anticipate future developments,

production. Fuel subsidies, they said, should

over the last five years, they too have now

and in fact it is only a matter of time before

be abolished and substituted by direct sup-

come to be considered an object of invest-

the ever-increasing demand for commodities

ment, something which quickly attracts

and energy resources can no longer be met.

speculators. This was not the case ten years ago, according to Rainer Sommer on

Yet we should not hope too hard for a bursting

telepolis.de. More and more hedge funds are

of the bubble, as it may only minimise the

moving from financial markets to commodity

importance of maximum production capacity

markets, including, for example, grains. Such

– peak oil. Mohammad Makkawi of Crescent

a crash, however, could have far-reaching

Petroleum, an oil firm in the United Arab

consequences.

Emirates, considers speculation to be one possible cause. He believes there are a number

OPEC also considers the speculators

of factors. “Speculation, strategies deployed

responsible for high oil prices; they say that

by oil producers and oil consumers (including

their activities have contributed by “up to 75

oil storage), wars, sanctions, internal politi-

per cent” to the increases of recent months.

cal issues, the rapid industrialisation of

“The rise in prices has nothing to do with the

heavily populated countries such as China

lack of supply,” according to OPEC’s Secretary

and India, limited availability of equipment,

General Abdullah Salem Al-Badri. Investors

professionals, and the materials needed to

have been looking for new areas of

increase oil production to cope with increasing

investment because of the weakness in the

demand – all these are just some of the

American economy and the mortgage crisis

factors that have a direct impact on

there, he says. It is for this reason that a lot

international oil pricing.”

of capital has flowed into the commodity

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

sector and oil has become particularly

When will peak oil arrive?

attractive to speculators. “If we leave the

The ‘depletion mid-point’, another name for

market to the speculators, then panic-buying

peak oil, according to which half of the

ECONOMY

An important issue: seminar at the Worldbank on the matter of peak oil

supposed oil reserves have been exploited,

will be reduced quickly, and the gap between

pronouncements from the USA. The Energy

might be reached between 2015 and 2020,

supply and demand will widen dramatically.

Watch Group therefore considers that

according to the German Institute for Geo-

The result will be a considerable rise in price

production on a global level will be halved

Science and Raw Materials (BGR), which

together with a consequent rise not only in

by 2030, and, because of increasing energy

advises the German government. It is

transportation costs, but also in the price of

consumption, there will be an even more

expected that from then onwards there will

fertilisers and many other products that

drastic reduction in the availability of oil on

be a drop in production. Others, like the Energy

depend upon oil, as Wolfgang Pomrehn notes

the world market.

Watch Group, an interest group aiming to

on telepolis.de. In the end, many goods will

support the development of alternative

become more expensive, which will lead to

According to Hilmar Rempel of BGR, no-one

energies, believe that the peak was already

further economic crisis and will threaten the

can say exactly how many of the known oil

passed in the year 2006. The Energy Watch

world in general. In this sense, the moment

fields can be brought into production, because

Group has little confidence in the remaining-

of maximum production is from an economic

a whole series of factors come into play – such

reserves figures supplied by oil concerns and

point of view more relevant than the final

as the question of future technical

producer countries, and estimates that there

drying-up of reserves. Aside from this,

developments. “At present only 35 per cent

will be a rapid fall in production after the

production has surpassed newly discovered

of the oil in known fields can be extracted,”

peak. It claims that even the majority of non-

global reserves for about the last 20 years.

says Hilmar Rempel of the BGR. He explains

OPEC countries, which now represent half of

Thus, oil is being extracted from existing fields

the differing statistics as follows:“The biggest

global production, have already passed

faster than new ones are being discovered.

differences between us and the Energy Watch

maximum capacity.

The extent to which new oil fields can be

Group have to do with the difference in the

found (in the Arctic, for instance), and the

way we assess reserves in the Middle East.

But whatever the case, the consequences of

extent to which they can be developed, are

The view of the Energy Watch Group is

reaching this peak are quite clear. Production

factors that are not yet clear, despite the latest

basically that reserves in the Middle East are

ECONOMY

partly ‘political reserves’ which were artificially inflated in the 1980s in order to safeguard extraction quotas. We say that they may be partly ‘political’, but that this rise was also partly an adaptation to the actual state of the reserves, because reserves were previously in the hands of private companies, who as a rule assess them very conservatively.” Rempel also believes that even after the oil peak, oil will still play an important role in the supply of energy for 20 or 30 years.

The reserves Today over 90 per cent of the world’s demand for primary energy is met by non-renewable sources (oil, gas, coal and uranium). It is only in the area of coal where an increase in available reserves has been registered in recent years. Oil reserves are defined as the amount of oil that is technically and economically exploitable at the present moment, while resources are the geologically proven amounts of raw energy which are not at the present time extractable. As for crude oil, the greatest potential for production, and the greatest reserves and resources, are in the Middle East. According to the BGR, global oil reserves stood at almost 163 Gt at the end of 2006. Of these, 62 per cent are located in the Middle East, over 10 per cent in the CIS, and another 10 per cent in Africa. The OPEC states thus account for almost 76 percent, of which 61 percent are in the Gulf region; the OECD states only account for about 6 per cent. According to Hilmar Rempel, the greatest reserves are to be found in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and the UAE. “This refers to conventional, that is relatively easily extractable oil. If we include non-conventional

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

ECONOMY

Outlook On 1 August, the price of oil on the New York commodity exchange fell to about 125 dollars and the OPEC price fell to almost 120 dollars. Some experts said this was because of the global cooling of the economy and the expectation of an abate in demand. Others considered it a temporary blip, and forecasted higher prices in the long term. According to some commentators it may well be that the increase in demand from China and India will begin to abate amid high oil prices. According to its latest announcements, the US Geological Survey estimates the available reserves in the Arctic to be 90 billion barrels of oil, 47 trillion cubic meters of gas and 44 billion barrels of liquid gas, which, when combined, would make up 22 per cent of the oil, i.e. oil sands and the heaviest crude oils,

relatively few possibilities to increase capacity.

world’s

then Canada with its large reserves of oil

Of course, many countries are engaged in

accessible oil and gas reserves. It remains to

sand would climb to second place,” says to

developing new fields and thus building up

be seen how this will affect the situation of

Rempel.

their production capacities.”

the reserves. However, this will not influence

undiscovered

but

technically

the basic dilemma of the finite nature of oil, There is of course talk of an extension of the

Mohammad Makkawi believes that the oil

which means fundamental changes are still

oil fields currently in use, for example in Saudi

producing countries can in fact increase

needed in society at a global level.

Arabia. Asia Times reported that production

production, but that this is not their intention.

in the kingdom is set to rise by the end of 2009

“It is true that the oil producing countries are

from the present 11.3 million (the IEA says it

producing oil up to the limit of their existing

is only 10.5) to 12.5 million barrels. However,

capacities. But it is important to know that

similar forecasts in recent years have always

they all have the potential to increase their

fallen short of actual production, which in

production capacities and produce more oil.

the OPEC countries has remained basically the

It will take time to realise a substantial

same since the middle of 2004. This leads to

increase in production capacity, but it is

the supposition that in reality it will only be

possible, and much more oil could be

possible to raise production slightly, if at all.

produced. It requires local political will, and,

Text Yasin Alder, Bonn

equal importantly, it requires the cooperation Hilmar Rempel’s view is as follows: “In the

of the global oil corporations to bring about

present situation, it is in fact only Saudi Arabia

such a major change. I believe there is no

that has any significant potential to increase

such will to do any of this. High oil prices are

production. Almost all the other OPEC

benefiting all the stakeholders in the oil

countries have reached their limit and have

industry.”

Image: AP Photo/Kamran Jabrelli

BUSINESS

Dubai: headquarters of the growing telecommunication giant Etisalat

Of the brands mentioned below, the Turkish

WORLDWIDE IMPORTANCE

brands are the most mature and sophisticated,

CONSUMER BRANDS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD

and are the ones vying strongest for global recognition.

Prominent global brand value rankings show

Arcelik,Vestel, Emirates and Ă&#x153;lker are among

again and again the huge sustainable income

the strongest of the brands on the list. However, as yet, none of these brands are

strong brands deliver.

represented in the Business Week / InterBrand ranking of the Top 100 global brands.

This report discusses a selection of the most

at US$65 billion.This is in essence the income

prominent consumer-facing brands of the

potential associated purely with the brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Below is a brief profile of some of the most

2007 top 100 companies in the muslim world.

identity.

exciting consumer brands of the DS100 companies seeking regional or global recognition.

Prominent global brand value rankings have

A strong indicator that companies on Dinar

shown again and again the tremendous

Standardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s DS100 list are becoming aware of

sustainable income strong brands deliver.

the value of their brands in the eyes of their

Zain (Kuwait, telecommunications, DS100

Take InterBrand for example, which evaluates

customers is that seven companies on the

rank #56): Zain is one of the most dynamic

brands much like an analyst would value

2007 list have gone through a major re-

players in the mobile industry, providing voice

any other asset, on the basis of how much

branding exercise in the last two years.These

and data services to approximately 32 million

they are likely to earn in the future. They

are Sime Darby (Malaysia), Etisalat (UAE),

customers, and spanning 22 markets in the

estimated the worth of the number-one

Zain (Kuwait), Agility (Kuwait), Al Rajhi Bank

Middle East and Africa. Seven of these markets

global brand on their 2007 list, Coca Cola,

(Saudi Arabia) and CIMB Bank (Malaysia).

are under the newly launched Zain brand,

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

BUSINESS

Vestel (Turkey, consumer electronics, DS100 rank #46): Vestel today commands an impressive 20 per cent of Europe’s colour television market share. It leads the European market in terms of unit sales, followed by two other famous brands: Philips, and Beko, another Turkish brand. It also deals in television components, personal computers, PC monitors and white goods, and has R&D centres in Turkey, UK and even Silicon Valley. Vestel is Turkey’s largest exporter, marketing its cutting-edge products to 103 countries. Ülker (Turkey, foods, DS100 rank #27. Ülker was established sixty years ago. Today the Vestels CEO Ahmet Zorlug with the Turkey’s prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish company is delivering this vision to the world with its well known line of

while in African countries the services are

also holds investments in Pakistan Telecom

chocolates and biscuits, which are marketed

branded as Celtel. Dr. Saad Al Barrak, the Zain

as well as Mobily in Saudi Arabia. In 2006, it

in 95 countries.They export to 110 countries.

Group’s chief executive officer, explains:“Zain

performed a major re-haul of its brand and

The Group produces biscuits, chocolate, cakes

will bring together all our operations under

image, and recently it has commissioned a

and crackers in Saudi Arabia, Romania,

a single, strong and unique identity.We believe

leading design firm to build slick Apple-like

Ukraine,Algeria, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

it is the optimal platform upon which to build

store outlets.

With the acquisition of Godiva and its factories in the USA and Belgium, and with the

a global brand with the ultimate goal of serving our customers better. It will propel the

Maxis (Malaysia, telecommunications, DS100

Group towards becoming one of the top ten

rank #86): Maxis is the leading mobile

global mobile telecommunications companies

telecommunications service provider in

in the next four years.“

Malaysia with a subscriber base of 8.5 million. An exciting, young Malaysian brand, the Asian

Etisalat (UAE, telecommunications, DS100

Wall Street Journal called Maxis “Malaysia’s

rank #47): Etisalat is an emerging regional

Most Admired Company in 2006” and it was

telecommunications service provider with

recently declared Asian Mobile Operator of

5.78 million customers on its GSM network,

the Year at the Asian Mobile News Awards

1.3 million subscribers to its fixed line network

2007 in Singapore.

and over 2 million Internet users. It was

completion of investments in Egypt and Pakistan, the Ülker Group will be operating ten factories in ten countries. Indomie (Indonesia, foods, DS100 rank #85; part of Indofood): Indofood is the largest instant noodles manufacturer and the largest flour miller in the world. Under the Indomie brand it sells around nine billion packs of instant noodles every year to over 50 countries. Indomie is Indofood’s most popular instant noodle brand. It recently broke a

nominated the most admired telecommuni-

Samand (Iran, automotives, DS100 rank #25):

Guinness World Record for “The Largest

cations company in the Gulf in a recent

Samand is the national car of Iran and is

Serving of Noodles.”

Arabian Business review of the 50 most

produced by Iran Khodro Corporation, the

important companies in the region. Its

largest car manufacturer in the Middle East.

Aafia (Saudi Arabia, foods, DS100 rank #81):

international presence includes Etisalat Egypt,

The car is now being marketed in more than

Aafia is the leading edible oil brand of the

Etisalat Nigeria and Etisalat Afghanistan. It

ten Arab and Central Asian countries.

Middle East, with a dominant presence in

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

BUSINESS

many of its 20 markets, ranking either first

Image: AP Photo/Vincent Thain

or second in most of them. Ramstore (Turkey, retail, DS100 rank #6; part of Koc Holding): Ramstore is the international brand of Migros Turk, the largest supermarket and hypermarket chain in Turkey. Ramstores are present in Russia, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Macedonia and Kyrgyzstan. In 2006 there were 67 Ramstores, as well as 13 shopping malls and hypermarkets, while in Turkey, under the Migros brand, there were 798 stores. Petronas (Malaysia, energy, DS100 rank #4): State-owned Petronas is the largest Malaysian business enterprise, an integrated international oil company with business interests in 31 countries. It markets its branded petroleum products and services in 6 countries. Goldas (Turkey, jewellery, DS100 rank #87): Combining award-winning designers with the latest technology, Goldas has become a global trend-setter and its jewellery is recognised worldwide for its beauty, innovation and quality. In line with its strategy of attaining worldwide

recognition,

Goldas

has

representatives in the USA, UK, UAE, Russia, Germany, China,Thailand, South Africa, Hong Kong and Ukraine. As a pioneering exporter, Goldas sends goods to more than 45 countries across five continents. Goldas also serves its customers through its website. Malaysia Airlines (Malaysia, transportation, DS100 rank #56): Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has been ranked one of only four 5-Star airlines by the aviation rating organisation Skytrax, which rates more than 300 international carriers. Malaysia Airlines flies to 45 countries. (dinarstandard.com) Text By Rafi-uddin Shikoh

Mohammed Merican, CEO & president of Malaysiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Petronas

BUSINESS

German companies will be playing a

A NEW SILICON VALLEY

significant role in the success of this

MASDAR, THE NEWEST CITY IN ABU DHABI

ambitious project, whose investment volume is estimated at around 22 billion US dollars (14 billion euros). Masdar and Conergy AG,

Abu Dhabi may be enhancing its image with the Masdar initiative, but the emirate also wants to make money. They are hoping that a big financial injection will give their research a similarly large technological boost.

a Hamburg-based company specialising in solar power and wind energy, announced the signing of a partnership agreement. In May, Masdar decided to build a factory in Erfurt for the production of thin-layer photovoltaic cells, with an initial annual output of 50 megawatts. Once everything has been tested in Erfurt, a second factory

The cliché of the oil-sheikh who spends his

of the world’s biggest oil exporters. There in

with the same capacity will be built in Abu

petrodollars on luxury limos and deposits

the desert sand, right next to the ruling fam-

Dhabi in 2010.

large sums in Swiss bank accounts has finally

ily’s airport terminal, a city district is being

expended itself. The Arab oil monarchies in

built up along strict ecological principles.

the Gulf may still have billions flowing into

“Germany and Spain are the current leaders in renewable energy,” says Sultan Al-Jabar,

their state purses on account of high oil prices,

Fifty thousand people should soon be living

the Chairman of Masdar. However, he expects

but today they are investing it very differently

in the climate protection city, which aims to

US enterprises to overtake the Europeans in

from the oil boom of the 1970s.A considerable

become for the eco, power and energy-saving

the course of the next five years.

amount of the money is staying in the region

industry what Silicon Valley once was for the

to be invested in property, tourism projects,

computer business. The power needs of

In the world of oil, Al-Jabar cuts a flamboyant

ports, airports and factories. But the most

Masdar City (Masdar means “spring” in

figure, and not just because of his snow-white

unusual large-scale investment is currently

Arabic) will be met solely by renewable

Arabian costume.The quick-witted business-

emerging in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, one

sources.

man, who studied in the USA, workes for Abu Dhabi’s national oil company and who

Gold bazar: Dubai is one of the main hubs for global trade in the precious metal.

believes nuclear power will be an important component in his country’s future energy mix holds meetings at 20 minute intervals. “Because we are big oil producers, some people in the industry eyed us with scepticism at first,” he admits, adding with a smile: “We invite sceptics to visit us, perhaps they will have some interesting ideas.” Al-Jabar estimates that Abu Dhabi will cover eight per cent of its energy needs from renewable sources between 2009 and 2020. Abu Dhabi may be boosting its image with the Masdar init iative, but the emirate also wants to make money. They are hoping that

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

BUSINESS

a big financial injection will give their research a similarly large technological shove. “It’s about getting to grips with efficiency and costs, and that can only work if we enter into mass production,” says the Masdar chief. The eco-boss would like it most that students and researchers move to Masdar City. With the help of the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) he will be setting up a university in the desert district called the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST). To save energy they plan to build densely, with narrow passages, some of which will be covered so that you can walk or cycle along them even in summer, when temperatures can exceed 50 degrees Celsius in the shade.The city will measure 6.5 square kilometres in area, and only electric vehicles will be permitted. The water which will be used – to irrigate the palms, among other things – will come from a seawater desalination plant. Nor should there be any short-cuts when it comes to comfort and aesthetics. The development plan for the CO2-neutral town comes from Britain’s star architect Lord Norman Foster.“I can hardly wait to live there myself,” enthuses Al-Jabar, who on this hot July morning is negotiating with experts from Europe and the Far East in an air-conditioned portakabin on the Masdar site. Like other residents of the settlement, the first of whose houses will be ready to occupy next year, he will be able to measure how much energy he has consumed using his own meter. “We aren’t forbidding anything, there won’t be a consumption limit, but we want to make people aware of how much they are using.” Text Press agencies

Image: picture-alliance/dpa

AFRICA

Text By Hashim I. Dockrat

Southern Sudan: arrival of chinese army engineers in the UN-contingent

them to be, the coming rulers of the world.

CHINA AND AFRICA

They only want a Chinese Peter the Great or

A NEW EMPIRE IN THE MAKING?

Napoleon to make them so … and in my idle speculation upon this world’s future I have

Africa has evolved over many centuries from its honoured position as the harbinger of civilisations.

long selected them as the combatants on one side of the great Battle of Armageddon, the people of the United States of America being their opponents. The latter nation is fast

Having absorbed the influences of first Islam and then the European ethos, having weathered the

becoming the great power of the world.Thank heaven they speak English… and have the same regard for fair play in all national as well

storms of colonialism and revolution, the

as private business.”

continent now stands on the brink of its third

Wolseley, however, would not have predicted

great encounter: the irresistible force of China.

a new world transfixed by globalised business surpassing the ‘law of statehood’, rather finding its raison d’étre in capital accumulation

All builders of empire believe they are building

English historian Byron Farwell’s recollection

rather than in orthodox sovereignty – and

an enduring edifice, but those who have read

of Lord Wolseley. Though his memory of the

hence the realisation that the United States,

their Gibbon know that all empires come to

past was fading he could still look into the

as the world’s largest debtor, has sold all its

an end, that proud rulers of the world change,

future, and in 1903 he made an astonishing

government debt to the world’s largest

and that shifts in world power are

and chilling prediction: “The Chinese,” he

creditor – China. This has resulted in China’s

accompanied by war. With China’s entry into

said, “are the most remarkable race on earth,

effective annexation of the US through force

the new world, one might well reflect on the

and I have always thought, and still believe

of capital; more surreptitiously it is a victory

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

AFRICA

won in consequence of neo-liberal force

itself for its second imperial incursion – of

white rule and, for newly independent African

majeure.

colonialist proportions. In John Gray’s analysis,

states, offering aid and assistance on generous

imperialism is always about profit before

terms.”The Zhou initiative prompted China’s

Corporate USA, with its government

anything else. Africa’s challenge is how to

first great capital project in Africa, the Tazara

privatised, its foreign policy preoccupied with

respond to the world’s largest capital market

railway linking Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) with

raids in Iraq and elsewhere sold as the global

and its insatiable need for resources and

Lusaka (Zambia). Involving 25,000 Chinese

enforcement of liberal values – all the while

profit.

engineers, the 1,860 km long railway was

have overly subsidised foreign adventures

completed in 1975 after five years, two years

funded by foreign lenders. The US military

In 1418, before the appearance of Portuguese

machine has been transformed into the

and Dutch galleons circumnavigating the

mercenary army of its creditors, and the polit-

Cape, a great Chinese fleet of what were then

After Mao Zedong died in 1976, internal

ical advantage gained by the creditor is that

the largest seagoing ships ever built visited

political difficulties saw China reduce its

it enjoys the power of veto over its principal

the coastal towns of East Africa. The fleet

involvement in Africa. According to Kobus

debtor’s territorial incursions. This event has

comprised tens of thousands of personnel of

van der Wath, Managing Director of the

its historical parallel in Britain’s adventures

all ranks and vocations, the admiralty itself

specialist South African consultancy The

in Africa; Queen Victoria’s mercenary army at

being commanded by a Muslim officer of

Beijing Axis, Deng Xiaoping’s emergence in

the disposal of Cecil Rhodes’ British South

Arab descent.This was the first direct contact

1977 initiated a 15 year programme that saw

Africa Company, De Beers and Consolidated

between the old Chinese empire and Africa.

China become a communist state with a

Goldfields Ltd.

ahead of schedule.

capitalist economy. There were four subsequent visitations, the

In the muted values of the Enlightenment,

last being in 1433, and in all these

Then, in 1993, China began its third cycle of

Imperium follows enterprise, the British

deployments the Chinese sought ritual

engagement with Africa.According to Dr Chris

colonial movement being a classic example

submission to their Emperor, and trade but

Alden, senior London School of Economics

of this modus operandum. Of course there

not conquest.According to the historian Louis

lecturer, this date is important because “China

were other preludes such as Sir George

Levathes, “Africa was China’s El Dorado – the

ceased to be an oil-exporting country and

Goldie’s Royal Niger Company, and Sir William

land of rare and precious things, mysterious

became an oil-importing country.That is when

Mackinnon’s Imperial British East India

and unfathomable.”

Company, who were also agents for British imperial expansion and consolidation into

Just as abruptly, China disengaged from any

Africa. True to form, China has CABC, the

further direct contact with Africa, until five

non-governmental China-Africa Business

hundred years later, in 1963, when the then

Council, and CNCP, the China National

Prime Minister Zhou Enlai visited the more

Petroleum Corporation.

influential North and East African states and opened China’s second cycle of engagement

The United States of America could never

with the continent. In an address in

master the epistemology of Empire. Curbed

Mogadishu he said,“We feel that our present

by its own liberal values, it was loath to

visit to Africa is somewhat belated. But after

assume a classical colonialist foreign policy.

all we have arrived…”

As for Europe, its colonial legacy has devolved to mere trade and friendly relations, China

Arrive it did. According to Keith Campbell,

thus emerges with no significant opposition

Senior Contributing Editor of Mining Weekly,

in Africa, with perhaps India – either as

“by actively supporting revolutionary

collaborator or competitor. Africa is bracing

movements still fighting colonial or minority

AFRICA

Image: AP Photos/Elizabeth Dalziel

Jintao announced the lifting of import tariffs for items from Africa, and the cancelling of debts for heavily indebted African countries together with billions of US-dollars of aid, and the training of technicians, professionals and agricultural experts over the next three years. With a further $5 billion fund to facilitate Chinese investments in Africa and $3 billion in preferential loans, China is

Impressions of the FOCAC summit in 2006

offering Africa a diplomatic and commercial package as sophisticated as anything one their economic growth outran their domestic

billion dollars in soft loans, normally interest

would expect from an established industrial

resources and traditional imports.”

free with long-term repayments. By the 1980s

power with the added advantage of moral

almost 150,000 Chinese technicians were

resonance. China therefore comes across as

Having already developed a global

serving in Africa. Half a century after the

more appealing to African governments than

political footprint, it was now encouraged

closure of Europe’s African colonial chapter,

Europe, the USA or Japan.

to develop a global economic trademark,

the continent finds itself with an acute case

spearheaded by Deng’s reforms, which led to

of post-revolutionary stress disorder, and

Though the CACB is strategically placed to

a huge influx of foreign direct investment

hence leans towards the east, where it finds

partner Chinese non-state business with

(FDI) into China, which, in turn, resulted in

a natural comfort zone.

African business entities, it is the state-owned

unprecedented levels of consumer demand.

enterprises (SoEs) such as China National

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) forecasts

Lucy Corkin, project director at South Africa’s

Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC), Sinopec,

that FDI into China for the period 2008 to

University of Stellenbosch Centre for Chinese

China Minmetals, and China Non-Ferrous

2012 will average $86.8 billion annually,

Studies, confirms that “the Chinese

Metals Company that are leading China’s

excluding FDI into Hong Kong. China thus

government has a very long-term view, and

commercial entry into Africa.These are being

ranks third in attracting FDI after the USA

they are looking at Africa as a strategic

supported by other service sector SoEs in the

and UK.

partner. This is reflected in the hosting of the

fields of banking and logistics, such as the

Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC),

China Overseas Shipping Company.

With its domestic consumption in constant

launched as a Ministerial Level gathering in

ascent, its demand for resources has grown

Beijing in 2000, attended by 80 Ministers

According to Alden, “China’s thrust is for

exponentially. Not able to meet its resource

from China and 44 African countries.

commodities and oil – it’s about

needs from domestic sources, and with

purchasing and attracting resources.”

Central Asia being a more controlled

The second FOCAC was held in 2003 in Addis

Corkin highlights the fact that “there seems

environment under Russian and North

Ababa, and also opened the First China-

to be an emerging pattern. China offers

American interests, the strategic need for new

Africa Business Conference seeing the

African states soft loans and technical

resource lines became evident. Thus in 1988

signing of cooperation agreements worth

assistance to develop infrastructure and, in

the then President Jiang Zemin visited Africa,

$1 billion. In 2006 the third FOCAC was

return, gets access to minerals.”

which marked the beginning of a new epoch

upgraded to summit status, with President

and kick-started the fourth cycle of

Hu Jintao hosting 48 African heads of state

China Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) is the

engagement with Africa.

in Beijing. This event was accompanied by

spearhead for Chinese construction firms

the Second China-Africa Business Conference

operating in Angola and elsewhere in Africa.

Between 1963 and 1983, China provided

which saw the conclusion of trade deals

While 50 per cent of Eximbank’s loans must

African countries with approximately $2

worth $1.9 billion.

be spent on buying goods and/or services

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

AFRICA

from Chinese companies, 70 per cent of the

establishment of small Chinese businesses

construction contracts financed by these

which enter the market with the advantage

concessional loans must go to Chinese

of subsidised relocation and set-up costs.This

companies as well. Furthermore, most Chinese

has unleashed a growing resentment towards

contractors are required to employ 70 per

Chinese traders, most notably in Zambia,

cent Chinese labour for African projects.

where in the 2006 presidential elections, the opposition candidate ran on an explicitly

Eximbank’s policy is the imperial counterpoint

xenophobic anti-Chinese ticket.

to all overt transactions favouring Chinese companies and ensuring maximum benefit

The investment fallout has had far-reaching

to them-selves. Imagine the return on costs

consequences for South Africa where the

for having built eight middle to large scale

signing of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with

power plants, 6000 km of roads with the

China and India almost shattered its home-

presence of 800 Chinese state-owned

grown textile industry and diminished the

enterprises active in Africa, spanning every

value, both in capability and capacity, of the

country. China’s focus is moving away from

country’s

being subject to price and supply risk takers

Alarmingly, South Africa’s soft response to

on international markets, towards owning,

China’s purchase of its highly developed

operating and refining the resources, thereby

uranium processing facility (the most

gaining price and supply security.

advanced in the world) for a mere $6 million

light

engineering

industry.

shows the vulnerability of African countries China’s investments in Africa stand at $48

because of their inability to respond to

billion, while current total imports from Africa

unguarded FTAs. China has now displaced

are $30 billion and its exports to Africa are

the UK and Germany as South Africa’s leading

valued at almost the same figure. China

trading partner.

seeks predominantly energy-related commodities from Africa: oil, iron-ore, copper

Increased trade and aid ensures an influx

and a host of industry-driven materials –

of Chinese to the African mainland.

even waste material for recycling. In 2005/6

Lebensraum – the need for space – and

oil accounted for 70 per cent of African

the protection of markets and sources of

exports to China. For the moment China’s

supply are innate variables of imperial

primary focus for oil is Chad, Sudan (where

growth, and overt principles in long-term

CNCP dominates the oil market from

strategic planning, both political and

extraction to refining) and Angola. Its major

economic.

commodity investments are copper in Zambia and iron-ore in Gabon.

Obvious indicators of colonial intent emerge regularly in off-the-cuff political and

In Campbell’s opinion, Africa welcomes

commercial overtures, examples of which can

Chinese aid and trade because China does not

be read in China’s request to SADC (Southern

seek to influence or alter domestic policies or

African Development Council) to allow for

behaviour. But Chinese investments have been

the relocation of 18 million Chinese in the

accompanied by the creation of Chinese

region. A more brazen request was mooted

communities across the continent, and the

to the Government of Swaziland, to allow for

Image: AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell

AFRICA

the purchase of a few thousand hectares of land, large enough to accommodate an airstrip, to be declared the sovereign territory of China and which would be given free port status. China’s Hong Kong in Southern Africa? For once good sense prevailed, and through a measure of British diplomacy and Commonwealth patrimony, the Royal Swazi Court politely declined the Chinese offer. The ‘Chinafication’ of Africa is underway throughout the continent, so says John Borshoff, Managing Director of Paladin Resources, an Australian-Canadian listed company active in uranium assets in Namibia and Malawi. In the mining and minerals context, environmental issues and the benefits to local economies will ensure that African

Chinese foreman overseeing workers in Nigeria

governments demand greater transparency from Chinese corporations, but at the same

They rest their case in the belief that African

on the subject of arms sales to Sudan, these

time they may lose leverage in partnering

governments will be very careful not to

kinds of sentimental, past revolutionary

with China, since their mutual desire is to

compromise mineral legislation by applying

affiliations have made it possible for Robert

become part of the ‘price-making formula’ and

standards favouring Chinese access to the

Mugabe’s government in Zimbabwe to invite

China may well not share or abdicate such a

continent’s minerals in an unfair and non-

a Chinese security presence as a deterrent to

primal position with its resource hosts.

transparent way. The truth of the matter

potential internal and external threats to

though, according to Vivienne Walt, is that

Zimbabwe’s domestic policies.

Some of the SoEs out of China tend to

while everyone else talks about corporate

represent not just an entirely commercial, but

governance, legislation and the environment,

Chinese support of Zimbabwe took a turn

also a strategic and political initiative.

the Chinese simply ask, “How do we procure

when a Chinese ship loaded with weapons

Partnering ‘indigenous’ mining companies

the licence?”

destined for Zimbabwe docked in Durban.

with Chinese SoEs who seem to have an

Given its sailing orders by customs authorities,

inexhaustible supply of funding may seem a

For now, the Chinese impetus lies in market

the Chinese government officially denied

fair exchange of components – i.e. funding

penetration rather than profit margins. This

ownership but acknowledged that the ship

for one party and technical know-how for

makes for good diplomacy but exposes

and its cargo belonged to private Chinese

the other. The concern among more vigilant

fundamental

considerations

business interests. These incidents confirm

observers is: what happens after the Chinese

especially with the long-term need to protect

the classical scenario of the explorer being

have learnt all they need to know about

captured markets and the objects that reflect

followed by the trader who is followed by the

mining in Africa?

China’s physical presence in Africa. In view

soldier who is in his turn followed by an

of its military capability, China’s support of

imperial edict declaring occupation.

strategic

On the positive side of the equation are the

previous revolutionary movements in Africa

private-sector project developers in Africa

continues through firm bi-lateral relations

In South Africa, during the nineties and the

who believe that partnering with a Chinese

and includes active military assistance to

early part of this decade, many voices active

investor can be a strong political-risk mitigant.

many African governments.Without touching

in strategy and policy circles voiced caution

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

AFRICA

on the country’s dealings with China and the

What needs to be the outcome? Again,

Beijing’s involvement in Africa argue that

East in general. These arguments fermented

according to Arrighi, in order to avoid a self-

China is on a narrow, self-interested

around the issues of free trade, protectionism

destructive competitive struggle it became

campaign which benefits only Africa’s elite.

and fair competition, and naturally also were

necessary to re-negotiate the terms of polit-

This is the crux of the matter since Africa has

an attempt to protect old trading affiliates –

ical exchange that has linked East Asian

too many elites, both indigenous and some

especially Europe. Would China and India’s

(specifically Chinese) capitalism to the global

of alien extraction. Vast in its topography,

advance into Africa make two hundred years

military Keynesianism of the US. The root of

holding large treasures beneath its soil and

of European colonisation seem like a Sunday

this argument rests on the assumption that

poverty on its surface, where the poor have

picnic, or would such a partnership embolden

the state- and war-making capabilities of the

been forgotten; at once bold and excitable

Africa to new heights of assertiveness and

traditional centres of the capitalist West have

yet so vulnerable and fragile; this is the

self-expression? Can Africa withstand an

gone so far that they can now only expand

African canvas. From this image, Africa has

invasion of raw capital without faltering?

further through the formation of a truly global

yet to articulate a response and a vision – a

Can it find an ‘African Political Definition’ in

world empire. However, for this world empire

response to anything that would take from

a new world that has moved beyond state and

to be realised, they would require control

it and leave it poor. A vision that would

democracy and in the process articulate a

over the most prolific sources of world surplus

enable it to master its resources, embrace a

more cosmopolitan ethos?

capital – sources which are now located in

post-enlightenment real-politic and brook

East Asia.

no invasion of its unique identity.

To answer these questions we need to consider the matter of the opening para-

Essentially, this argument implies that shifts

graphs and the analysis of the dynamics of

in the systemic processes of capital

a conflict scenario driven by neo-liberal values

accumulation in East Asia influence the state-

and the imperatives of capital accumulation.

and war-making capabilities of the West. In

Deng Xiaoping’s invitation to Milton

other words, East Asian capital dictates the

Friedman in 1980 to re-educate his party

conditions under which it assists the West to

officials on the fundamentals of free market

power. As unparalleled as this may seem, it

theory paved the way towards China’s

is after all the kind of deal that historical

substantive drive to World Empire.This came

capitalism offers.

about when the traditional centres of power in the West lost control over surplus capital,

This brings us one step closer to

leading to the decline of the West’s

understanding Africa’s destiny in the

hegemonic power.

context of this dichotomy of power. The new power nexus demands that the terms

In Giovanni Arrighi’s masterful work The Long

of a re-negotiated political exchange should

Twentieth Century, he asserts that escalating

by definition include the spatial and territorial

competitive pressures in the last two decades

division of resources. It is therefore quite

have undermined the profitability and liquidity

reasonable to assume that Africa is China’s

of East Asian capital and diminished North

apportionment by agreement, voiding any

American capital, ensuring the disruption of

consent of the subject being traded with –

social cohesion in the East and the war-

i.e. Africa itself.

making capabilities of the West. He argues that such a continued stand-off could well

If this is a fair assessment of Africa’s current

destroy the greatest residual source of

and future status, where to from here for its

strength of both these centres.

policy-makers? A majority of African critics on

Bibliography Keith Campbell, “China’s Continent”, Mining Weekly, September 28-October 4, 2007. Howard W. French, “China in Africa: All Trade and No Political Baggage”,The New York Times, August 8, 2004 Giovanni Arrighi, “The Long Twentieth Century – Money, Power, and the origins of Our Time”, Verso, London, 1996. Byron Farwell, “Queen Victoria’s Little Wars”, Wordsworth Military Library, Wordsworth Limited Edition, London, 1999. Naomi Klein,“The Shock Doctrine-The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” Allen Lane, New York, 2007. Martin Creamer, ‘Continental Chinafication’, Mining Weekly, September 28October 4, 2007. Vivienne Walt,“China’s Appetite for African Oil Grows,” Fortune, February 15, 2006. John Gray, “Black Mass – Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia,” Penguin Books, London, 2008

AFRICA

years did the local community take full control

THE MOSQUE OF SOWETO

of the Mosque’s administration and establish it as their platform for reinforcing the identity

A PROMISING SIGHT OF WHAT IS TO COME

and active nature of their struggle against an increasingly repressive regime.

The role of the Muslims of Soweto today is to The activism of the Muslims community was

address the issues of the region’s people, namely

vociferous. In an interview with the former

the blatant poverty in which they live and the

Imam of the Mosque, Hajj Malik Arafat, I was

illiteracy which assures its continuance.

told that the Apartheid government had kept a close eye on their activities. The Muslims aimed to establish Islam in South Africa and

The Mosque of Soweto celebrated its symbolic

Sowetans have experienced little positive

saw in it a gift and the solution for the

re-opening on 27 June this year. Soweto, the

change. While still coming to terms with its

repression which even toady is being

township situated on the outskirts of

expression and energy, a glance over the

promulgated across the continent under

Johannesburg, South Africa, is famous for

rooftops, on the skyline, like a gemstone in a

different guises. The ideological stances of

being one of the strongest centres of African

tile mosaic, gleams the minaret of a Mosque.

the better-known anti-Apartheid movements

activism against the Apartheid regime. It was

of the time were encased in the Cold War

the place that staged massive uprisings such

After a decade of strife, the Muslims of Soweto

dialectic and proved powerless to find real

as the Soweto riots and the Alexandria bus

could once again embark for the Friday noon

solutions to the poverty of the country’s

boycotts, is also the place where the historic

prayer without having to go into the city, a

people. “The issue of Africa is the land, not

Freedom Charter was formulated in 1955.

good distance away. The Soweto Muslim

a change of position,” the Imam states.

The expression of Soweto is very different

Association, in conjunction with foreign

from the more commercial areas of South

donors, constructed the building in 1986.

Africa; here the past and present meet

Being the first and only Mosque in the area,

abruptly. Democratic South Africa cohabits

it soon became the object of rival foreign

with Apartheid.

interests. More than one party sought to influence this new community of Africans

Townships in general rumble with life, the

who had embraced Islam. As a consequence

ebb and flow of people young and old mov-

of the insular cultural tendencies of the

ing about the streets and alleys always gives

predominantly Indian Muslim community

one energetic impulses as if from a different

nearby,

place and time. Today, while it stands as a

stratification and the deep social segregation

potent reminder of South Africa’s brutal past,

of the Apartheid state, very few indigenous

it has also been transformed into an

Africans had been exposed to Islam and even

interesting new reality. Some of the outer

fewer had had the opportunity to embrace it.

compounded

the

racial

rows of the immense, sprawling suburb consist of newly built two storey houses, signs

It was for this reason that the seemingly

of prosperity brought by the new government.

benevolent interests of groups who were, however, insensitive to the Sowetans’ cultural

Behind these modern yet lacklustre abodes

and political reality, at first manoeuvred the

lies a sea of Apartheid-era houses

community of Muslims frequenting the

intermingled with shanty constructions. Most

Mosque for their own ends. Only after two

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

Today the mosque has been restored to its

AFRICA

who pray in it continue their proud heritage of true activism. Can from this Mosque future leaders emerge and address the issues of the regions people, namely the blatant poverty in which they live and the present educational system which assures its continuance? An older member of the community sat before full organic capability for the first time since

economic apartheid, and the nature and form

running water with a youth sitting on his lap,

1994, when it was the scene of a firebombing

with which it has manifested is so subtle

carefully teaching him 'wudhu' - the washing

carried out by a right-wing group resentful

that it is very difficult for the ordinary man

before the prayer. This boy was just one of a

at the fall of the Apartheid government.

to see and understand,” explains Hajj Malik

line of others waiting inquisitively for their

Arafat.

lesson. It is from this active and present concern of the Muslims of Soweto for their

To mark the event, the renowned Hajj Abdal Haqq Bewely was invited to give the Khutbah

The change of government in 1994 was an

people that the future leaders of both the

and lead the prayer. His beaming presence and

economic event which aimed inexorably at

community and the country shall emerge.

eloquent discourse was the cause for much

opening the market to the Africans previously

Perhaps some of the young boys in that line

delight and reflected on the faces of the

alienated, not only from the consumerism of

will be among them.

congregation. Since the Khutbah is a message

the Europeans, but from the ability to borrow

to make the community aware and to inform

from the banks.The new regime has done less

them of the ensuing quandary which so

for the majority of its people than the

persists in modern society, Hajj Abdal Haqq

Apartheid state it fought so hard against: the

emphasized and explored the meaning of the

prevalence of Apartheid-era housing and

mosque and the prayer in relation to the

shack dwellings being a solemn reminder of

individual and the community. In the second

this. I was told that the recent xenophobic

part of the Khutbah he spoke of the necessity

attacks which gripped townships throughout

for the collection of Zakat as a way of uplifting

the country were the result of people being

not only the community within the economic

so subjugated that they turned on each other

disparity of Soweto in the broader South

over the meagre resources they did have

Africa, how the people should implement this.

access to. This is the reality of Soweto and

The present Imam Khatib Ibrahim showed

indeed the whole of Africa in this day and age,

much joy at the occasion and and announced

the election fiascos in Kenya and Zimbabwe

the re-launching of the dawah program across

being only further indications of this.The post-

Soweto.

colonial regimes of the continent are stretching the patience of the poor. It is for

Much has changed in the last decade. The

this reason that the re-opening of the Mosque

bustling shopping complex that has recently

of Soweto is symbolic not only for the

opened in the area is symbolic of what South

township but for the whole of Africa and the

Africa’s liberation has brought to the people

Muslims who inhabit its lands.

of Soweto and the country as a whole. “We were able as a collective to remove political

What remains to be seen is that if once again

Apartheid, but we are still left with an

the mosque of Soweto and, existentially those

Text By Parvez A. Sheikh

What are townships? The term used to describe the informal or ghettoized areas which the majority of poor urbanised residents inhabit in South Africa is ‘township’. This is similar to Brazil’s ‘barrios’ and other areas inhabited by the ultra-poor, particularly in less economically developed nations.Townships, however, have a more systematic history than many of their counterparts.They were originally designated areas established by the Apartheid regime in order to urbanise – selectively – the African labour necessary for the then-booming industrial sector. What has changed since Apartheid is the massive, uncontrolled inflow of people and the resultant ballooning of informal or “shanty” settlements, which has flooded the original Apartheid-era infrastructure. Soweto itself is the largest such zone in the country, located on the outskirts of Johannesburg, the nation’s economic hub. Its population, as of the latest census, is estimated at more than one million.

EURASIA

accelerate the rebuilding of our war-torn

WAR OVER CASPIAN OIL PIPELINES, RESSOURCES AND NATIONALISM

economy,” enthused Ruslan Bzarov, a professor of economics, at the opening of the pipeline.

Western multinationals hope that armed force

But the ceremony was overshadowed by a

will break Russia’s hegemony over the massive

terrorist attack when a car-bomb exploded outside a police building in Tskhinvali, injuring

Caspian reserves.

six Ministry of the Interior staff. The car had been bought in Georgia.

British Petroleum’s Georgian Pipeline is a flop,

Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, the pipeline is

and Gazprom is opening one pipeline after

a technical masterpiece, climbing over the

Kosovan trigger

the other. It is now hoped that war will

peaks of the southern Caucasus and reaching

Although the conflict between Georgia and

eliminate the Russian lead.

a height of 3000 metres along the way.There

its renegade republics goes back at least as

is no other pipeline on earth that is so near

far as the early nineties, the event which

to the heavens.

precipitated the current escalation was much

The 29th of May 2008 was an auspicious day

more recent. Secessionists in both South

for South Ossetia.The renegade republic spent the anniversary of the declaration of its

Its political and economic significance is

sovereignty by inaugurating a Russian pipeline

enormous. South Ossetia has been paying

which makes the region independent of gas

USD 300 per thousand cubic metres of

supplied from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

Georgian gas, whereas Russia’s price for the

Running a length of 163 kilometres from the

same amount is a mere 40 dollars. “That

Russian town of Dzuarikau to the South

helps us to solve social problems and

Ossetia and Abkhazia have taken the separation of Kosovo from Serbia – an event foreseeable since autumn 2007 – to justify a push for the recognition of their own territorial sovereignty. And it is true that the separatist majorities in Georgia in favour of declaring their own republics are no smaller than was the case in Serbia. Abkhazians and South Ossetians are only being denied sovereignty by the West because, unlike the Albanians, they are looking for an alliance with Russia and not the USA. The proclamation of the Republika Kosova in mid-February 2008 speeded things up in the Caucasus. At the beginning of March, Moscow rescinded a 1996 agreement prohibiting state bodies from entering into economic relations with Georgia’s renegade republics. On 16 April,Vladimir Putin, then still President, ordered relief supplies and direct governmental contact.

British petroleum The pipeline to South Ossetia is but one indicator of the lead that Russian power giant

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

EURASIA

Image: picture-alliance/dpa

EURASIA

The affiliations of Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakashvili are plain to see

Gazprom has in the race for the reserves

attack; that was the beginning of the second

Gazprom is working hard on another pipe

surrounding the Caspian Sea, which are the

Chechen War, which Putin went on to win.

along the bed of the Black Sea, which is to

world’s second largest after the Persian Gulf.

lead through Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary as

Up until the end of the 1990s, Moscow had

After the US-sponsored rise of Mikheil

far as Austria and Germany.The final contracts

control over the westbound transport of oil

Saakashvili to the position of President of

were signed this year. In contrast,“Nabucco”,

and gas, which led from Baku in Azerbaijan,

Georgia at the end of 2003, British Petroleum

the European Union’s rival project, which is

via Dagestan and Chechnya, to the Russian

led the opening, in 2005, of the next Western

to be fed in part from BP’s BTC pipeline, is

Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. But in 1999

pipeline, which led from Baku, via Tbilisi, to

still only on paper.

a Western consortium opened a similarly

the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

capacious rival pipeline from Baku to Supsa

Known as the BTC, it has ten times the

This is the background against which Western

on the Georgian Black Sea coast, avoiding

throughput capacity of the rival Russian line

multinationals consider it essential to use

Russian territory along the way.

to Novorossiysk – and yet it is not anywhere

military force to drive economically successful

near fully used. This is because the countries

Russia away from the Caspian Sea. But the

At the same time, Chechen secessionists

bordering the Caspian Sea prefer to sell their

latest reports indicate that Moscow is not

interrupted the Russian route west, and when

gas to Russian companies than to BP, since

about to give in so easily. Russian units have

Russia laid a bypass through Dagestan the

their prices are better and because the Russian

crossed the border and defied the attackers.

secessionists also tried to gain a foothold

pipelines to Western Europe are safer than

The blame for this escalation, however, lies

there, in August 1999. Moscow repelled the

tankers sailing out of Ceyhan. What is more,

with Saakashvili.

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

EURASIA

An autocrat

and other Western countries that bring forth

Even one of the German government’s lead-

ing think tanks find it hard to conceal their

intellectuals who long for pro-Western

unease about the Georgian president.

reforms.”

class

young, English-speaking

According to an April 2008 report by the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP,

A closer look at Georgian current affairs

Science and Politics Foundation), since taking

reveals just how undemocratic things can

up office four and a half years ago, Mikheil

become in the country.The opposition parties

Saakashvili has achieved considerable

are boycotting Parliament in protest against

successes in – wait for it – “budget

the rigged May 2008 elections. Their

consolidation, police reform and military

functionaries are terrorised by thugs at night,

reform.” The report continues: “This has,

and

however, been at the expense of the

questioning by police. In autumn 2007, Irakli

separation of powers, and it has produced a

Okruashvili, Saakashvili’s former Defence

power elite which, despite its youth,

Minister, accused him of ordering murders.

summoned

without

reason

for

willingness to reform and pro-European tendencies, does not differ enough in its high-

According to a report on the Israeli website

handed style of government from other post-

debka.com, Saakashvili employed 1,000

Soviet autocracies.”

military instructors from Israel last year, and

HISTORY & CHRONOLOGY Georgians and Ossetians are not related ethnically. The former belong to the Caucasian language-family, while the latter have their roots in the Iranian horsemen known as the Alans, who migrated into the northern Caucasus around 2000 years ago. Unlike the Chechens and Adyghe people, the Ossetians never participated in the antiRussian uprisings that have troubled the northern Caucasus since the 18th century. 1774: Ossetia accepts the authority of the Russian Tsar. 1918: The southern half of the country becomes part of Georgia.

the report claims that these consultants were Now 41, Saakashvili became president during

without doubt closely involved in the

what became known as the Rose Revolution

preparations for the conquest of the South

at the end of 2003, which, according to the

Ossetian capital. Furthermore, 1000 US

Wall Street Journal on 24 November 2003,

Marines trained with Georgian units at the

was instigated above all by non-governmental

Wasiani base, east of Tbilisi, at the end of

organisations (NGOs). “Many of these NGOs

July.

are supported by foundations in American

Text Jürgen Elsässer, Berlin

1920: The Bolsheviks help to establish a government in South Ossetia which in turn helps Stalin to establish Soviet power in Georgia. Ossetians hope that Moscow will upgrade their autonomous region to a Soviet Republic and reunite the two halves of the country, but this does not happen. 1989:The Parliament of the Autonomous Oblast of South Ossetia votes for a complete separation from Georgia. The region does not take practical steps towards that until the end of the Soviet Union and the independence of Georgia in 1991. 1992: Both sides agree on an armistice. Russia, Georgia and South Ossetia each provide a battalion for the joint peace mission. 2006: In a referendum, 89 per cent of the population vote for independence for South Ossetia.

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GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

EURASIA

Afghanis. Kabul has torture prisons set up

CHAOS IN AFGHANISTAN

next door to Red Cross stations; there are

A COUNTRY RAVAGED BY POWER GROUPINGS AND GREED

the pragmatists who run the offices of the world’s largest private army; and there is the foreign branch of a group of German idealists

The imagery coming out of Kabul is simple – too

selling prosthetics.You’ll find Chinese brothels,

simple. Again and again Afghan society is reduced

and you’ll find a branch of the Goethe

to a kind of “Middle Ages”, from which it must be liberated. The barbaric imprecision of aerial warfare contrasts darkly against the refinement of the humanistic argument carried on at ground

Institute. Chaos, in the sense of order without location, would not be an inappropriate way of describing the entangled intermeshing of these diverse loyalties.

level, in public. “When untamed powers senseless reign, no higher thought can itself sustain,” says a It is well known that war can make it easier

Afghanistan. The intentionally fuzzy term

German proverb.After decades of intellectual

to portray complex situations in abbreviated

“Islamism” enables a kind of media-carpet-

over-exploitation, it is now impossible to see

form, and this is especially true in our media

bombing of anything Muslim and political. But

the clear, dogmatic application of any kind of

age. Media has long been part of modern

it is not just aerial warfare that is modern. In

doctrine whatsoever, be it on the Western

armed conflict. The aim is to paint as clear a

today’s Afghanistan, the camp – exactly as

side or on the Islamic-Afghani side. Beneath

picture of the enemy as possible. In the friend-

defined by Giorgio Agamben – has become

the lamentable picture of a globally

and-foe scenario, the enemy is, of course –

a norm of rulership.

networked, corrupt economy (including an

even if only temporarily – evil incarnate.

escalating drug-trade), the practice of perverse The imagery coming out of Kabul is simple

suicide attacks, commonplace torture,

One might say that all modern ideologies

– too simple.Again and again Afghan society

growing prostitution, and finally anarchy, it

have adopted the conviction that a good,

is reduced to a kind of “Middle Ages”, from

is no longer possible to ignore the general

modern world can only emerge after the

which it must be liberated. The barbaric

crisis of law – whether international law,

annihilation of the enemy. The so-called War

imprecision of aerial warfare contrasts darkly

state doctrine or Islamic law.

on Terror also follows this logic, having as its

against the refinement of the humanistic

official aim the destruction of all of those it

argument carried on at ground level, in

In fact the whole business is a scandal.

calls terrorists.

public.

Compare this years’ debate in Europe over this war in Kabul with the ’68 generation and

Now, with war globally condemned and with

Bonn-based Afghanistan expert Dr. Conrad

their war in Vietnam. What really stands out

the spread of values that assert global validity,

Schetter describes Afghanistan as a kind of

is the lack of passion, indeed the insidious

the modern picture of the enemy has changed.

re-education camp: “Every foreigner active in

depoliticisation of the whole discussion.

The enemy is no longer just the (temporarily)

Afghanistan takes it for granted that the

Nevertheless, the fact remains that, according

evil opponent, with whom an honourable

Western social order is superior to the

to one survey, more than 60 per cent of all

peace might eventually be achieved. He is

Afghani.”

Germans are opposed to the war in the Hindu

now a criminal, and therefore an object of no worth whatsoever – to be done away with. It is these new rules which apply in

Kush. The lack of a genuine nomos is especially evident in Kabul.Thousands of foreign NGOs

But the war goes on, as does its distressing

teach, influence, supply and indoctrinate the

imagery. On the evening news, the simple

EURASIA

application of imprecise, yet almost magically

credible official survey the fate of civilian

And meanwhile, the debate about the

powerful labels like Islamist, Taliban and

victims since the beginning of the campaign.

fundamental contradictions inherent in the

Terrorist to the bloodied, strewn corpses is

But according to the American Marc Herold

conflict fades away.

enough to legitimise carpet bombardment, or

at least 6,303 civilians have been killed in

the eradication of whole settlements, without

Afghanistan between October 2001 and June

eliciting any bothersome questions from a

2007.

In Germany it is politically taboo to engage in even the most gentle discussion about the

stunned public.

merging of certain Federal Länder, someThe objectives became obscure long ago.

thing which is long overdue from the point

The function of the enemy in all this – an

Asked on Deutschlandfunk radio where

of view of efficiency. In Afghanistan, home

enemy who has been reduced to zero value

exactly these ‘Taliban’ appear, NATO general

to 30 different races, a nation-state along

– is to distract from one’s own methods. We

Egon Ramms responded with frightening

Western lines is supposed to emerge, and

are good, because the others are evil! “The

laconicism: “They appear in their own areas;

preferably quickly. As ever, the violently

one who possesses this sovereignty of

where they live, that is.” But how do you

enforced unification of people and territory,

interpretation and can declare as terrorists

distinguish an ideological member of the

together with the artificial formation of an

those fighting for an alien cause,

Taliban from a simple farmer?

systematically shifts the perception of terror

“Afghan” nationalism (national debt, football team etc.) is automatically assumed, although

from the level of method onto the opposing

In terms of what we might call global

completely unasked-for, as if it were some

group, which allows him to remove himself

intellectual export, whose channels are mil-

kind of self-subsistent natural right.

from the picture,” says Peter Sloterdijk,

lions of networked screens, the ‘Taliban’ now

serve to reinforce the theory of a supposed,

For centuries, the only conceivable arena for

world-threatening family bond between all

this complex undertaking of creating

The urge to discover the real scope of civilian

“Islamists”. According to this logic, be they

understanding between peoples has been

casualties was basically extinguished as soon

“criminal”, “mass murderer” or “Turkish

Islam, to which concepts like ‘government

as the aerial attacks began. Today there

greengrocer with a place on the committee”,

without state’ are not something alien. The

appears to be no demand whatsoever for a

they all somehow belong together.

modern practice of ‘nation-building’, as the

explaining the effect of propaganda.

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

EURASIA

renowned journalist Peter Scholl-Latour points

as a “terrain for weapons experiments and

Thankfully, the opinion prevails that a

out mockingly, is “nothing other than a utopia

a staging by NATO of what is known as a

regional order cannot be enforced against the

thought up by Berlin politicians.” The actual

‘game of cat and mouse’.”

Afghans. Nor, one ought to add, can a

genuine order be enforced which is contrary

argument for the fast formation of nationstates has long been more than just the

There is little doubt that the long-term

to Islam.What is needed in this respect is the

assurance of national sovereignty. If you

securing of economic interests is one of the

establishment of a correct teaching.Authentic

examine the views on Afghanistan held by

most important aspects in the political

teachers have become a rarity in Afghanistan.

political think tanks in Germany today, you

concept of ‘limited sovereignty’.Western think

We must not forget that the teachings of

will notice the constant, almost naïve

tanks, however, tend to be taciturn on the

Islam have been exposed to deadly danger

exclusion of economic interests from the

subject. In the Afghanistan Survey conducted

in recent decades.

causes of the conflict.

by Germany’s Böll Stiftung, a governmentaligned foundation, the West’s catalogue of

A functioning teaching which accords with the

Take the arms industry, and, as an example,

activities for the establishment of state

traditions of the Afghans would be the real

the interests of German armaments giant

structures includes the terse, somewhat

antidote to the growing influence of Iran, the

Rheinmetall. Practically none of the studies

cryptic

drug industry, and the recent series of suicide

carried out by well-known political

government on the drafting of an economic

attacks.

foundations mention them at all. Thus they

constitution conducive to investment and

Foundation proposed the interesting approach

intentionally conceal the fact that the war

item: “Advising

the Afghan

entrepreneurism.”

Germany’s

Konrad-Adenauer

of re-establishing Islamic education for the Muslims, when, at one of their conventions,

zone in the Hindu Kush now represents one of the world’s largest sales regions for Western

Another barely-researched aspect of global

they reminded the Muslims of Islam’s

weapons systems.

capitalism is clearly manifest in Afghanistan,

categorical prohibition of suicide.

and that is the integration of the drug industry As the Rheinmetall Group states in its latest

into the Western financial system. In

The chaos in Afghanistan today serves only

management report, “In Germany alone,

Afghanistan, what Italian journalist Loretta

the business motives of economic power

military procurements and development

Napoleoni calls “rogue economics” are open

groupings.

spending will rise from 5.3 billion Euros in

in their international connections, yet they

2007 to 5.9 Euros billion in 2008.

need not fear bombardment. Even UN and

Text Abu Bakr Rieger

World Bank reports complain of how close the The use of its Tornado aircraft for half a year

Afghan administration is to the international

costs the German taxpayer 35 million euros.

drug trade.

Germany’s military involvement costs 530 million euros for a single year. In a heated

The drug industry accounted for approxima-

statement, the Deutsche Linke Party said, “90

tely 46 per cent of the country’s gross domes-

per cent of the money spent on Afghanistan

tic product in 2006.There are 36 known drug

by NATO countries goes towards the military

factories in Afghanistan, but not a single one

campaign.”

of them has been destroyed during the past six years. In 2005 the Hamburg-based polit-

The war has become a major economic factor

ical magazine Der Spiegel reported soberingly:

in Europe. It is therefore little wonder than

“It is one of history’s more grotesque tales.

even some critical Afghans claim that a

What the Islamist Taliban did not do, is

strengthening of the Taliban would not be

precisely what the USA-promoted Afghanistan

entirely unwelcome in some military circles.

of the Pashtun prince Hamid Karzai has

Some opponents of the war see Afghanistan

achieved: to flood the West with drugs.”

Footnotes Dr. Conrad Schetter; Das Umerziehungslager des Westens, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 01.06.2006 2 Peter Sloterdijk, 3 Marc Herold, Afghanistan, ein Lehrfeld: Typische Regierung des Neokolonialismus 4 Interview im Deutschlandradio, 22.06.2008 5 Geschäftsbericht Rheimetall AG 2007 6 so Sabour Zamani; Afghanistan heute, Eine politische Bilanz; page 5 7 Ute Koczy, Brabara Unmüßig,Afghanistan, page 29 1

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demonstrates with the most conclusive of proofs and evidences that the ancients, through their striving towards science and philosophy, came close in many ways to understanding the nature of existence and thus to the knowledges revealed to the Muslims in the Qur’an and the Sunna of the Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. For as we know from Allah ta’ala Himself and from the Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, man has been created on a natural self-form – the fitrat – which is in harmony with the whole of creation. The Revelation and the Sunna,

FROM CORDOBA TO MARRAKESH

although superior to the sciences of the

THE TIME FOR IBN RUSHD HAS ARRIVED

Greeks, confirm what they had discovered through investigation. This is not surprising,

Ibn Rushd was not just at home in the academic world. He was an intimate of three Khalifs and, as the Supreme Judge, their counsellor at the

Ibn Rushd argues, as knowledge per se is an attribute and a gift of Allah, and as such is bestowed on various peoples, as He wishes. In his fatwa Ibn Rushd urges the reader to discover these sciences and to realise that

highest political level. He was a man of vision who

Muslims may learn from them. It is an

wanted to share what he had.

invitation, at the highest level, to break barriers. But it is not ecumenism, for Ibn Rushd states unequivocally that the Shari’at is above

Europeans have never really had the

‘religious’ from the ‘political’ from the

all other deens. “Do not be afraid,” he is

opportunity to discover who Ibn Rushd, this

‘scientific’, Ibn Rushd obviously presented a

saying, “to expand your awareness, to

Andalusian, this great European, really was.

challenge because, as a Muslim, he moved

discover creation and why we are here, and

The academics of the last century –

beyond such boundaries. So disturbing to -

do not be afraid to seek knowledge outside

inadvertently, it is to be hoped – split him into

certain intellectuals was the breadth of his

of a strictly Muslim source.”

two distinct characters, on the one hand Ibn

knowledge and activity that there was even

Rushd ‘the Philosopher’ and ‘commentator

a short-lived academic attempt in the middle

Ibn Rushd was not just at home in the

of Plato and Aristotle’, and on the other hand

of the last century to prove that Ibn Rushd

academic world. He was an intimate of three

Ibn Rushd, Qadi al-Qudaat – the Chief Judge

‘the philosopher–commentator’ and Ibn

Khalifs and, as the Supreme Judge, their

of the three Khalifs of the Muwahhid Empire,

Rushd ‘the Qadi and Muslim Jurist’ were in

counsellor at the highest political level. He was

and the Muslim jurist, author of the

fact two different persons altogether.

a man of vision who wanted to share what

masterpiece of fiqh, the Bidayat al-Mujtahid,

he had, and in doing so wanted to raise the

a legal handbook for those fuqaha who want

In a twenty-odd page fatwa entitled The

level of society: he was concerned to raise the

to attain to the rank of Mujtahid, someone

Decisive Statement concerning that which

status of the imams of the empire so that,

qualified to carry out personal judgment in

unites the Shari’at with Hikma [i.e. wisdom

when faced with new situations, they might

legal matters. For those immersed in the Post-

of the highest order, referring here specifically

be capable of making new decisions based

Christian classifications that separate the

to the wisdom of the Greeks] he

on sound legal premises. He was concerned

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

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lest they turn into imam-priests in the

his Bidaya he concludes by noting that all

attributes as health, strength and justice, and

Christian sense, trapped in the intricacies of

the various aspects of the Sunna, i.e. of the

these can only be achieved by the individual

theology and Divine law, but removed from

Shari’at, or the law of the Muslims, may be

if good behaviour is the norm among the

life. He was also concerned with raising the

variously classified, if one so wishes, as

population as a whole. And this is only

status of the women of his time, whom he

aspects of governance, social welfare or

possible, in the first instance, when the leading

considered spent too much time immobile at

financial equity, for example, and that these

men or women of any society attain to these

home. He wanted people to share his passion

in turn are expressions of various modes of

attributes, attain to such behaviour by going

for the analytical sciences, for astronomy and

good behaviour termed – in the Greek fashion

beyond themselves and discovering the

medicine – for the benefit of mankind in a

– ‘modesty’, ‘justice’, ‘courage’ and

Divine.

social sense but also because, on a profounder

‘generosity’. Just as the Greeks had subsumed

level, any science, any increase in one’s

their system of law under human traits, the

Ibn Rushd came from Cordoba in Andalusia.

understanding of creation, brings one closer

Muslims too can understand that the trait of

His quest for knowledge drove him to the

to the Creator. As Ibn Rushd was well aware,

‘modesty’ finds expression in the various laws

Greeks. He could not learn from the Christians

one of the interpretations of the word

regarding marriage,‘justice’ in the prohibition

of the time because they were living in their

‘worship’ in “I have only created jinn and

of usury, ‘courage’ in the laws governing war,

medieval age – indeed it was his teachings

man to worship Me” (Qur’an, Surat adh-

and ‘generosity’ in the judgements concerned

that eventually taught them. It was he who

Dhariyat:56) – after its literal sense of

with zakat. In other words the Shari’at is not

absorbed and made available to the Christians

submission in physical prostration – is ‘to

a foreign, imposed legal system, but an

the treasures of the Greeks.Without Ibn Rushd

have knowledge of’.

expression of the very nature of man and

there would be no scientific or technological

woman in their highest, most balanced and

Europe as we know it today. It is only the

He realised too, at the end of his life, on the

harmonious form. Thus, he argues, the life of

social and legal aspects of his Islam which

occasion of his famous meeting with Shaykh

the Muslims is not so different from the life

remain to be discovered by the Europeans.As

al-Akbar Ibn Arabi, that the sciences he had

and society of the highest cultures among

Ian Dallas states in The New Wagnerian:

acquired in the course of his life through

the non-Muslims. This understanding is

“Islam was not an alien religion, since Ibn

study and observation paled in comparison

possible, he argues, if one is willing to make

Rushd, indeed it had been at the core of

with the oceans of knowledge bestowed

this linguistic jump and see that in all higher

European civilisation. … It was the final

directly by Allah on this Wali, this Friend of

societies the goal is to enable man and

religion which was for all mankind.”

Allah. The fact that he could recognise this

woman to realise their highest potential: it

knowledge, and the superiority of Ibn Arabi

necessarily assumes therefore such positive

Text Dr Asadullah Yate

– who at the time was some fifty years younger than him – was a clear sign that he

Dr. Asadullah Yate is a specialist on Ibn Rushd

too was able to taste it for himself. Throughout his life he had been a man of himma – intense longing for absolute knowledge of the Divine – and this encounter confirmed for him existentially what until then he had only known in theory. Perhaps Ibn Rushd’s greatest contribution to learning was his insistence that true knowledge can only be attained when society is strong and healthy. At the end of

CULTURE

THE CITY OF TODAY REFLECTIONS ON THE WAY WE LIVE IN CITIES

A strengthening of leadership and responsibility remains a key ingredient for successful local management and directive, together with the emergence of a tradition of discrimination and forbearance. Successful urban modalities can be transplanted as well as people. Today, with greater ties to our European

Place of the Deen’, and went on to become

mainland, the UK has also created an

the future model for The Illuminated City,

opportunity for stronger local government

(not through street lighting but because of

within its cities, through community-group

the people who inhabited it), which is still to

participation.This legislation, the Sustainable

be considered the goal of striving; not for

Communities Act 23, Oct. 2007 and the

originality but of origin, a return to source and

Government White Paper: Strong and

centrality. It is worth mentioning for clarity,

Prosperous Communities 2006, remains to

that this perspective is not linear, ‘backward’

be implemented in its profound richness and

or ideological, but circular and singular, this

potential. How far it can be utilised remains

is the city challenge, the making of balanced

to be seen: will it remain silently on the

and ‘right-acting’ people who stand at every

statutes-shelf, or will its legislation be taken

junction and highway. High goals indeed, yet

up and used?

not unattainable, indeed previously achieved throughout various epochs, amongst the most

The re-emergence of the healthy city – vibrant

diverse of peoples, climates, geographies,

and dynamic, enabling trade, health, social

cultures and places. Can it not occur again?

inclusion and connectivity – is not just possible, it is absolutely crucial. Not just the

The recent opportunity for civitas within

mending of streets, but of hearts; a revitalising

Britain’s local government is immense and

of inclusion and dialogue, of meeting and

inspiring and is there to be grasped; these

exchange; a comparison of values and ways

challenges must be taken on, from ozone and

of working through common-ground interests

oil, world migration and debt, through to

and examples that can benefit all who actively

finite resources and our sharply increasing

participate and experience.

populations.

At the beginning of Islam the city of Yathrib

Of course, within this mix are people, with all

in the Arabian Hejaz was re-named as ‘The

their needs and experiences.Waves of people

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

CULTURE

have inhabited and enriched our British Isles.

“Morals? can’t afford ’em!” It must be

Trade and health, wealth acquisition and

Norse, Dane, Angle, Saxon, Norman and

acknowledged that the rise in crime and the

distribution, governance and social cohesion,

recently people from the Asian Subcontinent

social breakdown amongst the youth, rising

all these can be evaluated from successful

and other parts of the world.What effect will

personal debt, drink and drugs are a feature

social structures and re-applied. This then

the continuation of this have on our cities,

upon our city streets. Can’t afford morals? We

enlivens and enriches the urban form,

with their post modernism and human

can’t afford to ignore them!

facilitating and strengthening neighbourhoods which become vibrant and assured,

uncertainty, their brewing ecological crises –

collective yet identifiable.

and concomitant nihilistic responses? A tough

The city of today will change tomorrow, and

question this may be, yet it lies in the

therefore this change can be guided towards

background of the way we live in cities.

a better environment, which strives for a

A strengthening of local leadership and

renewed dialogue and social exchange among

responsibility remains a key ingredient for

The continuation of globalisation, the magic

our own diverse city-dwellers, a discrimination

successful local management and directive

of our ‘futures’ markets, our virtual high-

and social openness with its concurrent

together with the emergence of a wisdom-

ways beyond location – all these have

responsibility. This dialogue must be

tradition of discrimination and forbearance.

become intertwined with megacity growth,

encouraged and mirrored within the built

Successful urban modalities can be trans-

population explosion, city-centre decline,

form – not that the built form dictates, but

planted as people can. Courtyards, bath-

segregated and atomised communities,

at least it encourages this possibility to occur.

houses, charitable endowments, integrated

urban sprawl and traffic congestion.All these

It is this business that also needs to be

production centres, and the universal

concerns impact together upon the diverse

pursued and considered, this nitty-gritty of the

acceptance of open space for trade have been

peoples within our cities, and upon our

‘how’ in implementation which promotes the

features common throughout our “one

immediate needs of food, shelter and

harmonisation of city life.

world” and, locally, a mark of excellence in Britain’s own market towns and cities.

clothing; of aspiration, fulfilment and security; of a desire to be able to participate

This is contained not only within the urban

in civic direction, trade, business and

blocks or forms, improved public spaces and

It could be said that what is really true

decision-making; and of course for

better street connectivity and access, but

remains. The natural and Revealed Truth

transparency in governance. A renewed civic

relates to an integrated self-governance,

becomes its own filter; an accuracy which

direction could be a strong counter-point to

together with the emergence of latent skills

settles into workability and benefit, the actual

globalisation because it can mean a re-

and solutions which exist amongst all our

meaning of tradition. The business of today

engagement with the populace.

diverse communities. What are the hidden

is to identify and implement it.

strengths and knowledges that exist and that There is possibility and hope. People are

can be re-examined and re-implemented?

Text Mahmud Manning, Birmingham

vibrant and dynamic. They can cope with change and direct it. Can these green shoots be nurtured and propagated? The issues of engagement and training in public service for the United Kingdom are as pertinent here, today, as they are in, for example, in the new South Africa. At the micro-level, people must embrace an active participation, which would surely be nurtured by lessened taxation and economic burden. As Bernard Shaw’s Doolittle says,

MEDIA

Documentary, drama and comedy continued

A GLOBAL BROADCASTER

to flourish in the 1970s, in what came to be

ON THE DEVELOPEMENT OF THE BBC

known as the Golden Age of Television. It was also during this period that many households acquired colour sets.The BBC was

The BBC is regarded as being second to none. It reaches more than 200 countries and is available to more than 274 million households. Its radio service is in the short wavelength, which makes it available to many regions of the world. It also broadcasts news - by radio or over the Internet - in some 30 languages. Yet the BBC, once seen as a mighty giant in the land of the Lilliput, has now become dwarf battling off the push for privatisation made by Gordon Brown’s present day government.

dubbed the ‘theatre in the living room’ when it set about televising all of Shakespeare’s plays in 1978, beginning with Romeo and Juliet. It was not until 1977 that things began to go horribly wrong for the BBC. The Annan Committee Report criticised the BBC for ‘loss of nerve’ and ‘organisational fog’ over its programme-making. This paved the way for the establishment of Channel 4, which finally came on air in 1982. During the 1990s, in the face of growing competition from Channel 4 and ITV, the BBC started to offer a wider range of programmes which commercially funded broadcasters would not provide.

What will become of this great institution,

into neighbours’ living rooms – watched the

free from political and commercial influence,

coronation of the young Queen Elizabeth II.

Faced with competition from both Sky and

and which only answers to viewers and

The television age had arrived. The event

Cable TV, by 2000, the BBC had promised to

listeners? The BBC, or British Broadcasting

prompted many to buy their own sets, and it

enrich viewers’ lives with a range of new

Corporation, was born on 18 October 1922

was evident that television would soon be as

digital channels. The result was BBC’s

following demands from the general public

important to UK audiences as radio.

‘Freeview’ digital box, which offers a variety of free TV channels and interactive TV.The BBC

for a radio station. Successful trials in radio, first in Writtle, Chelmsford and later on in

During the 1950s the BBC began to build a

also hopes that by 2010 everyone will be

London led to the creation of the BBC with

reputation for impartiality when it became

switched to Digital TV and that analogue TV

John Reith as its first General Manager. In

embroiled in a conflict with the government

signals will be turned off. Without doubt the

1927, at the Crawford Committee’s

over its reporting of the Suez Crisis.The Prime

future of the BBC is now digital.

suggestion, the BBC was issued a Royal

Minister, Anthony Eden, told the BBC that if

Charter to become a public corporation. This

they continued to take an unpatriotic stance

In January 2007, faced with ongoing criticism,

meant that the BBC could expand its

on the war then the government would take

the Royal Charter established the BBC Trust,

coverage and enjoy a wider remit. From radio

over the organisation and run it themselves.

a body which oversees how BBC programme-

and then on to television broadcasting, by

Fortunately the BBC won the battle and it

making is run. This is an independent body

1934 the BBC was reaching worldwide

never came to a state take-over. Following this

created to replace the Board of Governors,

audiences.

triumph, the BBC continued to grow, and

who, unlike the present day Trustees, had no

during the 1960s a new era in television

direct say in programme-making, but were

With this Royal seal of approval it was no

programming was born, with a proliferation

nevertheless accountable each year to

surprise that on June 2 1953, an estimated

of programmes reflecting topics and issues

Parliament (and the public) for the BBC’s

22 million TV viewers – many of them crowd

current at the time.

performance and compliance. The role of

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

MEDIA

Chairman of the Board of Governors had been

minute claim”, stating that Iraq could be

would not have known who had a role in the

one of the most important positions in British

ready to deploy its WMDs in 45 minutes –

preparation of the dossier.

media.

something which Dr Kelly, who had been to Iraq and carried out an inspection of their

The Hutton Inquiry found in favour of the gov-

The Trust has twelve Trustees including a Chair,

weapons, said was untrue. Following the

ernment, and Director General Dyke, who had

Vice-chair and a member for each of the

strange and suspicious death of Dr Kelly, the

transformed the BBC since he joined the

nations (England, Wales, Northern Ireland

Hutton Inquiry was launched.The government

Corporation in 2000, resigned. His famous “cut

and Scotland) of the UK, who are expected

denied any involvement in the content of the

the crap” line at the BBC had been coupled

to demonstrate knowledge and understan-

dossier. Blair’s government pushed the BBC

with swift changes in administration, where

ding of public broadcasting issues in their

to reveal the name of their source, because

he reduced overall costs from 24 to 15 per

countries. In October 2007 the Trust approved

it knew that any source who was not a

cent of total income. He was also favoured by

the BBC’s strategic direction for the next six

member of the Joint Intelligence Committee

BBC staff for his ability to restore staff morale.

years, demanding a higher-quality, more distinctive BBC.The present day Trustees have still to prove their mettle with a smooth transition to digital TV, and with other plans

The new chairman of the BBC, Sir Michael Lyons

that are afoot such as moving most Birmingham

northern

areas

Image: picture-alliance/dpa

programme-making from London and like

Manchester. Throughout its history the BBC has stood the test of time, remaining impartial right through from the 1950s – and even through Thatcher’s regime. All the more unfortunate, then, that it would in the end be broken by Tony Blair’s propaganda and the present day government. One of the most damaging events was about to take place which would not only leave the BBC weakened, but also open it to much unfair criticism. The bastion of trust and impartiality that had been the BBC was about to be scrutinised closely in order to reveal one source in the Kelly Affair.This would later lead to the Hutton Inquiry and the resignation of two of the most senior people in the BBC. The story of Dr David Kelly meeting BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan in London and revealing MoD secrets caused a political storm. Dr Kelly revealed that the government had included in its dossier, declaring that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, a“45-

MEDIA

In 2001 he had also made huge changes in Image: picture-alliance/KPA

the make-up of the BBC, where he had gone down on record as stating that the BBC was “hideously white”. He quickly set changes in place at recruitment level to make staff more representative of Britain’s multi-cultural licence-payers. In his resignation speech Dyke stated, “I do not necessarily accept the findings of Lord Hutton.” After the whole affair, the BBC was never to be the same again. Once bitten twice shy, never again was it going to take the same kind of risks it had taken with Andrew Gilligan. New guidelines were imposed, and e-mails sent to all staff on how to deal with controversial issues and stories. Everything had to be handled with care. In the end it was Blair’s government who had brought the BBC into line, something the Conservatives had failed to do. This led later to the dismantling of the Board of Governors and the establishment of the Trust, and later still to the proposal of privatising the BBC. The stated mission of the BBC is “to inform, educate and entertain”, which it does by making programmes paid for by licencepayers. The BBC licence-payer finances the BBC and its operations through the licence fee, which can be described as a regressive tax. As a result of this tax the BBC does not have to serve the interests of advertisers or shareholders.The BBC aims to provide a wide range of televised broadcasts that suit everyone, free of commercial advertisements and independent of commercial and political interests. The TV licence pays for eight interactive TV channels, ten radio networks, more than 50 local TV and radio services, the BBC’s websites,

Camera crew of the BBC in the early sixities

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

and the on-demand TV and radio service, BBC

MEDIA

Inside the studios of BBC World News

iPlayer. BBC World Service is funded by a

The BBC’s current Charter runs until 31

licence fee as the Corporation’s primary source

government grant and not the television

December 2016, and it remains to be seen

of income for the next ten years. The Charter

licence fee. Profits from separate BBC

what the BBC’s new Trust can do before then.

promises that no changes will be made to the

commercial services help to keep the licence

Improving the relationship between the

BBC’s funding until after 2016. But in reality

fee low.

viewer and the Corporation will not be easy.

the BBC is losing the fight against

The “Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain:The Parekh

privatisation. The licence fee is a dinosaur

More than 50 per cent of British homes now

Report” (Runnymede Trust, 2000) found that

and should be extinct, say critics. However,

have multi-channel TV with a choice of 428

the word ‘British’ was taken by a large section

broadcasting has such an impact on society

channels. Mark Byford, Deputy Director

of the public as belonging to White England

that it cannot only be seen as a commercial

General and head of BBC journalism, has

and therefore racist. Similarly, the BBC is

activity.

defended the licence, saying that it is vital for

viewed by many Black and Asian people as

the development of the Corporation. He added

being “for white people”.

There are no real solutions to privatising the BBC. Whichever method is chosen there will

that the TV licence allows the BBC, unlike any of the other channels, to make distinctive,

Today’s programmes still exhibit something

always be drawbacks, but if the government

specialised programmes. There are no

of a ‘White British’ slant, although the BBC’s

were to choose, then it would be best for

commercial breaks during programmes, the

make-up is slowly changing and people are

them to select a method that has less severe

range of programmes is broader, and, to him

being encouraged to apply from different

complications and disadvantages. For those

most importantly, the key for the BBC is its

backgrounds, thanks to BBC Talent. Appli-

critics who complain that times are changing

widespread coverage. The BBC is therefore

cants from ethnic minorities are also

and we cannot hold on to something that

giving

unique,

encouraged. But the process is slow, and the

the public does not want, there is another

something better than they can get anywhere

already-few people working at the BBC from

answer: the BBC needs to address the

else.

such backgrounds are finding that their work

licence-payers and deliver what they want.

is being dictated from above.

If they fail to do this then they will not

fee-payers

something

survive 2016.

Political pressure for the government to introduce a more transparent system for

A white paper on the future of the BBC

renewing the BBC’s Royal Charter is growing.

published in 2006 promised to retain the

Text Meirul Din, Birmingham

BOOKS

Italian feminist watched in horror as a slave

“ROGUE ECONOMICS”

trade in young, desperate women emerged

CAPITALISM'S NEW REALITY

in eastern Europe. Much like everything else, it was governed by simple market laws of supply and demand. The misery and fate of

Now that terrorism has come to an end, Loretta Napoleoni strikes up an intelligent dialogue with Islam.

these young women shocked the journalist, and that is one of the experiences she describes so powerfully in her latest book. Rogue Economics is a passionate, convincing work about the moral collapse of the

Nothing symbolises the end of the Cold War

however, saw a different and dangerous

quite like the fall of the Berlin Wall. All of

turning-point in the fall of the Wall.

Europe is now growing in unison inexorably.

Capitalism’s victorious spread has been

McDonalds and Coca-Cola have set up shop

accompanied by new, unregulated business

subsequent struggle for dominance between

in Moscow, and the word ‘globalisation’ is fast

practices – especially in eastern Europe – and

politics and the – what she terms – ‘rogue

becoming the new century’s most important

necessarily ends with the prospect of a

economics’.

expression. History is intoxicating, and at the

monumental crash on the financial markets.

moment there are few critical voices. Italian journalist and economist Loretta Napoleoni,

GLOBALIA | Issue 03 | August 2008

modern economy. Napoleoni describes the transition, after the fall of communism, from nation-state to market-state, and the

Napoleoni’s ‘rogue economics’ is an umbrella In the days following the fall of Wall, one

term for the black market, criminal business

BOOKS

structures, terrorist funding flows, and the

But what is the solution? That is where leading

recognises personal property, but sets certain

drug and slave industries. Everything is

Western intellectuals from Peter Sloterdijk to

limits on economic practice and which could

allowed, provided it somehow brings in

Naomi Klein run into difficulties. Napoleoni,

be the last opponent of unfettered capitalism.

money. The banks lend billions that sweep

too, finds it easier to describe the dark side

The Muslims and their gold economy, their

around the globe in the form of electronic

of the modern situation than to offer solutions.

Zakat, their moral condemnation of drugs

signals, for which tangible equivalents have

The idea of reforming the global economy

and prostitution – all these aspects, now that

long ceased to exist. The Internet, with its

and its rules is confronted with a key problem:

terrorism appears to have come to an end,

virtual gambling dens and pornographic sites

nation-states are too weak for global reform,

are now attracting the interest of Europe’s

is one of the symbols of a networked economy

and capital itself steers the formation of

intelligentsia. Napoleoni dedicates a number

of which reprehensible trade is an integral

political will to an ever increasing extent.

of pages of her new book to these aspects,

part.And worse still, the economic system as

Formerly mafiosi structures are today

thus striking up a new, intelligent dialogue

a whole simply could not exist without the

legalised, and secret service structures have

with Islam.

rogue economy.

become openly declared parts of authoritarian

According to Napoleoni, the actual problem

states, thus becoming part of the global

Napoleoni seems herself to be somewhat

system as well.

startled that Islam offers an alternative. She writes: “Yet it is the Islamic financial system

is that politics is losing the ability to regulate this market.The latest banking crisis has made

The situation on the world’s markets is

above all which is the only economic force

it clear just how helpless politicians are when

becoming increasingly serious. A depression

that can offer anything conceptually opposed

faced with the consequences of such an

to equal 1929 is feared worldwide, and years

to the rogue economy. Investments in

anarchic structure. If we are to prevent politics

of zero-growth are predicted in the USA and

pornography, prostitution, drugs, tobacco

from dying out altogether, she says, then the

Europe. But there has been another surpris-

and gambling are forbidden. As stated

first step is to “break down the commercial

ing development since the fall of the Berlin

previously, these are areas which have been

illusions created by rogue economics.” She

Wall: economic power has shifted Eastwards,

flourishing in abundance under the indifferent

continues: “Only then will people be in a

and Russia, with its enormous energy

gaze of the market-state since the fall of the

position to make a choice and redefine the

resources, could in the end become the actual

Berlin Wall.”

conditions of their political engagement.”

winner of the Cold War. The geopolitical struggle for the security of pipelines has long

This means that people must re-acquire the

eclipsed the fight against isolated terrorists

faculty of discrimination, which is as important

in its importance.

Text Abu Bakr Rieger

as the ability to discern between paper and gold.

As a specialist on ‘terrorism issues’, Napoleoni has so far understood Islam only in terms of

Another question preoccupies Napoleoni, and

a modern ideology in in confrontation with

one which is in part religious. Is it still possible

globalisation. All terrorists, she generalises,

to retain one’s moral integrity within this

are good capitalists too, and organise their

system? Napoleoni believes not. In the current

economic activities legally within the

chaos, she says, everyone is forced, willingly

international financial architecture. Even the

or not, to become part of the rogue economy

most radical political opponents of the

themselves. In the end this insight impinges

financial world remain integrated from an

on the idea of political freedom, and on

economic point of view.

humanism itself. In a world of total networking, no-one can simply retreat to a

But in her new book she discovers another,

private or ‘morally pure’ island.

fascinating side of Islam: Islamic law, which