Majalla’s Year in Review

A Weekly Political News Magazine

Issue 1885- December- 31/12/2021

Editorial The year 2021 was full of events at the political, social, economic and sports levels.

This edition takes a look at how Majalla reporters have delved into major political developments, untold social stories, art scenes and regional sports achievements. In the politics section, Majalla covered an array of political events ranging from Arab reconciliation, the war on Gaza, the delay of the long-awaited Libyan elections, the power outages and economic crisis in Lebanon, the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover to the passing of 10 years of the Syrian war and much more.

Majalla also addressed the unprecedented social issues resulting from Covid-induced restrictions such as social distancing, school closures and remote working as well as economic consequences of lockdowns in various parts of the world, some of which also seem to linger as we start 2022, especially with Omicron variant taking hold of most Covid cases.

Cultural and arts events were also many during the year. And in the sports sphere, 2021 was another year full of sports drama, marked by exceptional Arab participation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, along with the most dramatic “Formula 1” season in living memory, which concluded with the Abu Dhabi race, and marked the crowning of Dutchman Max Verstappen, driver of the Red Bull team, with the title of World Champion (Grand Prix) for the first time in his career. This came along with Chelsea’s Champions League title, the excitement of Euro 2020 on and off the field, as well as the Algerian national team’s crowning of the Arab Cup, and many other moments that will remain stuck in the memory of sports fans.

Motasem Al Felou also takes us through some of the most significant events at the economic level in 2021. Al Felou said that Year 2021 was much better than 2020, economically speaking. After the 2020 outbreak of COVID19- that caused a breakdown to the global economy, the beginning of year 2021 brought hope to people across the world with the launch of vaccination campaigns.

In 2021, Majalla covered the most significant Saudi economic developments that took place last year from an analytical point of view. The recovery of oil prices has enabled the Kingdom to continue its public spending and launch megaprojects in preparation for the post-oil era.

Leaving the year in review section, this edition is also full of other, interesting stories.

In the society section, Jiwan Soz writes about how the Syrian war that erupted in March 2011 and followed popular protests demanding the overthrow of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, increased the number of women working in the fields and orchards where citrus and vegetables are grown.

Sarah Gamal also gives an overview about the upcoming African Cup of Nations which is the third-ranked tournament in the world after the World Cup and the UEFA European Football Championship, due to the intensity of its competitions. The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, will play its 33rd edition in Cameroon this coming January, with Algeria looking to defend their crown as African champions. In her story, Gamal also interviews Abdel Moneim Mustafa Hussein, aka “Shatta”, the former technical director for Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Read these articles and more on our website eng.majalla.com. As always, we welcome and value our readers’ feedback and we invite you to take the opportunity to leave your comments on our website.

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A Weekly Political News Magazine

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A Weekly Political News Magazine

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A Weekly Political News Magazine

A Challenging Year for Saudi

42 Economic Recovery

Issue 1885- December- 31/12/2021

What Putin Really Wants

26 in Ukraine

How to Make COVID - 19 30 Vaccines Available to All

34 Taxing the Rich

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The 5 Biggest Business Moments of 2021 5

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Syria’s Women Farmers: We Work between Landmines, Near Front Lines

56 Essential Nutrients Your Body Needs for Building Bone

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napshot

Harbin Ice and Snow in China’s

This aerial photo taken on December 25, 2021 shows people looking at ice sculptures at the Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang ,province. Harbin, Heilongjiang )AFP Photos(

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napshot

Christmas in Tbilisi

Christmas decorations and light sculptures illuminate the center of Tbilisi, Georgia, 28 December 2021. Georgia as a mainly Orthodox Christian country celebrates Christmas according to the ‘old’ Julian Calendar that sees the holidays 13 days later than in the Gregorian Calendar )EPA Photos(

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SAU

LEBANON Lebanon’s energy minister launched two projects in the country’s north on Tuesday to facilitate the flow of natural gas from Egypt. The move aims to improve electricity production and expand the country’s tanks to increase oil reserves.

The revival of the Arab Gas Pipeline to deliver Egyptian gas to Lebanon comes as the small country is reeling from a crippling electricity crisis. The pipeline has been out of service in Lebanon since before Syria’s 10-year conflict began in 2011.

EGYPT Egypt has "digitally unwrapped" the mummy of famed Pharaoh Amenhotep I, revealing its secrets for the first time since it was discovered in 1881 without disturbing his funerary mask.

Thanks to the advanced digital 3D imagery, researchers unearthed new mummification techniques used for the pharaoh whose rule dates back more than 1,500 BC. The research was led by Sahar Saleem, a professor of radiology at Cairo University, and the renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, a former antiquities minister, the tourism and antiquities ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

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Saudi Arab distancing the Muslim the highest Workers ha on October distance in which is bu structure to world pray.

Saudi autho distancing and pilgrim specifying w Earlier, the and masks and outdoo

UDI ARABIA

bia on Thursday reimposed social measures at the Grand Mosque in m holy city of Mecca, after recording t number of infections in months. ave returned floor markings removed r 17 to guide people to social n and around the Grand Mosque -uilt around the Kaaba, the black cubic owards which Muslims around the . orities said they will reimpose "social requirements between worshippers ms" at the Grand Mosque, without whether a capacity has been set. kingdom had said social distancing were again required in both indoor or venues.

UAE

QATAR Qatar wants to attract 1.2 million people to the World Cup but will struggle to accommodate many of them.

With ticket sales beginning in January, supporters are in for a shock when they look for somewhere to stay: Qatar already looks sold out.

Extensive searches by The Associated Press of leading hotel chains and aggregation websites found only one property with availability for the entire tournament which runs from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18.

Daily coronavirus infections in the United Arab Emirates, the Gulf region’s tourism and commercial hub, have risen above 2,000 for the first time since June.

IRAN Iran launched a rocket with a satellite carrier bearing three devices into space, authorities announced Thursday, without saying whether any of the objects had entered Earth’s orbit.

It was not clear when the launch happened or what devices the carrier brought with it. Iran aired footage of the blastoff against the backdrop of negotiations in Vienna to restore Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers. An eight round had been underway this week and is to resume after New Year’s holidays.

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A WEEK ACROS BARBADOS.

U.S. More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have soared to their highest level on record at over 265,000 per day on average, a surge driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant.

New cases per day have more than doubled over the past two weeks, eclipsing the old mark of 250,000, set in mid-January, according to data kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley on Monday called a snap general election for Jan. 19, just weeks after the Caribbean country became a republic and said goodbye to the British monarchy.

A former British colony that gained independence in 1966, Barbados in October elected Sandra Mason as the country's first-ever president to replace Britain's Queen Elizabeth as head of state. Mason was sworn in as president on Nov. 30.

In a 37-minute, political address broadcast on her social media accounts, Mottley listed her government's economic and financial achievements and said the economy was recovering despite damage to the tourism industry by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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,

LIBYA.

Libya’s top prosecutor on Wednesday ordered the country’s culture minister jailed pending an investigation into allegations of corruption.

General Prosecutor Al-Sediq al-Sour said in a statement that Minister Mabrouka Othman would be jailed for four days pending the investigations into alleged managerial and financial irregularities and forgery.

SS THE WORLD

l

TURKEY. Turkey's currency crisis turned increasingly political on Thursday after a top minister urged citizens to sue economists who comment on social media about the lira's slide.

Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati's unusual remarks late Wednesday followed the banking regulator's decision to file complaints against more than 20 people -- including a former central bank governor -- over their Twitter posts.

Turkey's beleaguered currency entered a tailspin that saw it lose nearly half its value from the start of November to the moment President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced new currency support measures last week.

CHINA.

INDIA.

Indian authorities started to impose stringent rules yesterday to prevent mass gatherings at new year’s parties and public venues to combat a spike in Covid-19 infections, even as top leaders led large political rallies.

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COVID-19 will stifle New Year celebrations around the world for the second year running on Friday, with governments in many countries hurriedly scaling back festivities in an effort to contain rampant contagion.

Global coronavirus infections hit a record high over the past seven-day period, with almost one million cases detected on average each day worldwide between Dec. 23 and 29, some 100,000 up on the previous peak posted on Wednesday, according to Reuters data.

Numerous nations registered all-time highs during the previous 24 hours, including Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, the United States, France and Italy, as the all-conquering Omicron variant spread like wildfire.

Review

Majalla’s Year in Review How We Delved into Major Political Developments, Untold Social Stories, Art Scenes and Regional Sports Achievements

By Majalla The year 2021 has been full of political events ranging between Arab reconciliation, the war on Gaza, the delay of the long-awaited Libyan elections, the power outages and economic crisis in Lebanon, the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover, the passing of 10 years of the Syrian war and much more.

Majalla writers and contributors from across the region wrote analytical pieces about these events with on-theground reporting.

GULF RECONCILIATION AND LIBYAN UNREST Majalla covered the Gulf reconciliation and its impact on the region. Our contributor Hatem Khedr said that the Arab Gulf reconciliation between Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar would have a great impact on regional stability.

By the year end, Dalia Ziada noted the Arab Gulf countries’ unprecedented diplomatic activity on both regional and international horizons. The Arab Gulf region is living a positive momentum of political and economic expansion, which indicates that the Middle East region is finally starting to recover from the painful decade of the Arab Spring aftermath.

On Libya, meanwhile, Majalla wrote about the Libyan House of Representatives giving an overwhelming vote of confidence to the new unity government with 132 votes out of the 133 lawmakers who were present and voting.

In one article, we remarked that the new elected government led by Interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh vowed to restore stability and unify the ranks of Libyans as well as support the High National Election Commission and hold elections that was planned in December.

The move in Libya was seen by observers and officials as well as international organizations as a good step towards steadiness, security, fairness and peace.

After gaining the parliament’s confidence, Dbeibeh described the vote as a “historic moment” and vowed to end war in his country.

Dalia Ziada also wrote about the Libyan elections before its delay. She said, “It is impressive how the war-torn Libya is still insisting on standing again on its feet as a strong sovereign state, despite the severe internal divisions and hefty external interventions”.

Also before the delay, Ziada said that Libyans have to be wary of the many hands warming up to destroy their dream and bring the country back to the point of civil war. Ziada added that the presidential elections would be the first ever democratic practice of such a kind, in the entire political history of Libya. In itself, that is an issue worth celebration. The main goal of the elections is to bring the longaspired sense of security and stability to Libya, the North African country that has been suffering from civil war, armed militia, and terrorism for almost a decade.

10 YEARS OF SYRIAN WAR Majalla contributor Jassim Mohamed wrote about the Syr-

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Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (L-2), Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman (4th L), Deputy Prime Minister of Oman Fahd bin Mahmoud al Said (L-3), Salman, Crown Prince of Bahrain (R-3), Vice President of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (R-2) and Emir of Kuwait Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (L) pose for a photo during the 41st Summit of Gulf Cooperation Council in AlUla, Saudi Arabia on January 05, 2021. (Getty)

ian civil war as 10 years have passed since its start. He said that now the Islamic State, or Da’esh, is making use of the COVID-19 pandemic to restore its activities and claw itself back into key areas.

“ISIS still uses the Syrian Desert as a safe haven and is arranging hideouts from which to carry out terrorist operations. It is still moving between the Iraqi-Syrian borders, despite the efforts made by Iraqi and coalition forces,” he wrote.

ISIS is still active in several regions in Iraq – east of Samarra, in the Hamrin Basin, south of Kirkuk, in Wadi AlShay, and in the Anbar desert at Wadi Houran.

The challenges facing the Iraqi government were mostly in the wake of US withdrawals from Iraq as well as the withdrawal of some coalition forces from Iraq, most notably the German and French soldiers. These troop drawdowns encouraged ISIS to return thereby taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic.

TALIBAN AND THE FUTURE OF AFGHANISTAN Ahmed Taher, meanwhile, covered a significant event which is the Taliban’s takeover of power in Afghanistan.

He said that Taliban is an Islamist movement that has reappeared at the international and regional scene as it succeeded in regaining control over Afghanistan following a 20-year absence since the American war on the country in 2001.

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This recurrence came in light of the global war on terrorism that was launched as a result of the events following the September 11 attack and ended the rule of the movement that had run the country since 1996. The recent US decision to resume withdrawing its forces from Afghanistan by the end of August has given the movement the chance to extend its control over the 34 provinces that fell in less than 10 days. The retreat of Afghan forces also paved the way for the movement to take over the capital, Kabul, which it seized after the Afghan President’s escape on August 15 to the Republic of Tajikistan under the pretext of preserving Afghans’ lives and preventing further bloodshed.

SHEIKH JARRAH Amal Shehada wrote about the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and how the Palestinian claim to Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood is backed by legal documents and human rights.

In her article, Shehada wrote that some documents which were obtained by the residents from Jordan and Turkey proved that the documents submitted to the High Court by the Israeli organizations claiming to own the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood were forged upon translation into Hebrew.

Shahada also wrote another article about the use of unlicensed guns in Israeli Palestinian towns that lead to the killing of innocent people. By the end of January, there were more than 420,000 unlicensed guns in various Is-

Review

raeli Palestinian towns, which means that one in every five households owned a gun. The Israeli army is the primary source of these guns, where 80% of them are obtained by criminal gangs from the army.

LEBANON’S CRISIS Regarding Lebanon, Hanin Ghaddar wrote about the protests that turned into violent riots in Lebanon’s Tripoli when clashes erupted between security forces and protesters, leading to more than 400 wounded and one dead.

Ghaddar said that these protests – although brief and localized – could be a sign or a sample of what to come as Lebanon descends further into collapse and failure of state institutions.

In another article, Ghaddar delved deep into Lebanon’s policymaking and Hezbollah’s killing machine. She said that with a new set of priorities established by the Biden administration in Washington, less attention is being given to the Middle East, and especially to Lebanon.

And while the French President Emmanuel Macron reconsiders the terms of his French Initiative for Lebanon, Hezbollah sees an opportunity to exert more control over Lebanon, its institutions, and its people – using both political alliances and physical violence.

Still with Lebanon and Majalla reporter Mahdi Karayem wrote about the potential successors of Hezbollah’s leader.

He said that political dynasties have been a distinctive feature of Lebanon’s politics, as the eldest son succeeds his father in leading a movement or a party. In some Leba-

nese parties, succession of leadership extends across many generations in a given family. However, the succession of Hezbollah’s leadership is totally different. Taking even a quick look at the history of its leadership makes it clear that choosing the head of the party is not based on the Lebanese tradition.

POPE’S VISIT TO IRAQ Moving to Iraq, Majalla contributor Ghaddar also wrote about the significance of Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq. She said that many have reported and commented on the significance of Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq, mainly when Iran and the region is going through many shifts and conflicts.

Although the whole visit was important to everyone in the region, his meeting with Najaf’s Ayatollah’s Ali Sistani seems to have gained more attention than the Pope’s other stops and meetings.

This visit came one month after Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayyeb, the imam of the Al-Azhar celebrated the first anniversary of signing the “fraternity” document during an event that took place in Abu Dhabi. With the backing of the United Arab Emirates, the initiative has gone on to create a high-level commission to spread the message and plans are under way to build in Abu Dhabi a center with a synagogue, mosque and church in a tangible display of interfaith coexistence and sharing.

Now the Pope goes to Najaf and recognizes it the weight of the Arab Shia, and acknowledges Sistani as the representative of moderate Shiism. Although the Pope didn’t

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Libyan Interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, waves as he stands atop an excavator on June 20, 2021, in the town of Buwairat al-Hassoun, during a ceremony to mark the reopening of 300-kilometre road between the cities of Misrata and Sirte. (Photo

by MAHMUD TURKIA/ AFP via Getty Images)

Taliban fighters pose for photograph in Wazir Akbar Khan in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021. The Taliban declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and urged women to join their government Tuesday, seeking to convince a wary population that they have changed a day after deadly chaos gripped the main airport as desperate crowds tried to flee the country.

(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

mention Tehran or Qum even once, his message was very clear: Najaf is the only Shia center the moderate world will deal with.

RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN TENSIONS Maia Otarashvili also covered Russian, Ukrainian and Georgian affairs as well as the refugee crisis at the Belarus borders.

In early May, Russia announced it would be drawing down its forces near Ukraine after carrying out a large-scale military exercise. Otarashvili said that the event had caused deep concern in Ukraine as it looked like a sign of coming massive Russian invasion. It drew in European and American leadership who called on Russia to withdraw the forces. At the end of April Russia’s Ministry of Defense explained that this was a military exercise, which it had completed successfully and was preparing to wrap up.

But Moscow’s saber-rattling in Europe’s eastern neighborhood is far from over. In September 2021 Russia will carry out its massive military exercises called “Zapad 2021”.

Otarashvili also covered the NATO June summit in Brussels and its implications for Russia. She said that on the surface, at least, it looks like the transatlantic community is back on the same page, to its pre-Trump posture of “unity, solidarity, and cohesion,” but at the same time “open a new chapter in transatlantic relations, at a time when the security environment we face is increasingly complex.”

Major emphasis was put on the member nations’ commitment to strengthened resilience. U.S. President, Joe Biden,

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has been working hard to convince America’s allies that the U.S. is back on the world stage and is ready to reassert its leadership, and the NATO framework has offered him a great opportunity to keep promoting this point.

Georgia’s municipal elections were also covered. Otarashvili said that continued political crises, tensions with western allies, and a raging pandemic served as the backdrop for the election that would not have been a very big deal without the extraordinary circumstances.

REFUGEE CRISIS AT BELARUS BORDER Europe’s refugee crisis was also among the coverage of Otarashvili in 2021. She said that in this crisis, human beings are being used as pawns in a chess game. But Lukashenko is no stranger to this method – he has a long-standing track record of abusing the rights of his own people. But this time around it’s not just Lukashenko who is treating human lives as convenient tools of hybrid warfare, European values and commitment to human rights are also being tested as Belarus’s neighbors face the uncomfortable dilemma of a refugee deluge.

A YEAR OF SOCIAL CHALLENGES, WOES AND ACHIEVEMNTS POST-COVID LIFE

By January 2021, a year had almost passed for the new normal in post-Covid world. Life as we used to know has greatly changed. In many stories, Majalla addressed the unprecedented social issues resulting from Covid-induced

Review

restrictions such as social distancing, school closures and remote working as well as economic consequences of lockdowns in various parts of the world, some of which also seem to linger as we start 2022, especially with Omicron variant taking hold of most Covid cases.

Majalla paid special attention to the little ones who suffered due to feeling of isolation, lack of social activities and boredom. Statistics revealed an increasing levels of stress, anxiety and depression due to the new lifestyle imposed by fears of the spread of coronavirus. Majalla highlighted measures required to mitigate the negative psychological impact of the lockdown through promoting the importance of mental wellbeing and resumption of social life once social activities return back to normal, and providing adequate support to those most affected by the past period.

On the importance of mental health, Majalla decided to spread the awareness, especially among societies which might find it stigmatizing to seek professional help. We stressed the importance of fighting back against the misinformation about mental illness and breaking typos associated with fighting depression and other mental health issues Majalla was keen on presenting the other face of the pandemic times as the blessing of social solidarity was on full display. One such example was Egyptian volunteering teams who helped self-quarantined Covid-19 patients in with supplies, food and other means of living. Teams of volunteers took to social media and launched initiatives to supply people who caught the virus with mild to moderate symptoms with their necessities during their self-quarantine. The attempt aimed to alleviate pressures on governments racing with time to provide ventilators and intensive

healthcare for more severe cases.

VACCINATIONS ROLLOUT A silver lining started to appear as vaccination rollout all over the world has carried a promise for the isolated societies. Majalla gave voice to hopes that various Covid-19 vaccines would provide sufficient immunity for people and let go of the restrictions that have hindered normal daily lives. While some feared the vaccines would have serious side effects, scientists kept reassuring that vaccines are important, and the consequences of not taking the jabs and being vulnerable to the coronavirus are more dire than the possible side effects.

By the end of 2021, we can see more than half of world populations getting at least one dose of the Covid vaccine with increasing numbers of people in the Arab world being inoculated. Early in the first half of the year, Majalla drew the attention to the accelerated steps taken by Arab countries to vaccinate their populations, where some of the vaccinated people talked to Majalla about their early experiences and hopes for the future.

Gradual returning back to normal, albeit slowly, gave some venting for people kept at home for almost a year. Hybrid education was one such example we provided of gradual transition from a year of studying in front of screens to in-class attendance that was missed by many students and teachers alike. Majalla interviewed people in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait and other Arab countries to know how they feel about distance education and the prospects of returning back to normal. Majalla had the opportunity to delve into the mixed feeling of people who were not able to cope with distance learning and found it difficult to resume a

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Palestinian and Israeli activists gather in front of Israeli settler’s house during a demonstration against the expulsion of Palestinian families from their homes, in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on April 16, 2021. (Getty)

Anti-government protesters chant slogans during a demonstration in the center of Lebanon’s impoverished northern port city of Tripoli on January 31, 2021. (Getty Images)

second year in such education in contrast to others who didn’t mind to stay at the comfort of their home while reaching out to their teachers and students virtually. Majalla also addressed the subject of remote working and the employees return to office environment.

On their side, world governments were still grabbling with changing measures to ensure the safety of citizens and expats according to daily statistics of Covid-19 cases and vaccination progress. By the middle of the 2021, efforts were culminated in the return to schools, universities and workplaces, and the lift of travel ban under precautionary measures. In May, Majalla posed the question about What is done to make travel safer during the pandemic?

From immediate PCR examinations at airports, to thermal surveillance cameras, it was easy to detect any possible cases of Covid-19 among passengers, and keep the flights safe. Majalla also highlighted the introduction of vaccine passports in the Middle East to help improve global communication in the virus crisis management.

SOCIAL FALLOUT OF LEBANESE CRISES

The fallout of Lebanese political crises that came under the world’s spotlight after Beirut’s 2020 explosion didn’t stop short of affecting the Lebanese economy and society.

From economic collapse and governmental failure to provide people’s basic needs to the corruption and monopoly of fuel, medicine and healthcare supplies, and in the darkness caused by frequent power outage Lebanese people recounted to Majalla their economic, social and psychological woes.

More shocking revelations were made by Majalla on organ trafficking where some impoverished people in Lebanon had reached the extreme of offering their kidneys for sale.

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In face of medicine shortages and monopoly of medicine supplies which had life-threatening consequences for the Lebanese, Majalla uncovered stories of Lebanese social solidarity where volunteers launched humanitarian campaigns to provide medicine and healthcare for patients of Covid-19 and other chronic or life-threatening diseases.

Cancer patients could finally find their prescribed medications thanks to campaigns such as Kafak-Bi-Kaffi (Hand in hand) and Nihna Wahad (We are One) “We are one” which coordinated funding and shipment of exported medicines with Lebanese expats and citizens in some Gulf and European countries.

10 YEARS OF SYRIAN WOES

Ten years since the Syrian war erupted has severe repercussions on all segments of society. About 6 million internally displaced people who live in camps, some of which are random camps. Majalla sheds light on the plight of these IDPs who have almost no access to potable water, healthcare, and appropriate housing that can protect them against the floods and cold weather especially in the challenging winter months.

The influence of the Syrian conflict prevailed to the younger generation of Syrian children who are brought up amid fighting and violence. We discussed the cost of the war on their mental health, as they grew more violent that even their playtime has become a mimic of war games.

Although homelessness, widowhood, and fear stalk the lives of Syrian women, victims of the decade-long war, they are also warriors and heads of families. Majalla was able to reach out to some Syrian women who confirmed that n in various areas of conflict women were able to change past concepts show patience despite all difficulties

Review

“as they overcame customs and traditions, to confirm their existence alongside men and in all areas of life.”

SAUDI WOMEN EMPOWERED

Majalla focused attention on Saudi steps taken towards more inclusion for women across all sectors comes in the right moment. As the biggest GCC country is currently going through a huge transformation, the potential of women is being unlocked gradually for the wellbeing of all citizens. This year Saudi women became eligible to apply for military positions in specializations that used to be monopolized by men in the Saudi Arabian Army, Royal Saudi Air Defense, Royal Saudi Navy, Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force, and Armed Forces Medical Services.

Over the past decade, the Saudi government has introduced several measures, reformed the laws, and provided subsidies to help women participate in the economy while feeling safe and protected. Majalla published a review of how Saudi workplaces became women-friendlier than ever.

MORE FAMILY ISSUES

More coverage on social issues spanned across various parts of the region. From violence against women represented in female genital mutilation, domestic abuse; spike in divorce rates; trial marriage; sex workers; sexual harassment and efforts to combat it; the impact of shocking viral videos and abuse of social media; all can be found on our website.

ARTS AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPE BY MAJALLA LENS

In 2021, Majalla produced many culture and art stories from around the world. Let’s know about the most remarkable art coverages this year.

STORIES OF HERITAGE

Saudi Arabia sought to be a global tourist destination. The Kingdom, under the leadership of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, carried out several projects in tourism to put the country on the global tourism map as an international hub. Besides, plans were set to encourage tourists to discover aspects of local Saudi culture. The Kingdom also witnessed a significant shakeup in the cultural scene, where talents are embraced and nurtured to grow, flourish and express themselves.

Archaeologists were shocked to discover that a series of camels carved into desert rock faces in the Al-Jawf Desert in Saudi Arabia are prehistoric, dating from 7,000 to 8,000 years ago - before constructing the Pyramids Giza (4,500 years old) or Stonehenge (5,000 years old).

At the beginning of the year, Egypt prepared a central royal procession of mummies to celebrate the opening of the iconic Tahrir square. The spectacle features 22 royal mummies belonging to Egypt’s most famous pharaohs.

Majalla covered the ceremony as the royal mummies were accompanied by 17 ancient coffins to be transferred from the nearby Egyptian Museum to their new home in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat.

Majalla, also, highlighted the story of the Kabul Museum, which withstood decades of conflicts, chaos, and violence inflicted upon Afghanistan since the Soviet occupation and through the civil war until the Taliban’s governance in the 1990s and the US invasion in 2001.

ARTISTS FEATURED We also knew about the first Female Sufi Dancer— Hanna. She entered the world of tanoura (Sufi whirling)

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The Interreligious meeting in the Iraq city of Ur. (supplied)

This picture taken on December 17, 2020 shows Saudi Arabia’s Health Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah waiting to receive the PfizerBioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine. (By Getty Images)

through folklore. She witnessed the artist Randa Ismail’s first exhibition after the pandemic at Cairo opera house.

She told Majalla that all of the paintings were done during the pandemic.

Majalla also went more profound in the Rap scene in Egypt after witnessing a significant change in music production and style. New songs like rap songs and mahraganat appeared with a big audience and fan base. In contrast, on the level of old classical music, Majalla met Salma Kilany, 29, an Egyptian oud player and a big fan of Egyptian classical music.

We met Rudy Tahlo, the Syrian Kurdish photographer who launched the first-of-its-kind project under the title “Faces of Rojava,” the Kurdish name of the region in which Syrian Kurds live and currently controlled by Syrian Democratic Forces. But Ankara seized three primary cities in the area: Afrin, Tell Abiad, and Serê Kaniyê, in two separate attacks by the Turkish army in January 2018 and October 2019.

EXPO VISIT Our reporters in Dubai made an exceptional coverage of Expo 2020. They went on a remarkable tour through some Gulf pavilions. The Emirati pavilion takes visitors on a journey to the past with a look to the future and makes them eager to wander through other Gulf pavilions with a similar culture and spirit. It consists of four floors and represents the principle of sustainability that the UAE seeks to achieve in line with global goals for preserving resources and the environment.

In the Saudi pavilion, visitors are welcomed by the world’s largest LED mirror display, featuring 8000 LED lights that move with visitors as they walk through it,

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and the world’s tallest interactive water feature. The display pays tribute to Saudi Vision 2030, which includes programs to diversify the country’s economy, increase women’s participation in the workforce, reduce unemployment, and increase foreign investment.

We also visited the Russian pavilion in Dubai. Russia participated in Expo 2020 Dubai under the slogan “Creative Mind: Driving the Future,” allowing millions of visitors to learn about Russia’s current achievements in industry, science, technology, and culture.

REVIEWS In cinema and drama, Majalla produced a lot of stories and movie reviews, such as the movie “The Man Who Sold his Skin.” The film traces the journey of an immigrant from Syria who fled his country to Lebanon, escaping from the devastating war, and his intention to travel to Europe to reunite with his love. How, for that, he agrees to have a tattoo on his back by a famous artist, turning his body into a canvas for a painting. Also, “Gaza Mon Amour,” the movie that sheds light on Contemporary Gaza through a different love story.

In addition, Majalla wrote about the tenth annual Arab Film Festival, which began in the shadow of the clashes between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza. Surprisingly and coincidentally, Palestinian films dominated the festival.

Besides, Majalla reviewed many series, such as the Egyptian Newton’s Cradle series that dives into the complex human psyche and talks about the complicated human nature and our decisions. And discussed the highlights of Egyptian TV drama series: violence, murder, bullying, and swear words. That prompted the state authorities to set a

Review

code of ethics for TV dramas to preserve “the identity and cohesiveness of the Egyptian society.”

And the most prominent Jordan series launched on Netflix this year that talks about the pain of women in the Arab world, all the problems of female students at a sensitive age, and all the diseases of society, from a domineering patriarchal system to a scattered educational system, “Al Rawabi School for Girls.”

At the end of the year, Majalla was present at the opera “Carmen,” which was held under the patronage of Prof.

Moustafa Elfeki, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and attended by the German Cultural Attaché Felix Halla.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina hosted a grand operatic work

by French composer Georges Bizet. It was presented in its theatrical form to the audience of Alexandria.

Majalla wrote about the event the Louvre Museum organized along with Réunion des Musées Nationaux– Grand Palais, 18 concurrent exhibitions of Islamic arts across France.

CELEBRATING A HOLY MONTH

Majalla made a special coverage during the holy month of Ramadan by introducing topics such as Ramadan traditions, especially the Ramadan Cannon, which the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities happily announced reclaiming, and the origin of the lantern, which is associated with the holy month. The most famous one states that the Fatimid Caliph used to go out on the night before Ramadan along with children, each of them carrying a lantern to light the way as they sang in celebration for the holy month.

Also, it covered the celebrations of the Holy Month of

Ramadan in the historic area of Jeddah after Covid-19 were sweeping across the Kingdom and the world at large last year. A quick visit to the old heart of Jeddah shows how the pandemic has affected the most multicultural spot in a city that plays in harmony with Red Sea vibes.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

We also held an interview with one of the most prominent Egyptian caricaturists, George El Bahgory, in which he talked about the freedom he practiced during the era of Gamal Abdel Nasser, and he considers President Sisi to be an extension of Nasser.

Most recently, we held an exclusive interview with Dr. Enas Abdel-Dayem, the Egyptian Minister of Culture, and Dr. Salem bin Muhammad Al-Malik, the General Director of ISESCO, during the announcement of the celebration of Cairo, the Capital of Culture in the Islamic World 2022 after its celebration was postponed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

EXCLUSIVE SPORTS STORIES IN A UNIQUE YEAR 2021 was another amazing year of sports drama, marked by exceptional Arab participation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, along with the most dramatic “Formula 1” season in living memory, which concluded with the Abu Dhabi race, and marked the crowning of Dutchman Max Verstappen, driver of the Red Bull team, with the title The World Championship (Grand Prix) for the first time in his

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Saudi students wearing face masks attend a class at a school in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia August 29, 2021. Picture taken August 29, 2021. (REUTERS/Mohammed Benmansour)

The UAE pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

career, along with Chelsea’s Champions League title, the excitement of Euro 2020 on and off the field, as well as the Algerian national team’s crowning of the Arab Cup, and many other moments that will remain stuck in the memory of sports fans.

ARAB’S HISTORIC PARTICIPATION IN TOKYO 2020

As usual, Majalla covered the most important sporting events, most notably the Tokyo Olympics 2020, which

witnessed a historic participation of Arabs that achieving 18 Olympic medals.

Arabs achieved 18 diverse medals in the Olympic Games “Tokyo 2020”, which is the highest rate of medals for Arabs in the history of Olympic participation, and it came with 5 gold, 5 silver and 8 bronze.

The Arabs were at the forefront of the best moment in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, when Qatari Mutaz Issa decided to share the Olympic gold medal for the high jump with Italian Gianmarco Tamberi after they tied, instead of entering the challenge of making a last jump.

Our coverage included daily news reports of the events of this Olympic marathon, as well as exclusive interviews with the stars who shone in the Tokyo sky by achieving Olympic medals; including an exclusive interview with the Egyptian karate champion Feryal Ashraf, the first female Egyptian to have won a gold medal at the Olympic Games, who spoke to Majalla about her Journey to Olympics

MO SALAH: A REAL HERO ON AND OFF THE PITCH Egypt’s National Pride and the Liverpool Football Star’s Life Story has been added to School Textbooks in Egypt.

In October of this year, the Director of Curriculum Development in the Egyptian Ministry of Education revealed the inclusion of Mohamed Salah’s career in the English language curricula for the preparatory and secondary levels.

For its part, Majalla highlighted his successful career in one of its daily reports; Read more: https://bit.ly/3Ej6GAW

A female member of the Saudi Royal Guard (SRG) standing beside her colleague. (Twitter)

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Review

Benzema’s Distinguished Number of Competitions The French star, Karim Benzema, the Real Madrid striker, scored a distinctive positive number in his history during the competitions this season in the Spanish League, La Liga, and with his country, France, which recently won the European Nations League.

Majalla highlighted his brilliance in a profile: Read more: https://bit.ly/3sxLODe

ONS JABEUR: TUNISIA’S MINISTER OF HAPPINESS The Tunisian player, Ons Jabeur, achieved her historical achievements after she ranked eighth in the world tennis rankings. The WTA confirmed that Tunisian Ons Jabeur had become the first Arab player to advance among the top ten ranked women in the world after reaching the semifinals of the Indian Wells Championship by defeating Estonian Annette Kontaveit.

Majalla honored her achievements in this profile; Read more: https://bit.ly/3pq9ebJ

SAUDI WOMEN IN SPORTS

Over the past few years, Saudi women have managed

to break into fields that were the preserve of men, especially after King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s implemented their vision of Saudi society to expand the area of freedom that Saudi women currently enjoy.

Majalla highlighted success paths of a number of Saudi female athletes (https://bit.ly/3lHS0Fk) in various games this year, either through daily reports about them or through exclusive interviews.

Saudi player Nada Abul-Naga became the first Saudi woman to emerge as a squash champion when she won the championship cup and the gold medal in the Kingdom’s Women’s Open Squash Championship, which was held on the courts of Riyadh Club.

Nada passed the competition with outstanding play that impressed many and topped the search sites on Google after her outstanding performance throughout the competition period. Read more; https://bit.ly/3jnxOXP The Saudi entrepreneur and former senior government advisor with the Saudi Sports Authority and holder of an MA in Project Management, Saudi women’s sports advocate Saja Kamal also spoke exclusively to us about breaking her ‘Guinness’ records three times and her inspiring journey. Read more; https:// bit.ly/3DCWJO0 Young girls may be accustomed to playing certain games, but certainly not football. However, the young Farah Je-

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Photo Credit: AFP

nied the crown for the first time by winning the final with a dramatic 3-2 penalty shootout, after they tied 1-1 in regular and extra time, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The Euro 2020 final witnessed very unfortunate events, which will be recorded as one of the shameful moments in 2021. The final witnessed an attempt by a large number of fans to storm Wembley Stadium to attend the match, without having an entry ticket, which resulted in the arrest of more than 20 people.

CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN Danish star Christian Eriksen suffered a heart attack during the first half of Denmark’s opening match against Finland.

Eriksen suddenly fell unconscious on the field, before doctors quickly intervened to revive him, in a frightening moment that was broadcast on television screens around the world.

The Danish team doctor, Morten Posen, later confirmed that the former Tottenham player “passed away” before being resuscitated.

COPA AMERICA Saudi squash player Nada Abul-Naga. (Photo: Social Media)

fry, 18 years old, who started playing football a decade ago, was only interested in this “round witch.” For Farah, football “is not only a sport to me, it is also my way of life,” she told Majalla in an exclusive interview. Read more; https://bit.ly/3nltgSF Throughout its daily and weekly coverage, Majalla highlighted the most prominent sporting events throughout the year, which was one of the most important;

THE RETURN OF ARAB CUP After a 9-year hiatus, the Arab National Team Championship returned in its tenth edition under the supervision of the International Football Association “FIFA”.

The tournament was held in Qatar between November 30 and December 18, with the participation of 16 Arab teams, and the Algerian team won the title for the first time in its history.

Majalla highlighted the tournament throughout daily reports before and after its start and took sport analysists’ remarks about it; Read more: https://bit.ly/32HvDIM

EURO 2020 Italy won the European Football Cup for the second time in its history after 1968, when England were de-

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Lionel Messi lifted his jinx with the Argentine national team, and led them to the Copa America title at the expense of hosts Brazil 1-0, at Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, to make the best player in the world six times win his first major title with his country.

MESSI LEAVES BARCELONA In August of the year 2021, the star of the Argentine national team and Barcelona club, Lionel Messi, announced his official departure from Barcelona, the only club he had played for throughout his football career.

Messi’s departure from Barcelona came due to the club’s inability to accept a new contract with him due to the financial fair play rules in the Spanish League.

Messi left for the French club Paris Saint-Germain, accompanied by his former colleague in the Catalan-Brazilian team, Neymar da Silva.

SERGIO AGÜERO’S RETIREMENT A heart problem forced Uruguayan star Sergio Agüero to announce his retirement at the age of 33.

The former Manchester City star brought down the curtain on a busy career in the stadiums that lasted for 18 years, during which he scored more than 400 goals.

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What Putin Really Wants in Ukraine Russia Offers US Demands to Stave off Large-scale Conflict in Ukraine Dmitri Trenin

to NATO’s eastern enlargement, a permanent freeze on further expansion of the alliance’s military infrastructure As 2021 came to a close, Russia presented the United (such as bases and weapons systems) in the former Soviet States with a list of demands that it said were necessary to territory, an end to Western military assistance to Ukraine, stave off the possibility of a large-scale military conflict in and a ban on intermediate-range missiles in Europe. The Ukraine. In a draft treaty delivered to a U.S. diplomat in message was unmistakable: if these threats cannot be Moscow, the Russian government asked for a formal halt addressed diplomatically, the Kremlin will have to resort

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Russian President Vladimir Putin. Credit:

to military action.

These concerns were familiar to Western policymakers, who for years have responded by arguing that Moscow does not have a veto over NATO’s decisions and that it has no grounds to demand that the West stop sending weapons to Ukraine. Until recently, Moscow grudgingly acceded to those terms. Now, however, it appears determined to follow through with countermeasures if it doesn’t get its way. That determination was reflected in how it presented the proposed treaty with the United States and a separate agreement with NATO. The tone of both missives was sharp. The West was given just a month to respond, which circumvented the possibility of prolonged and inconclusive talks. And both drafts were published almost immediately after their delivery, a move that was intended to prevent Washington from leaking and spinning the proposal.

If Russian President Vladimir Putin is acting as if he has the upper hand in this standoff, that’s because he does. According to U.S. intelligence services, Russia has nearly 100,000 troops and a great deal of heavy weaponry stationed on the Ukrainian border.

The United States and other NATO countries have condemned Russia’s moves but simultaneously suggested that they will not defend Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, and have limited their threats of retaliation to sanctions.

But Moscow’s demands are probably an opening bid, not an ultimatum. For all its insistence on a formal treaty with the United States, the Russian government no doubt understands that thanks to polarization and gridlock, ratification of any treaty in the U.S. Senate will be all but impossible. An executive agreement— essentially an accord between two governments which does not have to be ratified and thus does not have the status of a law—may therefore be a more realistic alternative. It is also likely that under such an agreement, Russia would assume reciprocal commitments addressing some U.S. concerns so as to create what it calls a “balance of interest.”

Specifically, the Kremlin could be satisfied if the U.S. government agreed to a formal long-term moratorium on expanding NATO and a commitment not to station intermediate-range missiles in Europe. It might also be assuaged by a separate accord between Russia and NATO that would restrict military forces and activity where their territories meet, from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Of course, it is an open question whether the Biden administration is willing to engage seriously with

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If Russian President Vladimir Putin is acting as if he has the upper hand in this standoff, that’s because he does.

Russia. Opposition to any deal will be high in the United States because of domestic political polarization and the fact that striking a deal with Putin opens the Biden administration to criticism that it is caving to an autocrat. Opposition will also be high in Europe, where leaders will feel that a negotiated settlement between Washington and Moscow leaves them on the sidelines.

These are all serious issues. But it’s crucial to note that Putin has presided over four waves of NATO enlargement and has had to accept Washington’s withdrawal from treaties governing anti-ballistic missiles, intermediate-range nuclear forces, and unarmed observation aircraft. For him, Ukraine is the last stand. The Russian commander-in-chief is supported by his security and military establishments and, despite the Russian public’s fear of a war, faces no domestic opposition to his foreign policy. Most importantly, he cannot afford to be seen bluffing.

Biden was right not to reject Russia’s demands out of hand and to favor engagement instead.

PUTIN’S REDLINES There is significant asymmetry in the importance the West and Russia ascribe to Ukraine. The West did extend the prospect of NATO membership to the country in 2008, but without a formal timetable for admittance. After 2014—when Russia took over Crimea from Ukraine and began supporting proRussian militants in the country’s Donbas region — it became difficult to see how the U.S. government would allow Ukraine to join NATO. After all, there would be little public support in the United States for deploying troops to fight for Ukraine. Washington is saddled with a promise to Kyiv that both sides know it cannot keep. Russia, by contrast, treats Ukraine as a vital national security interest and has professed its readiness to use military force if that interest is threatened. This openness to committing troops and geographic proximity to Ukraine give Moscow an

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advantage over the United States and its allies.

This does not mean a Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent. Despite the Western media’s predilection for depicting Putin as reckless, he is in fact cautious and calculating, particularly when it comes to the use of force. Putin is not risk-averse—operations in Chechnya, Crimea, and Syria are proof of that—but in his mind, the benefit must outweigh the cost. He won’t invade Ukraine simply because of its leaders’ Western orientations.

That said, there are some scenarios that could prod the Kremlin to dispatch troops to Ukraine. In 2018, Putin publicly declared that a Ukrainian attempt to regain territory in the Donbas region by force would unleash a military response. There is historical precedence for this: in 2008, Russia responded militarily to a Georgian attack on the breakaway republic of South Ossetia. Another Russian redline is Ukraine’s accession to NATO or the placement of Western military bases and long-range weapons systems on its territory. Putin will never yield on this point. For now, however, there is almost no support from the United States and other NATO members for letting Ukraine join the alliance. In early December 2021, U.S. State Department officials told Ukraine that NATO membership for that country is unlikely to be approved in the next decade.

If NATO were to build up its forces in the eastern member states, that could further militarize the new dividing line in Europe running along the western borders of Russia and Belarus. Russia could be provoked into placing more short-range missiles in Kaliningrad—the noncontiguous, westernmost part of Russia that is sandwiched between Poland and

If NATO were to build up its forces in the eastern member states, that could further militarize the new dividing line in Europe running along the western borders of Russia and Belarus.

Lithuania. A closer military alliance with Belarus could put even more pressure on Ukraine. Moscow could also recognize the self-proclaimed “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk and integrate them into a new geopolitical entity with Russia and Belarus.

The geopolitical implications of these developments could reverberate beyond Europe. To counter more drastic Western economic and financial sanctions, either in anticipation of a Russian incursion into Ukraine or as a consequence of it, Moscow may need to lean on Beijing, which also finds itself under increasing U.S. pressure. Presidents Putin and Xi Jinping are already discussing financial mechanisms to protect their countries from U.S. sanctions. In that case, Putin’s scheduled visit to China for the Winter Olympics in February 2022 might turn out to be more than a courtesy call. The United States could then see the current Chinese-Russian entente turning into a tighter alliance. Economic, technological, financial, and military cooperation between the two powers would reach new levels.

BLAME GAME Putin’s threat to resort to force comes from his frustration with a stalled diplomatic process. The Kremlin’s effort to entice Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to strike a deal on Donbas— which seemed promising as recently as late 2019— came to naught. Zelensky, who won the presidency in a landslide running as a peace candidate, is an exceptionally erratic leader. His decision to use armed drones in Donbas in 2021 ratcheted up tensions with Moscow at a time when Ukraine could not afford to provoke its neighbor.

It’s not just Ukrainian leadership that Moscow sees as problematic. France and Germany have flubbed efforts to strike a diplomatic resolution to the RussiaUkraine stalemate. The Europeans, who were the guarantors of the Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015 that were supposed to bring peace to the region, had little success pushing the Ukrainians to strike a deal.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, then foreign minister, could not even get Kyiv to accept a compromise that would have allowed for elections in the Donbas region. Last November, the Russians went so far as to publish private diplomatic correspondence

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Pro-Russian separatists from the Chechen “Death” battalion walk during a training exercise in the territory controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, eastern Ukraine, December ,8 2014. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

between their foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and his French and German counterparts to demonstrate how the Western powers fully sided with Ukrainian government’s stance.

And although the focus in the West has been on the Russian troop buildup near the Ukrainian border, this came as NATO countries expanded their military activities in the Black Sea region and in Ukraine.

In June, a British destroyer sailed through territorial waters off Crimea, which London does not recognize as belonging to Russia, provoking the Russians to fire in its direction. In November, a U.S. strategic bomber flew within 13 miles of the Russian border in the Black Sea region, infuriating Putin. As tensions rose, Western military advisers, instructors, arms, and ammunition poured into Ukraine. Russians also suspect that a training center the United Kingdom is constructing in Ukraine is in fact a foreign military base. Putin is particularly adamant that deploying U.S. missiles in Ukraine that can reach Moscow in five to seven minutes cannot and will not be tolerated.

For Russia, the escalating military threats were unmistakable. In his articles and speeches, Putin may emphasize the unity of the Russian and Ukrainian peoples, but what he cares most about is preventing

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NATO expansion in Ukraine. Consider what he said in March 2014 after sending forces into Crimea in response to the overthrow of Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yanukovych. “I simply cannot imagine that we would travel to Sevastopol to visit NATO sailors,” he said of the famous Russian naval base in Crimea.

“Of course, most of them are wonderful guys, but it would be better to have them come and visit us, be our guests, rather than the other way round.”

Putin’s actions suggest that his true goal is not to conquer Ukraine and absorb it into Russia but to change the post-Cold War setup in Europe’s east. That setup left Russia as a rule-taker without much say in European security, which was centered on NATO. If he manages to keep NATO out of Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova, and U.S. intermediate-range missiles out of Europe, he thinks he could repair part of the damage Russia’s security sustained after the Cold War ended. Not coincidentally, that could serve as a useful record to run on in 2024, when Putin would be up for re-election. ©2021 Council on Foreign Relations, publisher of Foreign Affairs. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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How to Make COVID - 19 Vaccines Available to All

Expanding and Diversifying the Manufacturing Capacity for Equitable Jab Distribution

By Prashant Yadav At first glance, it may seem as if the world will soon have more than enough COVID19- vaccines. Manufacturers have produced approximately ten billion individual doses since states began approving inoculations in the middle of 2020. Based on current estimates, they are now capable of making 12 billion doses each year. The World Health Organization has approved ten vaccines; multiple countries, such as Russia, have approved several more; and plenty of additional vaccines are still in development.

This scale-up in production—from zero to ten billion in less than one and a half years—is a remarkable feat, one never seen before in biological manufacturing. But as impressive as this accomplishment is, it will still be insufficient. The first reason for this is well known: dose allocation across countries is extraordinarily uneven. Over 70 percent of the COVID19vaccines produced in 2021 were bought by high- and uppermiddle-income countries. Less than one percent, by contrast, have gone to low-income ones. The results speak for themselves.

Some rich countries, such as Portugal, have fully vaccinated close to or more than 80 percent of their residents. Meanwhile,

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A very large booster shot location world Forum in The Hague, Netherlands, on December 24, 2021.

A GGD employee puts a booster shot with Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and then they have to wait 15 minutes in the waiting room. Photo by Robin Utrecht/ABACAPRESS.COM

many poor countries, including Nigeria, have vaccinated less than two percent of their people.

But it is not just a problem of aggregate distribution.

The world may appear to have lots of vaccines, but only 27 percent of them are messenger RNA (mRNA) shots, which train the body to make the protein that allows COVID19- to infect cells and then the antibodies that fight it off. And so far, these are the vaccines that appear able to prevent people from becoming sick with the new, very contagious Omicron variant. These more effective and adaptable vaccines are even more concentrated in rich states than are shots overall.

Omicron’s rapid and sudden emergence highlights the uncertainties in the pandemic’s trajectory. It is possible that the world will need another round of vaccines, further straining supply and encouraging high-income countries to continue stockpiling doses. To prevent such an outcome, wealthy countries, multilateral development banks, and global health agencies will need to expand mRNA manufacturing in regions and countries that have little to no capacity. Doing that would increase overall supply and make it more difficult for a small collection of nations to hoard most doses. It would help distribute mRNA vaccines around the world, lowering prices and making shots more accessible to everyone. And in the long term, more dispersed manufacturing could help countries produce non-COVID19- inoculations, protecting the world against other diseases—and better preparing it for the next pandemic.

BREAKING THROUGH THE BOTTLENECKS Of all the COVID19- vaccines delivered in the United States, the overwhelming majority—roughly 95 percent— are mRNA vaccines: Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. It is a statistic that stands in sharp contrast to the rest of the planet.

Globally, over 43 percent of the COVID19- vaccines produced in 2021 were made by Sinopharm and Sinovac using inactivated viruses. Nearly a quarter were produced by the University of Oxford-AstraZeneca, relying on viral vectors. Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, an outright majority of all U.S. supplies, make up just over 20 percent of the world’s arsenal. Moderna, over a third of what the United States has received, constitutes a little over 5 percent of the planet’s production.

There is nothing inherently wrong with having large supplies of non-mRNA vaccines, which all do a good job of preventing severe disease and death. States should certainly take and distribute these doses if they are the ones they can quickest access. But unfortunately, studies in the lab and in the real world on the Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants showed that both viral vector vaccines and inactivated virus vaccines are not as effective as PfizerBioNTech and Moderna. As a result, many countries that previously administered Sinopharm, Sinovac, and Oxford-

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Omicron’s rapid and sudden emergence highlights the uncertainties in the pandemic’s trajectory. It is possible that the world will need another round of vaccines, further straining supply and encouraging high-income countries to continue stockpiling doses.

AstraZeneca have switched to mRNA shots for boosters.

If early results on the efficacy of shots against Omicron hold true in larger studies, there will be an even stronger demand for mRNA vaccines around the world. But many countries will struggle to gain access to these shots.

Right now, almost all mRNA vaccines are manufactured in Europe and the United States. For vaccine production as a whole, capacity is highly concentrated in China, the European Union, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The clustering of manufacturing creates a series of challenges. It provides vaccine-producing states, for instance, with undue international influence by giving them the power to use vaccines as a tool of trade and diplomacy. It also means that if countries with large production facilities institute export restrictions so they can vaccinate their own residents first, as India did in March 2021, countries without manufacturing networks may find themselves paralyzed.

To make distribution more equitable, companies must build mRNA vaccine production sites around the world.

They should focus especially on Africa and Latin America—two regions that have mostly been excluded from COVID19- vaccine manufacturing (and vaccine supply chains generally). Manufacturers should, in particular, add production capacity in small states, such as Costa Rica, Panama, Rwanda, Senegal, and Singapore.

Greater dispersion would help minimize the costs of vaccine nationalism. Even if these countries offered doses for their own populations before exporting to others, they would fulfill their domestic needs relatively quickly.

Thankfully, vaccine makers—including mRNA manufacturers—are taking steps to build capacity in such places. Pfizer-BioNTech has announced manufacturing partnerships in Argentina, Rwanda, and South Africa.

Moderna has announced plans to build a facility in Africa, although the location and other details are not yet available.

Johnson & Johnson and Oxford-AstraZeneca already have

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set up multiple manufacturing sites globally. Singapore has attracted a slate of vaccine manufacturing investments in the last 18 months, including from Pfizer-BioNTech, Merck, and Sanofi. Gennova, an Indian company, has set up its own domestic manufacturing plant and is developing an mRNA vaccine.

But right now, these factories won’t come online fast enough to meet the expected demand for variant-tailored doses. To speed up the process, the G20- countries should provide new vaccine production sites with financing and technical help. They should also facilitate the flow of equipment and critical raw materials. Finally, major economies must push manufacturers to build more such facilities, offering assistance if needed.

KNOWN UNKNOWNS Much is uncertain about the future of the pandemic, including what new variants might emerge, how effective different types of vaccines will be against them, and whether companies will be able to produce new, customtailored vaccines in response. But in most future scenarios, the world will need more manufacturing capacity for mRNA vaccines, which (in theory) are much simpler to adapt and reformulate than the competition. In the coming months, countries should also consider establishing plants for protein-based COVID19- vaccines, the first of which— produced by Novavax—was just approved by the European Union and the World Health Organization. Protein-based shots cannot be retooled as quickly as mRNA vaccines, and it is unclear if they will be as effective against new variants. But like mRNA vaccines, protein-based shots use production systems that are simpler than those deployed by viral vector shots. Unlike mRNA vaccines, proteinbased shots are not technologically new; the world’s manufacturers have more required technical experience

The clustering of manufacturing creates a series of challenges.

It provides vaccine-producing states, for instance, with undue international influence by giving them the power to use vaccines as a tool of trade and diplomacy.

and capacity for production.

Yet to build manufacturing sites that will be useful in the long term, it isn’t enough for countries to build facilities that can produce the kinds of shots needed right now. Companies and governments must construct manufacturing sites that are themselves flexible, so that they can easily switch from making one vaccine to another. The goal is for facilities to be able to quickly start producing different kinds of COVID19- shots or even move from making COVID19- vaccines to routine immunizations. Sanofi’s proposed production facility in Singapore offers one possible template. The site would have digital infrastructure and equipment capabilities that allow for quick changeovers, thereby enabling the site to toggle between three or four different types of vaccines. The proposed mRNA site in Rwanda would be a highly modular manufacturing unit, which should shorten the construction period and make it easier to reconfigure individual components if and when needed.

Adaptability has its downsides. Flexible facilities could have higher operating and capital expenses compared with dedicated plants that produce extremely large volumes of one product. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; the World Bank; and the other multilateral institutions that finance vaccinations—such as the Asian Development Bank— will need to accept slightly higher prices from these new manufacturing sites as a premium for resilience and flexibility. Wealthy countries should also consider offering large, low-interest loans and grants to new facilities so

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In this file photo taken on December 15, 2021: The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine awaits administration at a vaccination clinic in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)

In this file photo taken on December 15, 2021: The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine awaits administration at a vaccination clinic in Los Angeles, California.

(Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) A doctor vaccinates a young woman with Moderna›s mRNA vaccine at the Dresden State Art Collections in Dresden, Germany, Dec. 18, 2021.

The vaccination rate in Saxony is the lowest in Germany. (Daniel Schaefer/dpa via AP)

that they can be cost competitive from the start. In the long term, flexible sites may actually have financial and risk advantages over single-use sites, since they can more easily adjust to the world’s needs.

It will take time to get the new sites running. Vaccine manufacturing is a complex task that requires the right equipment, workforce, quality-control systems, and inputs. The learning curve for mRNA manufacturing sites, which employ new technologies, will be especially steep. But recent contract manufacturers for Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech were able to set up secondary sites in six to eight months, showing that with the right incentives and resources, building new facilities is achievable within a reasonable time frame. The United States and other G20- countries could help expedite the process by having their biologics-manufacturing scientists to provide technical assistance and by offering financial support. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and the International Finance Corporation have already made some investments in additional manufacturing in India, Senegal, and South Africa. These efforts should be expanded and accelerated to bolster production capacity for currently approved mRNA vaccines, second-generation mRNA vaccines, and protein-based vaccines.

Unequal vaccination coverage cannot be magically fixed by creating more equitable manufacturing capacity.

To tackle this problem, governments, international institutions, and businesses must take concerted action to improve vaccine deployment, cold chain capacity, and the

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Vaccine manufacturing is a complex task that requires the right equipment, workforce, quality-control systems, and inputs. The learning curve for mRNA manufacturing sites, which employ new technologies, will be especially steep. supply of ancillary goods, such as syringes. National and community leaders will need to combat misinformation and encourage hesitant residents to actually get shots. But by expanding and diversifying vaccine-manufacturing capacity, the world could increase vaccine supply and improve distribution, better safeguarding the planet from infections. The wealthiest countries and companies have a responsibility to help the world as it moves through the Greek alphabet of COVID19- variants and as it contends with whatever illnesses come next.

This article was originally published by Foreign Affairs.

P

olitics

Taxing the Rich When Socialists Collide with an Oligarch

By Majalla - Washington The centuries-old debate in the US about taxing the rich for the benefit of the poor and for maintaining a fair society, reached its climax last week when Elon Musk, the richest man on earth (almost $300 billion worth) clashed with Senator Elizabeth Warren, a progressive leader in the Democratic Party.

There was more than one irony: first, Time magazine had just named Musk as the “Person of the Year,” and second, NASA, the government agency for space exploration, had earlier selected Musk’s SpaceX Corporation as a partner in the exploration. During this year, SpaceX had made great strides developing the Starship, a rocket that promises to revolutionize space travel, bringing both the moon and Mars within reach of astronauts. Most of the launched rockets deployed Starlink communication satellites that the company hoped will provide internet communications across the planet.

The Falcon 9 rockets launched both crew and cargo aboard the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. One Crew Dragon, the Inspiration4, sent a civilian crew into low Earth orbit to raise funds for St. Jude’s Children’s Cancer Research Hospital.

However, during the year some experiments on the Starship rocket ended with failure: one crashed on landing, another exploded in midair and a third exploded on landing. But, in the end, a Starship flew and landed intact.

On the other hand, Musk has had his share of criticism and controversies: he was sued by a government agency for presenting false information about one of his other companies, electric car-maker Tesla, and was forced to temporarily resign as the company chairman; he was also sued by another government agency for violating technical laws about his electronic cars; he was warned by Twitter company for spreading false information about Coronavirus; and he was connected to Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire who committed suicide in jail last year after being arrested for participating, with some other celebrities, in having sex with underage girls.

Musk’s fierce enemy, Senator Warren was a law professor before she entered politics, and has been representing Massachusetts since 2013. A progressive, she has focused on consumer

protection, economic opportunity, and the social safety net. She has been highly critical of former president Donald Trump.

And in 2017, she introduced in the Senate “The Presidential Conflicts of Interest Act” about Trump corruption, but the bill didn’t find enough supporters in the Senate.

She had been against outsourcing, low wages for the average worker, high drug prices, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) because of its strict policies against illegal immigrants.

On the other hand, Warren had her share of controversies. Her claim that she had Native American blood led to accusations of exploitation and to mockery — Trump called her “Pocahontas” in reference to a historical Native American woman.

Following are excerpts of Musk’s and Warren’s opposing opinions, from each side’s tweets, websites and statements to the media:

WARREN: TAX THE RICH “Let’s change the rigged tax code so ‘The Person of the Year’ will actually pay taxes and stop freeloading off everyone else…

Mr. Musk has been a freeloading billionaire … and a severe wealth tax should be imposed on him, without paying attention to his whining like a baby ...

It has been long overdue time to change the rigged tax code, so that the richest man in the world, and his fellow billionaires and millionaires must contribute to the well-being of the country that has been protecting their investments, allowing them to play around the tax codes and giving them the benefit of the doubt …

Mr. Musk is a capitalist exploiter who must be made to pay his fair share of taxes…

Because birds of the same feather flock together, here is Mr. Musk becoming a star on Fox News, with on-air personalities singing Mr. Musk’s praises on their shows …

I want everyone to know that I am not the only senator that Mr. Musk has been attacking and insulting. He previously tweeted a sex insult at Senator Ron Wyden, the chair of the Senate finance committee. The Senator’s fault was that he had criticized Mr. Musk for using Twitter to pressure the Senator to sell 10% of the Senator’s Tesla electric cars stocks …

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Elon Musk /File Photo

Elizabeth Warren. Credit: Reuters

In 2018, Mr. Musk paid nothing in federal income taxes. That caught the attention of the people who have been pushing for more equitable taxes on America’s highest earners. It has not been only me who is mad at Mr. Musk; millions of Americans are mad, and are seeking for a fair tax system ...

During the summer, nonprofit news outlet ProPublica released a bombshell investigation into just how much America’s wealthiest people pay in taxes. According to ProPublica’s reporting, Mr. Musk saw his wealth grow by $14 billion from 2014 to 2018 — but he paid just $455 million in taxes...

And, in 2018, Mr. Musk paid no federal income tax, according to ProPublica. When the outlet attempted to reach him for comment, he texted back with “?”...

During this year, SpaceX had made great strides developing the Starship, a rocket that promises to revolutionize space travel, bringing both the moon and Mars within reach of astronauts.

MUSK: MORE TAXES THAN ANYONE

me so as to collect contributions for her political campaign.

She bought ads against me on Facebook, and asked people who agreed with her to contribute to her campaign.

“No naturalized American has contributed to his adopted country like I have been [he is originally from South Africa] …

I have saved NASA, the military and commercial customers tens of billions of dollars through development of my reusable Falcon 9 rocket ...

I am glad to declare that I will pay a total of $11 billion in taxes for this year, and I believe that has been a national duty I should always abide by, although I could have argued that the $11 billion would be better spent on more technology innovation -- and not on wasteful government programs like the ones that Senator Warren has been pushing throughout the years …

Anyhow, I will pay more taxes than any American in history this year …

Why hasn’t Senator Warren been appreciative of my attempts to make the world a better place, and has only been pointing to taxes? I believe that she has launched this campaign against

Senator Warren reminds me of when I was a kid and my friend’s angry mom would just randomly yell at everyone for no reason … Senator Warren should be named ‘Senator Karen’ [a woman addicted to complaining] ...

I want everyone to know that it was not only Senator Warren who has been attacking me. I just read a tweet from Senator Bernie Sanders saying that the wealthy should ‘pay their fair share.’ I keep forgetting that he is still alive, an old man at the edge of the grave …

Like I wrote on Twitter earlier, I am going to pay $11 billion for this year. But those progressive Democrat Senators, like Warren and Sanders, are advancing in the Senate an extreme tax bill that would make me pay $50 billion. Apparently, those progressives run out of other people’s money and then they come for me ...”

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o

pinion

Contemplations on the Situation in the Middle East

By: Tarek Heggy

The rise of Shiite Islamic fundamentalism to rule Iran coincided with the formation of Sunni Islamic fundamentalist movements in most Islamic societies, including the “Sahwa” movement

In 1979, Khomeini returned (from Paris) to Tehran and established the theocratic state (governed by divine guidance), marking one of the worst events in the Middle East in the past thousand years, especially that the world by then had gotten rid of this kind of rule and rulers.

That step had many repercussions, including the reaction in Sunni Muslim societies, which I will summarize as follows: The rise of Shiite Islamic fundamentalism to rule Iran coincided with the formation of Sunni Islamic fundamentalist movements in most Islamic societies, including the “Sahwa” movement.

When the plan to empower the Muslim Brotherhood to rule Egypt had failed, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates confronted the expansion of the Brotherhood, which was supported by several Western parties, a wave of change took place in Saudi Arabia against fundamentalism and in favor of modernity. This change succeeded in aborting the scenario of the growth of Sunni Islamic fundamentalism that ignited the events of the so-called Arab Spring, which seemed to drag the Sunni Muslim majority communities towards this chaos.

Despite the current bloody events in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, there are some reasons to be optimistic. These include the Egyptian, Saudi and Emirati roles,

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the Brotherhood’s failure to establish a fundamentalist (theocratic) rule in Syria, Libya and Tunisia and the positive possibilities of the expected scenario in Sudan.

I reiterate that the experiences of Kemal Ataturk in Turkey and Habib Bourguiba in Tunisia teach us (or should teach us) that “modernizing societies with superior decisions and orders” will always be highly vulnerable to setbacks, as happened in Turkey and Tunisia by the two fundamentalists, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Rached Ghannouchi.

Countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE must realize that the alternative that guarantees sustainability and success is to lay the foundations for the modernity of their societies through modern educational curriculums.

I recite a question I have repeatedly asked during sessions in which I have been invited to speak in several European parliaments, including the British House of Commons, the British House of Lords, the Italian House of Representatives and the Australian parliament.

The question is, “In which European country has modernity been achieved and its values propagated by superior orders?”

I did not say that modernity and democracy are not important, but I said that democracy is the result of societal de-

velopments. It is not artificial rain that falls by superficial decisions.

Modernity and its values are the supreme goal of all my intellectual and cultural activities since the publication of my first book 44 years ago. However, I do not believe in achieving modernity and rooting its values through superior political decisions. Instead, it could be attained by providing a political vision that seeks to modernize societies by introducing modern educational systems that result produce citizens who are willing to develop and believes in the values of modernity.

Speaking of the Middle East region, I could say that its current situation is very complex and conflicting.

The situations in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen are very worrying, mainly due to the imperialist Iranian presence in these countries.

The conditions in Jordan, Algeria and Morocco are “almost stable,” with clear historical statics.

The situation is Tunisia is not stable. It could either develop or worsen.

There is cautious optimism in Sudan.

Libya’s fate will be determined by mid2022, while Qatar could be described as “a very special case.”

I remain optimistic about the future of paths of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, as well as that of the Sultanate of Oman.

I deliberately avoided to mention the Palestinian-Israeli and the Arab-Israeli issues in this contemplative view on the Middle East region, as it is impossible to address them briefly.

To read more articles by Tarek Heggy, visit the following website: http://www. tarek-heggy.com

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Countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE must realize that the alternative that guarantees sustainability and success is to lay the foundations for the modernity of their societies through modern educational curriculums.

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ociety

Syria’s Women Farmers: We Work between Landmines, Near Front Lines They Called through Majalla for Additional Training Centers for Women to Find Decent Work Opportunities By: Jiwan Soz Qamishli- Syrian women’s work in the agricultural sector across the country is not a new phenomenon. They have been working in harvesting agricultural crops, such as cotton, lentils, beans and olives, for years. However, the war

that erupted in March 2011 in the country and followed popular protests demanding the overthrow of Bashar alAssad, President of the Syrian regime, increased the number of women working in the fields and orchards where citrus and vegetables are grown. Their numbers are high in the countryside of Lattakia, Tartous, Aleppo, Raqqa, Hasaka, Idlib and other rural areas.

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Several women who work in olive picking in the countryside of Idlib governorate, north of the country, said that their work, along with cleaning their farms from weeds have become the only way to provide them with livelihood to support their families.

It is noteworthy that Idlib falls under the control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), which is alQaeda’s arm in Syria.

These women receive their wages in Turkish lira after areas of northern Syria run by Turkish-backed opposition groups switched to the lira as the main currency last year, replacing the massively devalued Syrian pound.

The salary of one female worker is between 15 and 20 Turkish liras per day, which is equivalent to about $1.5, according to the official exchange rate of the Turkish lira, which has been recently devaluing.

“Women in our areas used to work in olive farms owned only by their own families. But after the displacement of people from one town to another due to the war, women were forced to work on other people’s farms to support their families, especially those who had lost their husbands,” another woman told Majalla.

The war forced Syrian women to work in various fields.

“The number of working women has actually increased, leading to a decrease in their wages, especially that many farms were burned, causing imbalance in the number of workers compared to the demand for labor,” she added.

According to this woman, who picks olives and clears her farms of weeds, men also work in this field, but she noticed that they are much less than women. She heads a work team consisting of dozens of women, and she agrees with the farm owners on their wages and work time. She receives a percentage from their daily wages for providing them with a job opportunity.

There are dozens of olive farms in Idlib province and the Kurdish-majority Syrian city of Afrin. However, the military confrontations in these two areas has resulted in the burning of thousands of hectares in which olive, pistachio and pomegranate trees were planted.

In addition, armed groups that support Turkey and oppose Assad took control of the olive farms and orchards whose owners had fled the area.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said looting olive farms and their crops have become frequent in Afrin and its countryside since the Turkish army and the armed groups supporting it took control

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Several women who work in olive picking in the countryside of Idlib governorate, north of the country, said that their work, along with cleaning their farms from weeds have become the only way to provide them with livelihood to support their families. over the city in northwestern Syria in March 2018.

Pro-Turkey armed groups cut down trees and sell them as firewood, the war monitor added, confirming what local residents told Majalla.

A Kurdish man from Afrin said that pro-Turkish gunmen seized 50 of his olive trees and prevented him from harvesting their crops, and they did the same with some of his relatives as well.

Pro-Ankara groups also took over some olive presses and prevented their owners from working in them, the SOHR reported.

In other areas in Syria, women farmers face great challenges. Some of them work on the military front lines between the Syrian regime forces and their opponents, as is the case in the countryside of Hama and Aleppo.

Others work in farms on the front lines between the Turkish army and the US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), putting the workers’ lives at risk.

A young woman from the countryside of the city of Manbij, north of Aleppo, said that working in agriculture is the only way to secure her daily livelihood, especially since she didn’t complete her middle school education.

Confrontations taking place near her workplace seems to have become a normal thing for her.

“Many people were killed and others were wounded after liberating this area from ISIS as a result of the explosion

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ociety

of mines that the organization had planted in agricultural lands, and that is why death and armed conflicts became common,” she told Majalla.

According to this woman and other workers in the crop fields, they work during all seasons since many of the crops in their areas are seasonal, so there is a need for female workers all the time, especially when picking olives, cotton, beans, lentils, onions, and citrus fruits.

They are paid 500 Syrian pounds for every working day, which is equivalent to less than 25 cents.

In other areas in Syria, women farmers face great challenges.

Some of them work on the military front lines between the Syrian regime forces and their opponents, as is the case in the countryside of Hama and Aleppo.

She called on local authorities to open training centers for women in decent professions such as sewing, embroidery and other professions that do not require academic studies to improve the situation of Syrian women and prevent them from engaging in hard work.

“I work from dawn to sunset for a very low wage,” she said, stressing that whoever objects is asked by the “shawish” to leave the workplace.

The shawish is the person who supervises the work of the female workers in agriculture and receives a higher wage without working like them in the field. He is also the one who agrees with the landlord on the number of female workers and the number of working days.

A young Syrian woman farmer in the city of Raqqa told Majalla that since liberating the city from ISIS, working in agriculture has become the only job opportunity for its residents.

“The terror group destroyed the city and displaced its residents, leading to the suspension of various industrial and service projects. Therefore, we have no choice but to work in agriculture, a profession that is not restricted to women only, but also to men.”

“Agriculture in the city of Raqqa and its countryside has always been a major source of income for the people. But after most of the men and youth emigrated due to the lack

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Syrian women work in agricultural fields for low wages.

Syrian women demand training centers to get decent work.

(Photos by Rudy Tahlo)

of job opportunities, this profession has become a main source of income for women,” she explained.

Despite this, working in farms alone hardly secures their livelihood, she noted, stating that in addition to her work in the fields, she relies on some of the money that her brother sends to her family from his work in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region.

Working in agricultural fields and farms is almost the only profession accepted by the community in Raqqa, she stressed, noting that its residents mainly belong to various clans, and this is why the demand for work in farms is high in light of the lack of job opportunities in other fields.

It is noteworthy that local and international organizations have repeatedly called for improving the conditions of Syrian women working in the crop fields and preventing them from working in places where mines were planted or near the front lines.

But poverty forces most of them to work in these conditions, according to what they told Majalla.

The landmines planted have indeed killed dozens of women. In 2021, 13 Syrian women were killed in central Syria after mines exploded where they were searching for the “truffle” crop, which grows in uninhabited and uncultivated areas.

It is also not safe for women to work in agricultural fields

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in areas under the control of the opposition, as they work on the front lines between the regime forces and the opposition in areas that are constantly bombed, which makes working in such conditions similar to committing suicide.

On March 12, a woman was killed and two were injured in agricultural fields in a town located in the southern countryside of Idlib after the regime forces bombed the area.

Seventy percent of all workers in Syria are women, AlWatan, the semi-governmental Syrian newspaper has recently quoted Jamal al-Qadiri, the Secretary-General of the regime’s International Federation of Arab Trade Unions, as saying. This statistic dates back to early 2021.

The rate of women working in different sectors in the country has increased after dozens of women lost their husbands or family members in the ongoing decade-long war. They work in professions that are not rejected by society, such as agricultural fields and farms.

Civil society organizations that were established after the war have contributed to providing small projects in various fields, including agriculture, for women to be able to work.

These projects are mainly implemented in rural areas where agriculture is almost the only source of income.

They also contributed to the increase in the number of working women in the areas where non-governmental civil society organizations are active.

E

conomy

A Challenging Year for Saudi Economic Recovery

Main Highlights of Economic Diversification, Green Initiative and Boosting Investment

By Motasem Al Felou After the 2020 outbreak of COVID19- that caused a breakdown to the global economy, the beginning of year 2021 brought hope to people across the world with the launch of vaccination campaigns. The real challenge was to go back to “normal” and start the

recovery process, which was not easy. Year 2021 was much better that 2020, economically speaking.

Majalla covered the most significant Saudi economic developments that took place last year from an analytical point of view. The recovery of oil prices has enabled the Kingdom to continue its public spending and launch

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megaprojects in preparation for the post-oil era.

PIF: THE BIGGEST SAUDI INVESTOR

Cars drive past the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 2017 ,12.

REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser

Saudi Arabia has worked hard to go ahead with its economic diversification plan according to the Kingdom Vision 2030. The Public Investment Fund, the investment arm of the Saudi government, invested USD 40 billion in the local Saudi market. The Kingdom launched several muti-billion dollar megaprojects including: The Line, a smart city being built in NEOM along 170 km without streets, cars or carbon emissions; Oxagon, an eight-sided floating industrial city northwest of the Kingdom; Jeddah Downtown, a USD 20 billion megadevelopment to create a modern downtown in Jeddah; and, The Rig, a new tourism project inspired by an offshore oil platform. There are other projects and developments with all being financed by PIF. The PIF investments focused on value-adding, innovative projects that exist only in Saudi such as The Rig and Oxagon. The decision-makers are accelerating the process to make the Kingdom a hub for the green economy as well as investments, arts, tourism and innovation.

NON-OIL ECONOMY PROSPECTS Saudi business angels and venture capitals were rising stars in financing fresh startups. Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC), a publicly owned company established in 2018, is investing three-quarter billion USD to support the entrepreneurial financing lines.

The Kingdom continued working hard to turn itself into a global hub for the camel industry with more than 1.4 million camels that made the country rank 3rd globally in the number of camels after the Sudan and Somalia. It held camel festivals and encouraged more investments for camel meat and milk production.

New laws were issued to boost the local mining sector.

The mineral wealth that lies underground is estimated at USD 1.3 trillion. More 690 mining companies, both local and global, were licensed in 2021, raising the total number of mining companies to around 2000.

Majalla called it “Saudi Arabia’s Hidden Wealth for

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The recovery of oil prices has enabled the Kingdom to continue its public spending and launch megaprojects in preparation for the post-oil era.

Post-Oil Era.” Majalla highlighted countryside tourism and cash crops in the Kingdom. More Saudis are turning to local tourism as more farmers are opening their farms for visitors to enjoy the countryside life at reasonable prices, away from the noise of cities. Organic and cash crop farmers have received government subsidies to produce quality food locally.

The taxing system was enhanced with the launch of e-invoicing and digital linking to fight tax evasion and avoidance in order to enhance the collection and revenues.

To speed up privatization, the National Infrastructure Fund was launched with a total capital of USD 53 billion. The Fund is set to provide credit facilities and partnerships to attract more investments in the infrastructure sector.

BOOSTING BANKING SECTOR The Saudi banking community welcomed more competitors including Standard Chartered Bank, a British banking and financial services company founded in 1969, and the National Bank of Iraq (NBA), an Iraqi bank established in 1995, raising the total number of foreign licensed banks to 19. This comes as part of Saudi endeavors to make the Kingdom a competitive banking hub.

The next big players in the Saudi banking scene are digital banks. Fahad Al Mubarak, Governor of the Saudi Central Bank, announced the Kingdom’s intention to license more digital banks. STC Bank and the Saudi Digital Bank (SDB) were licensed in 2021 and are expected to begin operations this year.

E

conomy

The 5 Biggest Business Moments of 2021

From NFTs to SPACs, Some Major Business Events that Shook Up the World This Year

By Steven I. Weiss Covid-19 didn’t stop disrupting business in

2021, but for many small business owners, this was the year they’re company rebounded from the pandemic in a big way. Large amounts of business activity came back online for the first time since March 2020, leading to widespread revenue growth and

increased merger and acquisition activity.

Here are five major business moments that stood out in 2021.

REGULATION CROWDFUNDING CHANGE “Back in the old days,” we’ll tell future small business owners, “a founder could only raise

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$1.07 million in crowdfunding in a single year.” A long-anticipated change to the SEC’s rules for Regulation Crowdfunding nearly quintupled that, to $5 million, in March. Solid seed-stage rounds can now be raised entirely without VC funds and large angel investors.

Already, we can see some companies raising beyond the old cap on crowdfunding sites like Republic, where Sugarfina has raised more than $2.5 million from more than 1,400 investors in its current campaign.

SPACS HIT THE BIG TIME

NFT art in Hong Kong, China. Getty Images

A potentially easier but often more expensive way to offer stock to the public through a kind of reverse merger, Special Purpose Acquisition Companies have been around for a very long time, but hit a new level of popularity over the past year, with wellknown companies taking that route to investor exits. Some of the biggest names included the genetic-testing company 23andMe, going public in June through a SPAC sponsored by billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.

Other big names to go the SPAC route in recent months include WeWork and Buzzfeed.

NFTS GROW IN VALUE NFTs were more theory than virtual reality heading into 2021, but an explosion in market value for many crypto assets saw Non-Fungible Tokens blow up. Much of the value created so far is tied to receipts claiming ownership of digital images, and critics are referring to it as the latest tulip-mania, as what’s been termed “the right-click brigade” keeps pointing out that they can simply download and “own” the digital image in all but blockchain recognition. That skepticism hasn’t stopped the artist Beeple from seeing his work garner $69 million in an auction at Christie’s.

THE REDDIT CROWD FIGHTS BACK IN THE PUBLIC MARKETS It started with Gamestop, then added AMC, Nokia and a bunch more. The Reddit group

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A potentially easier but often more expensive way to offer stock to the public through a kind of reverse merger, Special Purpose Acquisition Companies have been around for a very long time, but hit a new level of popularity over the past year, with well-known companies taking that route to investor exits.

WallStreetBets targeted short-sellers and spawned an industry-wide discussion of “meme stocks” to shift the markets. Many market observers were surprised that a group of retail investors could gather in such size and uniformity, to alter companies’ trajectories across many billions of dollars in market capitalization. Industry insiders now have something else to worry about whenever they decide to take a significant position that rubs the Reddit crowd the wrong way. And their moves have proven surprisingly sustainable: GameStop stock is well below its peak but is still trading at more than 10 times the price as of a year ago.

FACEBOOK/META GOES UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Amid book-length investigations into its practices, hundreds of pages of leaked internal documents, and Congressional testimony by former employees, Meta (nee Facebook) is showing that even for the seventh-largest company in the world by market cap, practices undertaken since its founding can put the company in harm’s way. Meta threw a bone to ethical overseers by abandoning facial-recognition technology, but the pressure is only growing.

This was originally published by the INC.

o

pinion

The Story of Satoshi Nakamoto and the Rise of Cryptocurrency

By Saif Al-Abri

Many academics and prominent figures like Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey believe that crypto, with its ever-evolving applications and services over time, can be the next form of currency

We often seek movies and TV series and engross ourselves in virtual worlds to escape our undramatic monotonous world, but sometimes the real world pulls a rabbit out of a hat. One of these is the story of Satoshi Nakamoto and the creation of bitcoin, the first decentralized currency. In modern times, the financial service sector is one of the most lucrative and profitable industries out there (%8.5 of the US economy).

Yet one may ask how such an industry makes profits that sometimes even outcompete the manufacturing and agricultural sectors, especially since it doesn’t produce any physical product. Well, it’s pretty simple -- there is 35.2$ trillion narrow (easily accessible) money circulating, and the financial sector is what allows it to circulate fluidly. It gains profits by acting like a sand bottleneck taking a small amount of sand between transactions.

This makes a decentralized transaction system that bypasses bank fees and surveillance seem very alluring. However, how do you move value peer-to-peer without any trusted central intermediary? This was a question that wasn’t solved until the arrival of Satoshi Nakamoto.

On Friday October 2008 ,31, at 14:10:00 EDT, a mysterious person who goes by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto sent an email stating “I’ve been working on a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party” and attaching a document on how it works with an abstract. This is now known as the bitcoin white paper and is titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.”

Presented in an extremely humble way, Satoshi Nakamoto’s papers are considered one of the most ground-breaking works of computer science, which solved the riddle using blockchain technology.

The value of all bitcoins was over 1.03$ trillion

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by Nov. 2021 ,26, which is around %2.9 of all narrow money. Now whether this will take over current currencies is highly controversial.

Many academics and prominent figures like the billionaire Warren Buffet and Noble laureate Paul Krugman have been skeptical about such technology for several reasons. Money has to act as a medium of exchange (which is not the case for crypto in most places), store value (which is also not the case in view of volatile prices) and be a unit of account (which is the only criterion it meets). Furthermore, there are other issues with crypto like scalability, extensive energy use and legal and regulatory issues, which debilitate its growth.

On the other hand, billions of dollars are invested in crypto projects, and platforms are built upon it. In addition, many academics and prominent figures like Elon musk and Jack Dorsey believe that crypto, with its ever-evolving applications and services over time, can be the next form of currency. They argue that the current money system has many issues like repeated crises and instability, high fees, and is very centralized.

Historically, currencies and what people use for transactions and tax payment have changed in response to the existing ecological and economic conditions. In modern times most spending and transactions have become digital as barely anyone uses cash due to convenience. As such, a transformation from the current system to crypto is not out of reach.

Even the Bank of England is thinking of doing a ‹Britcoin› pegged to the British pound.

The real question isn›t whether money will be crypto or not, as it doesn›t really matter.

It is whether money will stay centralized or become decentralized. At the moment, it›s too early to make predictions with certainty, and only time will tell.

A Weekly Political News Magazine

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Issue 1885- December- 31/12/2021

“Santa Claus”: The Story of the Legendary Christmas Figure www.majalla.com

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port

AFCON 2021: Here We Go!

Shatta to Majalla: «Mo Salah Can Make Glory with the Grandchildren of the Pharaohs, and Win the Championship» By/ Sarah Gamal Just a few days separate us from the Africa Cup of Nations 2021, the third-ranked tournament in the world after the World Cup and the UEFA European Football Championship, due to the intensity of its competitions. The teams that qualify for the finals of the tournament include a group of professional African players in the best European clubs, in addition to the best players within the African continent.

The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, will play its 33rd edition in Cameroon this coming January, with Algeria looking to defend their crown as African champions.

The COVID19- pandemic caused the tournament to be postponed from 2021 to early 2022, so that CAF settled on the deadline announced earlier in December, after news circulated recently about the possibility of postponing it again. The tournament will run from January 9 until February 2022 ,6.

Some European clubs had asked CAF to postpone the tournament until next summer, or to play it without African players who play in European clubs, due to the outbreak of the

Coronavirus pandemic, but the Cameroonian Federation insisted that the tournament be held on time and with the participation of all players.

Some European clubs also threatened earlier, not to send any player to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations after raising doubts about the health protocols for the Coronavirus established by the “CAF”.

On the other hand, the Confederation of African Football revealed that the players participating in the AFCON 2021 in Cameroon next month will be allowed to play with their clubs until the third of next January before joining their national teams.

In a letter sent to the World Leagues Forum (WLF) and the UEFA Europa League, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said: «This decision was taken in the spirit of goodwill and solidarity with the affected clubs (to facilitate) the gathering of members of the football family while acknowledging the fact that these clubs have been negatively affected by the emerging Coronavirus.”

It was expected that many players would be absent from the upcoming continental tournament; because the regulations stipulate that clubs must allow their players to join their national teams 14 days before the date of any continental tournament or World Cup.

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FILE PHOTO: The Africa Cup of Nations trophy pictured ahead of the draw for the AFCON 2017 qualifiers in Cairo. / Getty Images

AFCON 2021 has become a headache for European clubs, as the European leagues do not stop for the end of the year, and the tournament also has angered most European leagues coaches, because they had to dispense with their stars in favor of the teams in order to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Premier League

Fifteen Premier League clubs will lose out on 15 players. Liverpool will be without Mohamed Salah, Naby Keita, and Sadio Mane.

Arsenal will miss four players, Chelsea will lose goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, Manchester City will see Riyad Mahrez depart, and other players from Crystal Palace, Leicester, and Manchester United will also set off.

LaLiga

Villarreal will be without four players - Aissa Mandi, Boulaye Dia, Serge Aurier, and Samuel Chukwueze - while Sevilla will lose Bono, Munir El Haddadi, and Youssef En-Nesyr

Serie A

Napoli and AC Milan will struggle through

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January as Kalidou Koulibaly and Victor Osimhen headline the Partenopei›s three absentees, while the Rossoneri will lose Franck Kessie and others as well.

Ligue 1

Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain will be without Karl Toko Ekambi and Achraf Hakimi.

Bundesliga

Bayern Munich will lose Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.

ARAB PRESENCE:

A historical Arab presence will be witnessed in the next edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, where seven Arab teams will participate, namely; Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, Mauritania and Comoros, for the first time in the history of the tournament, which was launched in 1957.

The participation of seven Arab teams is a record that has not happened before, as the biggest Arab participation in the tournament was with the presence of five teams, in the last edition hosted by Egypt in 2019 in which the

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Algerian team won the title at the expense of the Senegalese team in the final match.

Abdel Moneim Mustafa Hussein, aka “Shatta”, the former technical director for the Confederation of African Football (CAF), said in exclusive statements to Majalla: «I expect the AFCON 2021 in Cameroon to be successful.»

«The success of organizing the tournaments depends on two main things in the first place,

COVID19- pandemic caused the tournament to be postponed from 2021 to early 2022, so that CAF settled on the deadline announced earlier on December, after news circulated recently about the possibility of postponing it again.

The tournament will run from January 9 until February ,6 2022.

namely the stadiums for matches and the training grounds, and this matter has been provided in an excellent way in Cameroon recently,» he explained.

Regarding the Omicron coronavirus variant and its impact on the holding of the tournament and the threat to its stability, the former CAF Secretary said: “If I were responsible now in the CAF Technical Committee, I would have decided to open the registration for more than 40 players for each team or to replace any player infected with Corona immediately so that no match would be postponed or canceled”, he said.

«I do not like predictions; as football does not recognize that. There are more than 10 teams that are able to compete and it is difficult to predict the champion of the next edition or the two sides of the final. There are strong opportunities and a similar level between most of the teams,» he replied when asked about his predictions about the team that will win the title.

As for his country’s national team, Sudan, Shatta said: “We are suffering from violent crises at the sporting and political level in Sudan during this period, and despite that, I am optimistic that the Sudanese team will achieve a surprise and

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Egypt›s forward Mohamed Salah (L) fights for the ball with DR Congo›s forward Elia Meschak during Africa Cup of 2019 the Nations (CAN) football match between Egypt and DR Congo at the Cairo International Stadium on AFP 2019 ,26 June

Some of the Africa players who will be missing for London’s Premier League sides (Getty Images).

go far in AFCON 2021, provided that the players forget what happened in the Arab Cup and in addition to that the players are equipped psychologically and technically in an appropriate manner, as well as the presence of great motives for the stars of the Sudanese team to re-draw the smile on the lips of their people.”

Shatta spoke also about his favorite team after Sudan, saying: «Of course, the Egyptian team, I spent my life in Egypt with my colleagues

Abdel Moneim Mustafa Hussein, aka “Shatta”, The Former CAF Secretary

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and distinguished friends, as well as the Ivorian national team, since I enjoy the way they play.»

He ended his statements, revealing about the player who he will eagerly follow in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations: «Mohamed Salah, the Liverpool star, and I hope he achieves something with the Egyptian national team in this tournament and makes glory with the grandchildren of the Pharaohs - I think he can do it.»

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“Santa Claus”: The Story of the Legendary Christmas Figure

By Majalla Illustration by Jeannette Khouri Santa Claus» is a fictional character associated« with Christmas found among Christians. Known as an old man who is always happy, very fat, and laughing, he wears a red jacket trimmed with white fur and covers his face with a bright white .beard He is the traditional patron of Christmas in the United States and other countries, bringing gifts to children. His popular image is based on traditions associated with Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Christian saint. Father Christmas fills the role .in many European countries

tle Paul, who stopped in Patara on his third mis.sionary journey 200 years earlier It is said that Nicholas› parents were devout believers who had long prayed for a child. When Nicholas was finally born, they devoted him to God. He was raised with great affection and spe.cial attention as an only child However, when Nicholas was still a young boy (likely a teenager), a plague struck his city and his parents died. Though a loss like this might turn some away from God, it seems to have drawn Nicholas closer to him. The loss of his parents also seems to have made the boy›s heart .tender to the suffering of others

It is said that the story of Santa Claus is based on the true story of Saint Nicholas, the bishop of Myra, who lived in the fifth century AD. Saint Nicholas used to distribute gifts to the poor and needy families during the night without these families knowing who the donor was, and he hap.pened to die in December

Another story says that when people from the Netherlands migrated to New World colonies, they spoke about the legend of Sinter Klaas, which is a Dutch nickname for Sint Nikolaas. The stories of the Saint›s generosity reached far and wide in America by 1700, and popular culture there transformed the man›s image. Eventually .the name evolved to become Santa Claus

Nicholas was born in the 3rd century to wealthy Christian parents in Patara, a harbor city in modern-day Turkey. Nicholas and his parents could probably trace their spiritual heritage to the Apos-

The modern image- the man with red clothes and long beard coming on carts drawn by deer and entering homes by the fireplace- dates back

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to 1822 when the American poet Clarke Moore wrote the poem «The Night Before Christmas.»

The poem depicted Santa Claus as a jolly man who flies from home to home on a sled driven by .reindeer to deliver toys The iconic version of Santa Claus as a jolly man in red with a white beard and a sack of toys was immortalized in 1881, when political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew on Moore›s poem to create the image of Old Saint Nick we .know today Children often write letters to Santa and put them in a Christmas pouch or near a tree before the holiday. They wake up on the morning of the holiday to open the pouches. It is also a common custom .for all family members to exchange gifts Many names are given to this good old man in the red dress, white beard, with his bell ringing, his distinctive laugh, and the gift bag full of everything that is beautiful and special which brings joy and happiness to children at Christmas all over the world. There are many stories and accounts about Santa Claus›s origin and the religious and cultural roots of this character, who has become among the most prominent symbols .of Christmas

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ealth

Essential Nutrients Your Body Needs for Building Bone

Eat a Well-Rounded Diet and Pay Attention to Calcium, Vitamin D, and Protein

By Heidi Godman Many nutrients play a role in bone health, such as calcium, vitamin D, protein, magnesium, phosphorous, and potassium. If you eat a healthy diet (with lots of fruits,

vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and lean proteins), you’ll get enough of most nutrients needed to keep your bones healthy and functioning well. But some nutrients require extra effort to ensure adequate intake when we’re older.

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CALCIUM Calcium is one of the main ingredients of bone, and it’s essential for cell, muscle, heart, and nerve function. We don’t make calcium on our own -- it comes from dietary sources (which are the safest and most effective) or calcium supplements.

If there isn’t enough calcium in the bloodstream, the body raids the bones for supplies, thinning the bones.

“The parathyroid gland sends a message commanding cells called osteoclasts to chew up bone and spit out calcium. If that’s how calcium levels are sustained, it takes a toll on your bones.

It’s like going to the bank and taking out $100; if you do it every day, you’ll run out of money. So think of dietary calcium not as building bone, but as preventing calcium from being sucked out of bone,” explains Dr. Harold Rosen, an endocrinologist and director of the Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment Center at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

CALCIUM AND SOURCES Photo credit: Pixabay

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of calcium for people ages 51 or older is 1,200 milligrams (mg) per day for women, and 1,000 to 1,200 mg per day for men.

Fortified juices and nut milks have extra calcium. For example, fortified orange juice contains about 300 mg of calcium per cup, compared with 27 mg in regular orange juice. A cup of almond milk has 450 mg of calcium. a low-dose calcium supplement to reach your daily RDA goal, but not more. Some studies show that large doses of calcium pills may increase the risk for developing kidney stones and possibly increase the risk of having a heart attack.

VITAMIN D Vitamin D is important for many body systems, especially bones. Vitamin D helps our bodies to absorb calcium (in the gut, which sends it to the bloodstream), and to regulate blood levels of calcium and phosphorus (which are needed to build bone).

Rich sources of dietary calcium include dairy foods (milk, cheese, yogurt), nuts, seeds, beans, soy, certain vegetables (leafy greens, rhubarb, artichoke, squash), fruits, and seafood.

Our bodies make vitamin D when sunlight turns a chemical in the skin into vitamin D3, which the body then transforms into an active form of vitamin D. But be careful about sun exposure; if it’s longer than a few minutes, you’ll need sunscreen to reduce your risk of skin cancer.

“As a rough rule of thumb, I tell patients that a cup of milk, yogurt, calcium-fortified orange juice, almonds, beans, or certain greens [kale, spinach, broccoli] has about 300 milligrams [mg] of calcium. I think that’s easy to remember,” Dr. Rosen says.

It’s possible to get some of your vitamin D from food, but few foods contain it. “A 6-ounce portion of salmon has about 1,000 international units [IU] of vitamin D. You can drink vitamin D-fortified milk or orange juice, and certain mushrooms also have vitamin D,” Dr. Rosen says.

Fortified juices and nut milks have extra calcium.

For example, fortified orange juice contains about 300 mg of calcium per cup, compared with 27 mg in regular orange juice. A cup of almond milk has 450 mg of calcium.

It’s easier (and safer than sun exposure) to take a vitamin D3 supplement. “Healthy older adults who don’t have the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, and those who have the precursor condition to osteoporosis called osteopenia, should take 600 to 800 IU per day. If you have osteoporosis, take 1,500 to 2,000 IU per day,”

If you can’t get enough calcium in your diet, take

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ealth

Dr. Rosen advises.

PROTEIN We call proteins the building blocks of life. They give cells structure; power chemical reactions throughout the body; and build and repair skin, muscles, and bones.

To support the body’s needs, we need to consume healthy sources of protein: dairy products, fish, poultry, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and some vegetables such as corn, broccoli, and asparagus.

In bone, protein makes up a major part of the mass and volume, creating a meshwork of fibers that lay the foundation for growth. “Protein is like scaffolding. Calcium and phosphorous form on it and stiffen up,” Dr. Rosen explains.

To support the body’s needs, we need to consume healthy sources of protein: dairy products, fish, poultry, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and some vegetables such as corn, broccoli, and asparagus. But appetite can decline with aging, and you may find you’re cutting back on protein -- perhaps eating just a tiny portion of fish or chicken rather than the larger helpings you once enjoyed.

“If you’re protein-deficient, you can’t build muscle, skin, or bones,” Dr. Rosen warns. “You need protein for strength and stability.”

To figure out how much protein you need, multiply your weight in pounds by 0.36. For example, a 170-pound person would need to eat about 61 grams of protein per day (170 × 0.36 = 61.2).

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Photo credit: Pexels

Photo credit: Pexels

That may sound like a lot, but protein adds up quickly if you eat the right foods. For example, a breakfast of one-and-a-half cups of bran cereal with a cup of skim milk starts you out with 14 grams of protein. A midmorning snack of half a cup of low-fat cottage cheese and some blueberries adds another 12 grams. For lunch, a small spinach salad with half a cup of cooked lentils and 3 ounces of salmon or chicken gives you another 30 grams. That’s already 56 grams before dinner! But don’t overdo it on protein intake; the jury is still out on whether too much dietary protein is safe for bones.

Some studies show that large doses of calcium pills may increase the risk for developing kidney stones and possibly increase the risk of having a heart attack.

You get a two-for-one benefit when you eat proteins that are also calcium-rich. Examples include canned salmon (with the bones) or sardines, beans, dairy products (cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, milk), leafy greens, and nuts.

healthy lifestyle that includes daily weightbearing exercise (such as brisk walking and weight training), limiting alcohol intake, and not smoking. All of those lifestyle habits are linked to another benefit: warding off chronic disease. Take advantage of these “two-fers” and protect your bones if you aren’t already doing it.

And the best way to ensure healthy bones is not only eating right but also maintaining a

This article was originally published by Harvard Health Letter.

TWO-FOR-ONE

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B

ook Reviews

Indyk on Kissinger

The Realist “Master of the Game” Pursued Order and Stability Instead of an Ideal of Peace

By Mohammad Ali Salih - Washington Recently Martin Indyk, a strong supporter of Israel, former presidential envoy to Israel and twice US ambassador in Israel, wrote a book about Henry Kissinger, another strong supporter of Israel, former presidential National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, as well as Indyk’s friend, boss, mentor, and the boss of his wife when she was his personal secretary.

News reports said Kissinger was unhappy about parts of the book that described him as “manipulative,” particularly in dealing with Arab countries during his “shuttle diplomacy” in the aftermath of the 1973 war between Israel and the Arabs. But, the title of the book, “Master of the Game,” shows Indyk›s main goal of glorifying Kissinger.

These are some of the book’s chapters: The Strategy. Gaining Control. The Jordan Crisis.

Golda’s Inferno. Henry of Arabia. The Sinai Disengagement. Breakthrough. The Step Not Taken.

Reassessment.

As shown in these chapters, the book was mostly tracing Kissinger’s Middle East policies and achievements, which were apparently guidelines for Indyk’s own policies and achievements when he was an important player in managing US policies in the Middle East – about 20 years after Kissinger left his official positions.

The book’s title, “Master of the Game,” would have been more interesting and more accurate if it was “Master of Manipulation,” and if Indyk had elaborated on his description of Kissinger as “manipulative,» -- but Indyk wanted to glorify Kissinger.

Tens of books have been written about Kissinger, and a few of them stand out: “The Trial of Henry Kissinger,”

by Christopher Hitchens; “Kissinger: A Biography,” by Walter Isaacson; and “The Price of Power,” by Seymour Hersh. Although the first, as its title showed, was clearly critical, the other two were fair, showing different aspects of his life.

Indyk said that he chose the title of his book, “Master of the Game,” because Kissinger “was so good at those kinds of things, which are necessary for great diplomats.

The art of diplomacy is to move leaders to places where they’d rather not go, and he was masterful at that.”

One of a few revelations in the book was that Kissinger “was very suspicious about peace” between Israel and its Arab neighbors, in the sense that Kissinger believed there would be no real peace between the two sides.

Most probably Indyk believed that also.

Indyk wrote in the book that for Kissinger “peacemaking was a process designed to ameliorate conflicts between competing powers, not to end them.” And that Kissinger “would prove mightily resistant to more ambitious efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict because he feared that pursuing peace as an idealistic final goal would jeopardize the stability that his order was designed to generate.”

And this: “Peace for Kissinger was a problem, not a solution.”

Indyk argued that Kissinger was not a real supporter of the principle of “Land for Peace,” but of land “for legitimizing the order.” And that Kissinger “introduced a so-called step-by-step approach, which was designed to buy Israel time—time to strengthen itself with

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The book’s title, “Master of the Game,” would have been more interesting and more accurate if it was “Master of Manipulation,” and if Indyk had elaborated on his description of Kissinger as “manipulative,» -- but Indyk wanted to glorify Kissinger.

Book Cover

American support, and time for the Arabs to exhaust themselves until they would come to accept Israel.”

Kissinger, ever the realist, wanted the Arabs to be realists too: Israel was here to stay, with the strong support of the US. Strangely, Indyk argued that US policy in the Middle East slowed down since Kissinger left the government.

Maybe Indyk wanted to satisfy Kissinger’s ego because, actually, the US has allowed Israel, year after year, to build more settlements in the West Bank and in the Syrian Golan Heights. Moreover, during Donald Trump’s presidency, the Israelis won far more than they had ever imagined: recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Israeli’s sovereignty on the Golan Heights. (In partial gratitude, the Israelis are building settlements they named “Trump Heights»).

Trump out-did both Kissinger and Indyk by realizing their goal to “buy Israel time—time to strengthen itself with American support, and time for the Arabs to exhaust themselves until they would come to accept Israel.”

Recently, some of the Arabs did exactly that, notwithstanding the fact that the earlier Arab recognitions of Israel (by Egypt and Jordan) have not resulted in real peace. But, in another victory for Kissinger, the goal was not to make real peace, but to “ameliorate conflicts between competing powers, not to end them.”

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Most probably, the Arabs who have recognized Israel also believed in this “Kissingerism” as a win-win solution: the Arabs and the Israelis have agreed on lessthan-real peace, on pseudo-peace.

Indyk wrote that “Kissinger’s success was in taking Egypt out of the conflict with Israel. When he did that through the two agreements he negotiated between Israel and Egypt, he made it impossible for the other Arab states to consider going to war with Israel.”

Of course, all that wouldn’t have happened without the important role of the US, and, according to Indyk, “The Israel-Egypt peace treaty, the Israel-Jordan peace treaty, the Oslo Accords—the parties could not have achieved their agreements without the involvement of the United States.”

How about the Palestinians? Would they, also, accept Kissingerism’s not real but pseudo peace?

Indyk answered: “To be sure, time buying did not end the conflict with the stateless Palestinians in Israel’s midst, but it has steadily lowered their expectations of what their state would look like.”

Indyk added: “Palestinians started out with the objective of destroying Israel. So, it became necessary for them to adjust their objectives, which they did.”

How about the morality of Kissingerism’s not real but pseudo peace? Indyk answered: “I think that Kissinger is much more the realist than the moralist.”

What about Kissingerism’s stand on continuous wars in the Middle East that didn’t directly involve Israel?

Indyk answered: Kissinger was “opposed to wars that disrupt the stability of the order that he was trying to create. So, he’s not opposed to wars launched and he’s not opposed to going to war to maintain the order.”

Indyk added that Kissinger was “opposed to wars that disrupt the order.”

From two men, Kissinger and Indyk, who strongly support Israel, these answers should surprise no one.