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82. Civil Society After Dictatorship: a Comparison of Portugal and Spain, 1970s–1990s
- Author:
- Tiago Fernandes
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper explains variations in patterns of civil society among third-wave democracies by comparing the cases of Portugal and Spain. In the former a civil society developed that had a tendency to be more oriented toward national issues and politics, whereas in the latter civil society tended to be more local, social, and disconnected from politics. Portugal, although having both a less developed economy and historically a weaker democratic tradition than Spain's, was a democracy that between the early 1970s and the mid-1990s offered more opportunities for the organized civic expression of popular interests.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Government, Human Rights, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Spain, and Portugal
83. In Search of Symmetry in the Eurozone
- Author:
- Paul De Grauwe
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- One of the major problems of the eurozone is the divergence of the competitive positions that have built up since the early 2000s. This divergence has led to major imbalances in the eurozone where the countries that have seen their competitive positions deteriorate (mainly the so - called ' PIIGS ' – Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain ) have accumulated large current account deficits and thus external indebtedness, matched by current account surpluses of the countries that have improved their competitive positions (mainly Germany).
- Topic:
- Economics, Markets, Regional Cooperation, Global Recession, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Greece, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Ireland
84. The Spanish Hangover
- Author:
- Daniel Gros and Cinzia Alcidi
- Publication Date:
- 04-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Spain faces high unemployment and slow growth. This paper focuses on an important source of those problems, namely its housing market. While some adjustment has occurred since Spain's housing bubble burst in 2008, the authors find that house prices and construction need to decrease more to slow Spain's unsustainable accumulation of foreign debt.
- Topic:
- Debt, Economics, Markets, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Spain
85. An Agenda for the European Council: Feasible steps to bring the eurozone back from the precipice
- Author:
- Stefano Micossi
- Publication Date:
- 06-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Once again the European Council will meet in an emergency session at the end of June, with the eurozone economy in recession and actually plummeting in its Southern periphery. Further doubts are also growing on the sustainability of sovereign debts due to the vicious spiral of deteriorating bank balance sheets, ballooning potential liabilities from banking rescues and widening spreads on government borrowings. The sovereign debt crisis in the periphery has now turned into a fully fledged banking crisis that threatens to spread from Greece to Spain and tomorrow, who knows, to Italy, France and even Germany itself.
- Topic:
- Debt, Economics, Regional Cooperation, Financial Crisis, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Greece, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy
86. Morocco's Momentum
- Author:
- J. Peter Pham
- Publication Date:
- 06-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Journal of International Security Affairs
- Institution:
- Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
- Abstract:
- Amid the upheaval that swept across the Middle East and North Africa since the dramatic December 2010 suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old Tunisian street vendor, ignited long pent-up frustration with the regimes across the region, Morocco has stood out as an exception. Not only has the kingdom avoided both revolutionary tumult and violent repression, but while their neighbors were still struggling to come to terms with the so-called “Arab Spring,” Moroccans adopted a new constitution and elected a new government (albeit one led for the first time in the country's history by an Islamist party). The question now is whether this extraordinarily peaceful transformation is sustainable, and, if it is, what the implications might be for the region as a whole. Given the material reasons its people might have for grievance, Morocco was—at least superficially—a likelier candidate for revolutionary upheaval than its North African neighbors. In fact, on certain indices, Moroccans were indeed worse off than the citizens of any other country in the Maghreb. At the beginning of 2011, GDP per capita (purchasing power parity) in the kingdom was, respectively, just under half of what it was in Tunisia, three-fourths of what it was in Egypt, one-third of what it was in Libya, and two-thirds of what it was in Algeria. While the literacy rate in Morocco has been improving substantially in recent years, it still hovers at just above 50 percent, with women making up an overwhelming majority of those unable to read or write. Overall, the average Moroccan woman can expect to have six fewer years of schooling than her Tunisian sister and two years less than her Egyptian sister. Additionally, Morocco has a higher infant mortality rate and a lower life expectancy than any of the other four North African states.1 So why didn't Moroccans revolt against a system that has so clearly left them behind their neighbors? It was not that they were unaware of the protests: satellite dishes are ubiquitous even in the poorest areas, virtually every Moroccan adult has a mobile phone, and the country has one of the most technologically advanced Internet services, both cable and wireless, in Africa. Rather, other factors were at play.
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Spain, North Africa, and Morocco
87. Can Italy and Spain survive rates of 6-7%?
- Author:
- Daniel Gros
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The sentiment that the euro is now in real danger is based in large part on the widespread conviction that interest rates of 6-7% are simply unsustainable for both Italy and Spain., After taking a closer look at the fundamentals, however, Daniel Gros concludes in this new Policy Brief that both countries should be able to live with this level of interest rates for quite some time, but only if they mobilize domestic savings, which remain strong in both countries. For Spain, some debt/equity swaps are also needed.
- Topic:
- Debt, Economics, Markets, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Spain, and Italy
88. Economic Agendas of Islamic Actors
- Author:
- Javier Albarracín and Paula Cusi
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- IEMed/EuroMeSCo
- Abstract:
- The IEMed held a conference on the 3rd and 4th July 2012 in Barcelona, under the title “Emerging New Economic Policy Makers in the Arab Mediterranean: Economic Agendas of Islamic Actors”. The aim of the conference was to engage Islamic economic actors, and get to know their economic proposals better. Members of the Islamic parties of Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt attended, as well as bankers, businessmen and representatives of Islamic economic associations from the region. Experts were also invited from institutions such as the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Commission, the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Central Bank of Spain, and so on. The seminar was split into three parts. The first part analyzed at a national level the economic challenges and necessary reforms in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. The other two sessions were dedicated to Islamic finance and banking, followed by an analysis of the economic cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean region and among international Islamic actors.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Spain
89. The Almohads: The Rise of an Islamic Empire
- Author:
- Amira K. Bennison
- Publication Date:
- 04-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Insight Turkey
- Institution:
- SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
- Abstract:
- As a dynasty based in medieval North Africa and southern Spain, the Almohads have received relatively little attention from Anglophone scholars in Islamic Studies, many of whom work from a Middle Eastern perspective. Allen Fromherz's book is thus a very welcome contribution to the field. His over-arching aim is to present an account of the rise of the Almohads by looking at the Almohad movement's leader, Muḥammad b. Tūmart; the Maṣmūda Berber tribal environment in which the empire arose; and the doctrines by which Ibn Tūmart galvanised these tribes from the High Atlas mountains of Morocco.
- Political Geography:
- Spain, North Africa, and Morocco
90. Adjustment Difficulties and Debt Overhangs in the Eurozone Periphery
- Author:
- Daniel Gros and Cinzia Alcidi
- Publication Date:
- 05-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper describes four key drivers behind the adjustment difficulties in the periphery of the eurozone: The adjustment will be particularly difficult for Greece and Portugal, as two relatively closed economies with low savings rates. Both of these countries combine high external debt levels with low growth rates, which suggest they are facing a solvency problem. In both countries fiscal adjustment is a necessary condition for overall sustainability, but it not sufficient by itself. A sharp cut in domestic consumption (or an unrealistically large jump in exports) is required to quickly establish external sustainability. An internal devaluation (a cut in nominal wages in the private sector) is unavoidable in the longer run. Without such this adjustment in the private sector, even continuing large-scale provision of official funding will not stave off default. Ireland's problems are different. They stem from the exceptionally large losses in the Irish banks, which were taken on by the national government, leading to an explosion of government debt. However, the Irish sovereign should be solvent because the country has little net foreign debt. Spain faces a similar problem as Ireland, although its foreign debt is somewhat higher but its construction bubble has been less extreme. The government should thus also be solvent, although further losses in the banking system seem unavoidable. Italy seems to have a better starting position on almost on all accounts. But its domestic savings rate has deteriorated substantially over the last decade.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Spain and Ireland