Why a war on Iran profits everyone

Part 1: What have the Syrians to gain from an attack on Iran

Whether in the stormy streets of Lebanon or behind the closed doors of the Mossad, words and words again have been spilled on Iran’s nuclear program, and most importantly on an imminent attack on Khomeini’s’ stronghold as a pre-emptive option to avoid the emergence of a nuclear mushroom over Tel Aviv. The controversy is fierce, and the implications are far reaching both regionally and internationally. Taking the decision to fire a couple of Tomahawks over Natanz facility or wiping out the Bushehr nuclear reactor is easy for some officials in the Knesset, but the real nature of such decision is no different than the ‘halted’ decision to fire nukes on Havana at the time of the Kennedy administration in the 60s. Only difference: this time we don’t have brilliant decision makers of Kennedy’s caliber.

In this article, I will not spend chapters elaborating on the chaos an attack on Iran would engender, but rather I wish to draw a positive picture of what everyone has to gain from a military action against the Islamic Republic.

First focal point I’ll build on is ultimately related to another tragedy ongoing right now, a tragedy which victims amount to more than 10 000 and whose audience overpassed the 6 billion viewers. Lots of troubles yet no one is making bald moves, all what is being actively used are expired excuses copied from the encyclopedia RealPolitika at the detriment of the civilians massacred in AlHoula, Edlib and Dir Ezzour by the Assad mercenaries.

What have we to gain from a potential attack on Iran in regards to the Syrian Crisis? An individual with decent understanding of world alliances and regional features of the Middle East can pinpoint to the answer: An inevitable fall of the regime in Syria, and a long awaited victory of the Syrian revolution!

Well, what if I’m not that knowledgeable in world politics and international relations; could you enlighten me Mr. Belarbi on how an attack on Iran could speed up the collapse of the Assad regime? Sure. A key ally to the regime in Syria is, as most of us know, Iran whose unconditional support to the Allaouite center of power made it possible for Assad to survive so far the revolution, along of course with the strategic back up of Moscow and Beijing.

Teheran has been indulging in tremendous efforts to secure logistical and military support to the Syrian regime, let alone a fierce supply of advisors and defense strategists summoned by the Ayatollah and either flown or put on the line with Assad security chiefs and police. Giving lessons on ‘how to end dissidence and shut down rebellion’ is nothing new for Teheran, and sharing this invaluable knowledge with a key partner in the region is no more than a duty friends owe to each other. This is far from being the product of speculations and hypothetical scenarios as the UN and several western powers have condemned the shipping of arms and weapons from Iran and Russia to Syria over the past months, weapons which this time are not conventional missiles and rifles, but gear specially used by police forces to storm demonstrations and fight dissidents and rebels.

This being said, a potential military action in Iran could divert the Khomeini administration from Syria, and instead give it enough troubles to focus solely on the internal crisis and divert its entire logistical and military arsenal to fight back the Zionist coordinated assault on the nation. The Assad regime deprived from the flow of weapons coming from Persia, it will be impossible to sustain the level of operations against the rebels, giving thus the revolution the opportunity to revitalize across the country.

But Mr. Belarbi, if the Syrian regime doesn’t get weapons from Iran, they could just as well turn to someone else; they got a couple of friends ready to send in supplies and ammunitions, don’t they?

Well indeed, Syria has several key allies, but the business Syria does with Iran is different in nature from the one it could conduct with Russia and China. Syria was not in need of cash in order to receive weapons from Iran as the incentive of Khomeini and Ahmadi Nejad was both sectarian and political, yet when it is business with Moscow, the primary currency is money, not good will, and that’s something Bachar Al Assad doesn’t have at the moment given the fact that the country doesn’t have fountains of oil to lean on nor operating industries to finance its purchases with. As Farid Zakaria repeated once and again, Assad is running out of cash!

The other good news for Syrian rebels in case an attack is undertook against Iran is that the F-16 and drones used in an attack on Teheran could just as well gather intelligence data on Assad troops and then send the intel to the rebels who could operate more efficiently against the regimes’ squads. The air force deployed against Iran nuclear facilities and the ground troops sent on the ground if the conflict escalates will be of great resource to the revolutionaries, both supplying them with weapons and with intelligence reports. The story then would advance as it did in Libya: as the localisation of Assad troops becomes easy, and as the Qatari weapons are supplied to the rebels by the ground troops operating in Iran, the days of the Syrian regime would be numbered, and the victory certain for the Syrian opposition. Voilà!


Next: the beneficial implications on world crippled economy and on regional emerging power... Stay tuned!

To be continued...

Energy & Politics: Clash of the Titans!

Energy’s main issue thus far is its intricate interference with politics and its dependency on the political will more than on the constructive determination to build a brighter future. The main aspect of geopolitics lately is the prevalence of oil produced energy rather than a shift towards renewable energy which market is mainly monopolized by Asian players. The reluctance of the US and its key partners in allowing the emerging economies to benefit from the promising energy market is politically driven, in sense that the willingness to preserve the lead for the major superpowers financially and in the field of technology is a key component of the economic and foreign policy of any nation provided the critical impact of these domains on the national interests of the state.

One should not pursue the delusional dream of idealistic change, nor should one believe in the purity of human kindness as there is only one factor which shape world decisions as we witness them today: economic determinism. No matter how concerned we are about nature or alarmed are states about natural resources depletion, the only currency which will buy a certain change environmentally is economic interest. Thus it is a time of political hypocrisy and world despotism we have to deal with, abiding by its laws and pursuing its working mechanisms. What ought to be done then? Playing with the devil in his playground is the way to defeat him. What the environmentalists and grass root activists need to realize is the necessity to engage in the financial and political arena in order to gain influence and power necessary to facilitate the emergence of noticeable changes.

My greatest ambition is to build an extensive network of organizations driven by a spirit of social entrepreneurship, with heavy investments in the business world and with consequent influence in the political field. We need to become efficient instead of remaining stuck in the unfruitful culture of protests and public noise. No one will ever listen to kids, and kids we are as of now in most of the world, shouting for the adoption of renewable energy while we are plainly ignorant of the financial and political constraints of such an energetic adventure.

Letting China exploit the market of alternative energies while the US is still pulled back by its oil dependency is an unforeseeable suicide the US as well as the world won’t allow due to political and economic weight of the western power. Since governments, according to this simple logic, cannot grant the environmentalists their long dreamed-of energetic vision, there is no choice but to change governments’ policies and politicians by either substituting them with the bright young activists who can secure a considerable portion of voting bases, or by extensively lobbying the decision makers and pressuring them through the conventional tools every activist ought to be trained upon.

 Mohamed Amine Belarbi

How can individual rights be secured in the Mideast’s new reality?

 How can individual rights be secured in the Mideast’s new reality?

The Arab World has gone through a tempestuous period where regimes have been toppled and new social orders were established. What some observers advanced is the idea of the emergence of a new Arab World Order built upon ideals and values of democracy, liberalism and social solidarity. This new Arab World order, which rightly has been pinpointed as the catalyst of several world uprisings taking place in settings as different as the US, Spain, Kuwait and Greece, has shown to be a philosophy expanding beyond physical borders and cultural boundaries. It is indeed a mindset for people to adopt In order to make their voices heard, and bring about a change they see as necessary not only for social prosperity and political survival, but most importantly for justice and equity in rights and duties attribution. This essay attempts to draw and define the typical political, social, economic and religious features of this new Arab World Order, features which are critical for the development of an entrenched and efficient understanding and protection for individual rights of the citizen in the Arab World.

1.     Political

Politics is undeniably one of the main factors without which an Arab Spring couldn’t have seen light. Political dictatorship and totalitarianism has made it possible for a small elite of privileged politicians and businessmen to form an oligarchy of hidden actors who enjoyed pulling the strings of the political scene in the Arab world.  Making it a personal fantasy or an enjoyable chess game, these oligarchs not only drowned in their pleasure for power and control, but also forgot to dress an efficient strategy to sustain their grip on power when dark clouds pop from above. Decades of rule can be seen as a triumph for the political elite, but the servile subjects of yesterday are no more among the masses, instead giving place for a new social power to emerge with unconventional thoughts and defying opinions. The Youth has indeed been the unexpected factor in the equation of the Arab spring, a youth who managed to turn political consciousness and intellectual assiduity into an organized movement. The precedent generations, crumbling under illiteracy and poverty, have been unable to discern the blessings of an alternative system of power with just and fair attitude towards its people, yet the fully knowledgeable generation Y of today, geared up with liberalistic, democratic and socialist thoughts, made the unprecedented step of thinking outside what is available. “If it ain’t break, don’t fix it” was not good enough for High school and college graduates who wanted to construct a society striving for the best and asking nothing but social justice and advance. Now that it is clear for the Arab citizen and the world that the new rising power is the generation Y, it is big time to invest in it as the prominent agent of change. Youth have the potential to get involved in the political management of their respective nations now that the barriers of the deceased regimes are gone. Youth involvement or influence in politics can be a paradigm shift in our understanding of the role of the young generation in the socio-political spectrum. This can be achieve through various means ranging from political affiliation and activism among pre-constructed organisms such as parties, or through a more efficient engagement in the civil society which is a key player in sculpting the public opinion and the political arena of the country. Think tanks, though still not flourishing in the Arab World, can be the conciliatory bridge the youth have been looking forward to during the time of repression and autocracy. Being in the heart of decision making doesn’t necessarily require being part of the political game; it can instead be feasible through influence and through the power of suggestions and recommendations. Think tanks not only offer a platform for the young generation from where to have an impact on how the country is run, but also a template to stand on as the forefront of a social defense mechanism preventing the citizens’ rights to be coerced or alienated.

Youth have been side lined in favor of a closed and elitist branch of the Arab society, thus having no say in how the country operates or what the government priorities should be in the different social, economic and political domains. It is time for youth, however young and inexperienced they are, to expose their ideas and ideals on an open forum, and make from these opinion and recommendations a raw material able to be processed by the authorities in such a way that it becomes politically, socially and financially applicable. This way, the political individual rights of the youth are duly considered and the civil liberties of the citizen in the field of cooperative management of the nations’ affairs is taken care of.

2.     Socio-Economic

No one can disregard the power of the socio-economic conditions of a certain nation in influencing the observance of individual rights of the citizen. Not to fall in the trap of the economic determinism of the thinker Karl Marx, the socio-economic state of the Arab world have had a partial role in reversing the course of history in this part of the world. How can individual liberties be respected when people cannot provide for their keen and for themselves the resources to survive and live with dignity. A life without dignity is a life whose owner has nothing to lose, thus being prone in acting immorally toward society as a whole. Governments can turn the people servile through degrading socio-political conditions, yet it has always proven to be a short term policy as demonstrated by world regimes throughout history. Turning tough socio-economic conditions into a governance tool for decades is foolish strategy for regimes which aspire to eternal existence. A win-win situation imposes itself under the realm of the famous kingdom of Realpolitik: Let the government enrich itself, yet making sure that the people gain enough to not question the authority of the state. As bad as it may seem, it is unthinkable under the premises of the system of politics to imagine a government ideal enough to sacrifice its privileges for the sake of its people, especially that in the Arab political scene, as it is for the world political scene, most government officials are graduates of the economic university of life rather than matured products of strong political currents.

As Henry A. Wallace wisely stated: “Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection.”

This is in conventional politics, yet, what we are seeing in the Arab world may turn out to be a redefinition of the principle of governance, and a way to sustain a vision of a government concerned with social welfare must be a process which involves the social spectrum side by side with the state. Here comes the economic and social vision for the Arab world: Social Entrepreneurship.

Social Entrepreneurship is the fuel for social advance and individual as well as social flourishing of the citizen. Allowing your subjects to locate and identify the problem, cure it and monetize it while benefiting the society alleviates the hardship the state has to face in order to solve the nations’ issues. Startups and businesses owned and operated by creative and brilliant youth in the Arab world can not only provide employment for society, but as well secures the individual rights of the citizen in owning properties, making money and generating revenue well spent and well invested for the sake of the individual and its social circle.  This strategy prevents the catastrophic emergence and creation of monopolies managed by the state or state empowered agents, thus preventing the economic welfare of the citizen from being targeted and sold for parties concerned by profit more than by the citizen satisfaction and well-being.

3.     Religion

What the Arab spring has shown to the entire world audience is that religion can indeed be the cement to consolidate society’s ranks rather than the fire which burns the social order down. Religion can be a tool for individual rights advance if approached strategically as it ought to. Structuring a political and social system which secures the religious rights of all its components can add credibility and trust to the usually strained relations between the state and its citizen. Youth come in the frame again as the torch bearers for religious understanding and interfaith respect. The Arab world, though mostly Muslim in essence, has been through the Arab uprising due to the engagement of all its religious constituents in one single vision: A future Arab world where rights protection prevail. There is nothing that can install cohesion and mutual respect in a society better than common difficulties which align everyone for a shared goal and conviction. The safety of the society, of the nation and of the individual far outweighs the religious differences that might arise, and thanks to the enlightened youth engagement in constructive cooperation regardless of religion affiliation, a new mindset has been conceived, a mindset that the new Arab reality ought to consolidate through the prioritization of individual rights protection mechanisms set and operated by progressive youth who believe in the appreciation of differences and the celebration of variances without which a dynamic society is doomed to collapse.

Mohamed Amine Belarbi

Cofounder: Arab Institute for Youth Policy Making                                                                               Founder: Moroccan Institute for Youth Policy Making

(Morocco)

Western Sahara: When Politics meets Renewable Energy

Crossroad of Politics and Renewable Energy in Morocco

Why Morocco should invest in Solar Power is not a mere question of energy sufficiency but is a deep political statement those who are familiar with the Western Sahara conflict will grasp. Morocco in most of its geography is a sometimes rocky mountain plateau and other times plain fields in the North, while most of the South including the disputed Sahara is a vast desert stretching over kilometers and kilometers. With such a geographic blessing, not only wind power can flourish in the North, but half the country’s area can be covered with Solar panels.

This opportunity spotted by Japanese, Korean, European and US firms and well-studied, has dragged a staunch investment wave which reached its pic with the unveiling of one of the leading world investments in Energy: A multi-billion 12-square-kilometre Moroccan Renewable Energy complex.

With the help of leading Energy companies such as Desertec , and with the generous financing of the world Bank and the European Union among others, Morocco will become the leading Energy producer and exporter across the Mediterranean, calming the fears of the EU policy makers who projected doubts upon the Helios Project in Greece, a 10-GW photovoltaic project meant to assure EU provisioning with Energy.

Further readings:

http://cleantechnica.com/2011/11/19/world-bank-group-co-finances-moroccos-ouarzazate-500-mw-solar-thermal-power-project/

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/construction-of-worlds-biggest-solar-project-starts-in-2012/10235

Now, the question is: Where does politics come in the frame? And how can Morocco turn an Energy project into a Foreign Policy battle horse?

Those accustomed with the moving strings of diplomacy and foreign affairs will link Energy dependency and political alliance in this case, the same way we ought to do in the case of Iraq where Kurdish oil rich region and US Kurdish favoritism and support have a lot of in common!

Morocco, by allowing international investors pour their billions into colossal Solar Energy sites, not only benefits from infrastructure development and Energy sufficiency advance, but assures for itself a long lasting partnership with Europe and Western Key players both in the political and business world who will be keen in doing political favors for the kingdom when needed. Moroccan consent to host power generating projects aimed at supplying the EU with electricity must be sustained, and the common currencies for such tasks are finance and politics.

One would think that the Energy production process is constrained to turning sunlight into current, yet the most crucial phase extends beyond operating ovens and lighting bulbs with Moroccan electricity, it actually starts for Moroccan policy makers from turning precious Sahara sun light into electricity, then into money and political support.

This political support can be translated into a Western backing in the Western Sahara dossier, a controversial case where a non-self-governing territory is under Moroccan rule against international law and UN resolutions.

An easy way to confirm once and for ever the Moroccan rule over the Western Sahara doesn’t need political assiduity or Foreign policy brilliance. By investing into solar panel fields in the Western Sahara through its local Renewable Energy branches, Morocco would not only escape UN, EU and US restrictions on companies from investing in a disputed territory as well as being the main stake holder in the projects, increasing thus the profit, but would also put the World in front of the “Fait Accompli”. Energy dependency overcomes political and ethical considerations, and so the EU won’t have much of a choice but to import Electricity from Morocco, energy produced in a territory the EU doesn’t recognize Moroccan sovereignty over. This business partnership would have a deep political meaning: We recognize Moroccan control over Western Sahara since we buy goods produced there…As easy as that!

Putting ourselves in the shoes of EU policy makers will give us a clear understanding of the situation:

“Ok, so we’re running out of oil and the prices of fuel are skyrocketing in a time where our economies are shaking. We can import electricity from Morocco with a low price since we are major investors in the country’s Renewable Energy projects and we can lower the prices even more though political support and diplomatic backup of the kingdom, but that would mean importing goods produced using resources of a disputed if not occupied territory, thus breaching international law and recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over the WS … Hmmm, I guess hell with international law and ethics, we have an economy to feed and citizens to satisfy, the interests of the EU citizen come first”

Not only would being addicted to Moroccan Renewable Energy supply lay the foundations for political partnerships, but can also set the place for military and security strategic alliance as Energy output in the Power plants is directly linked to social stability and security. The EU would be prone in making sure these plants are operating full time, and if necessary as in the past years where the Western Sahara has witnesses strong clashes and protests by Polisario supporters, disrupting commerce and businesses (Polisario is the Liberation front adopted by the Sahrawis as representative and political body charged of Sahrawi affairs and struggle), would be ready to support the Moroccan government in pacifying the region with appropriate anti-protests weapons and equivalent silence over Human Rights abuses and over use of power with the local “dissidents”. (History taught us about how much can be deployed by states in order to secure resources and industries such as heavy military protection of pipelines or the Gulf war among others)

In conclusion, investments are far more powerful than simple financial tools for economy leverage. Investments can prove to be strategic political cards if placed and set in the right place, and foreign policy sometimes is better served by businessmen and corporations than by cultivated diplomats. 

Mohamed Amine Belarbi

La faillite de la diplomatie Marocaine

Comme il est bien longtemps que je me suis mis au Français, voici un bref article sur l'incident qui a enragé Rabat et a fait la une des journaux tant Marocains qu'Algériens!

Retraite diplomatique comme toujours!

La faillite de la diplomatie nationale se fait entendre encore une fois, avec la résonnante nouvelle dont les médias furent inondés de la délégation Marocaine et des figures politiques du pays pliant bagage lors des funérailles de Ben Bella, le premier président Algérien qui a laissé derrière lui un énorme lègue pour l'Algérie et la région Maghrébine de ce fait.
La photo, reproduise ci-dessous, révèle le motif derrière la décision de la délégation Marocaine de boycotter l'enterrement et de repartir sur ses pas avant la fin des funérailles, avec le Premier Ministre Marocain Benkirane en tête:

La présence des représentants du Polisario et de leur président Mohamed Abdelaziz! Cette excuse ou affront accordement aux autorités marocaines n'est pas un scoop, mais plutôt une image récurrente qui confrontera les deux ennemis jurés plus d'une fois, que ce soit dans des sommets internationaux ou conférences intellectuelles, tout on n'oubliant pas les regroupements estudiantins qui se terminent par une vive débâcle entre les deux partis, arrivant aux poings assez souvent.

Ceci en dit long sur la faiblesse des autorités aux plans politiques et diplomatiques, car éviter son antagoniste et se retirer des réunions et sommets en leur présence signale une profonde conviction d'auto-incapacité à prouver son point de vue et légitimer sa position par les outils conventionnels de l'argumentation et du débat intellectuel.

« Devant une telle situation, la délégation marocaine s'est immédiatement retirée, avant de regagner l'aéroport d'Alger où elle a été saluée comme à son arrivée par le Premier ministre algérien, Ahmed Ouyahia. » L’agence officielle marocaine MAP


Se retirer constamment, comme on le fait depuis belle lurette, a non seulement des conséquences politiques, économiques et diplomatiques due à notre absence de forums majeurs tel l'Union Africaine ou autres organisations reconnaissant le Polisario, mais aussi un profond impact psychologique dans la conscience humaine, locale soit elle ou internationale. Le manque de confiance que le peuple ou les diplomates et politiciens du globe ont expressément signalé à la diplomatie n'est pas réconfortant pour le lobby diplomatique, tant il diminue sa crédibilité et la pression potentielle que peuvent exercer les autorités dans les corridors des nations Unis ou des instances africaines et latino-américaines.

Continuer à poursuivre une politique d'absence et de retraites des sommets internationaux et évènement régionaux à chaque fois que le Polisario est présent ne gagne au Maroc guère une bataille psychologique ou morale, mais contribue à effacer la compétence Marocaine au service du renforcement de la présence du Polisario dans la scène internationale.

Cette même politique non-diplomatique  de retraite, couplée aux performances diplomatiques ridicules du roi Mohamed 6 dont l'apparition aux sommets internationaux est quasi inexistante, ampute au Maroc un organe nécessaire et cruciale pour protéger et avancer ses profits et bénéfices stratégiques tant politiques que financiers, laissant la politique étrangère de la nation la risée de la région, du continent et du globe face aux mastodontes diplomatiques pas trop loin qui s'affairent à sculpter une influence sans réciproque, à commencer par le Qatar.

L'hilarant dans toute l'histoire est que la diplomatie étrangère du Maroc n'est non pas seulement incompétente, mais qu'elle est douée d'un sens d'hypocrisie sans précédent! Ceux-là même qui dénoncent la présence du Polisario aux instances internationales et boycottent de ce fait les hauts sommets politiques, sont les même qui négocient avec les diplomates du SADR à Manhasset, et sont les mêmes qui prennent leur siège aux Nations Unis qui, rappelant-le, ne reconnait pas la souveraineté du Maroc sur le Sahara Occidental comme tous les pays du monde sauf bien sûr le Maroc lui même...Pourquoi donc ne pas boycotter les Nations Unis, les états Unis, l'Union Européenne et tout le tralala, car tous dénoncent la présence du Maroc au Sahara Occidental...Et tan qu'on y est, pourquoi ne pas dissoudre ce ministère des affaires étrangères tant il est devenu non nécessaire?

Le fait que la délégation marocaine ai interrompu sa participation funéraire en Algérie dénote d'un profond sentiment de dégoût que nos autorités Marocaines et Algériennes ont cultivés là où ils ont grandi une immense servitude et servilité au maître blanc, aux autorités coloniales qui garde nos gouvernements et structures politiques enchaînés à un passé impérialiste où les frères maghrébins d’antan ont été éduqué sous l'auspice de la France à devenir ennemis, rudoyant et médisant les uns les autres, jusqu'au bout de manquer aux règles de bienséance et aux bonnes meurs les funérailles nécessitent des membres présents.

Mohamed Amine Belarbi

New energy sectors for a New World Order

This article is brought as part of my collaboration with the NRG Battle World Edition

To know more visit: http://www.nrgbattle.com/about/

New energy sectors for a New World Order

Energy has long been in the heart of discussions spanning from the corridors in the white house to the modest coffee shops whose owners curse day and night the recurrent cuts in electrical supply during the height of the classic game played in front of a vast crowd of customers. Yet the actual turning point in the energy revolution started a couple of years ago when serious leaps forward were made to bring these talks to life and implement what has long been kept in archives and technical plans. What made this green revolution in the last decade spur and offshoot in the world affairs is not an ethical or considerate incentive towards mother Earth and the future generations, but rather a profit and benefit driven agenda which amounted to the most critical items in the national security concerns. These incentives, which I will try to explore and shed light on, are not any new emerging factors, but are incentives know to societies and governments since the early Babylon and the paranoid empires which made our history class much more enjoyable!

Political stability and Economic Prosperity

The first and foremost concern of any standing government and existing society is political and social stability. A state of fear and disturbance is ultimately a noxious land which prevents the establishment of any prosperous life and the sustainability of daily activities. Yet the social and political chess game of a certain nation cannot only be devastated by a victorious chess mate climbing on the top of tanks and fighter jets, but also can be overruled by economic and financial warfare. These are nothing shocking as economic embargos and thus energy prompted shortages have been used since Medieval blockades on castles and then upgraded to much more efficient mechanisms used against non-complying actors in the world scene (Economic embargo on Iran and Iraq which targeted mainly energy sectors through restrictions on oil industry).

NRG Battle World Edition here we come!

As I will be blogging for the NRG Battle World Edition taking place in Kuala Lumpur from the 4th of June to the 8th, I will be sharing some of my posts in my Blog so that a wider audience accesses them.

For more info on the event, check: http://www.nrgbattle.com/

The NRG Battle World Edition, as described by its organisors:

"NRG Battle – World edition

The NRG Battle – World Edition is a competition organized during the World Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur where 100 global top talents work, for four days in multidisciplinary teams of five, on challenging cases provided by companies. At the end of the four days, each team presents their idea in a 3-minute pitch to an expert jury, consisting of CEO’s and Directors from the energy sector. The jury nominates three teams that will pitch their idea once more to 5000 delegates at the World Gas Conference, who will then choose the winner of the NRG Battle - World edition. 

Top Talents

Companies are constantly looking for talents, one of the main reasons why companies participate in the NRG Battle is to find and recruit new top talent. Therefore this is your chance to get in touch with these companies and present yourself. What better start can you imagine!?

Since 2009 we have successfully organized the NRG Battle – Europe Edition each year, over 1000 participants and 53 nationalities have joined the battle so far.  We recruit students from the bestuniversities all over the world through ambassadors, these are participants from previous years who act as ambassadors (promoters) for the NRG Battle and promote the battle in their country. In addition, a global promotion campaign via Internet and social media is launched in order to attract new top talent for the NRG Battle – World Edition.

Students who sign up for the NRG Battle – World Edition enter an online Global Talent Pool. Only participating companies have access to this pool, they will select their teams based on the talents they need for the case. That is why you will take a personality test (Big Five), we can test what added value you have for companies. The big five personality test shows the five broad domains or dimensions of personality that are used to describe human personality.

Multidisciplinary Teams

Twenty teams will meet, compete and innovate during the NRG Battle at the World Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur. Every team consists out of five talents that will be selected by the companies according to their needs and skills for solving the case. During the battle each team is allowed to use whatever they feel like is necessary to win the battle. Be creative!

At the World Conference twitter can be used to find experts that can help you to crack your case! There will also be case instructors of the companies to help you."

This being said, follows a quick and short introductory post before I tackle this new task which, hopefully, will keep me busy for the next couple of weeks!

KONY 2012: When institutionalizing an idea leads to its demise

KONY 2012: When institutionalizing an idea leads to its demise

When you get your Facebook and email flooded with the KONY2012 videos and articles, you realize shit has just got serious. Massive posts and sharing of the KONY2012 short documentary has indeed stirred countless responses, mostly favorable, yet a frantic minority has been calling out for a conspiracy.

Follows the video widely widespread on the net and massively shared on Facebook:

The message is clear, concise and appealing, making full use of the influence and persuasion technics of any media campaign. Yet, any propaganda opts for the same mechanisms of propagation and massive distribution, making more than one raise an eyebrow as to what are the real incentives behind the KONY2012 organizational and promotional group.

Why questioning? Well, the numbers speak for themselves! Millions of dollars channeled throughout the globe through donations and purchases of different solidarity kits and gadgets, ranging from bracelets, to shirts and posters.  These millions of dollars are fueling the efforts which made the KONY2012 such a successful social media offensive, yet the virtual nature of the campaigns main feature brings to the spotlight several critics concerning the budget allocation and spending.

I will quote here the website http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/:

“Last year, the organization spent $8,676,614. Only 32% went to direct services (page 6), with much of the rest going to staff salaries, travel and transport, and film production. This is far from ideal for an issue which arguably needs action and aid, not awareness, and Charity Navigator rates their accountability 2/4 stars because they lack an external audit committee. But it goes way deeper than that.”

The budgetary management is far from being a regulated financial source and the lack of transparency and audit further advances the theory of mal practice and financial frauds.

Yet, financial opacity is not the key concern raised about the KONY2012 campaign. The political implications are far outweighing any financial considerations indeed. A US military intervention, be it through logistical support, military advisory personnel or through actual ground intervention with American troops, stirs enormous concerns on the incentive behind a military participation and the potential implications of such acts on the US interests.

The Political profile of the supporters of the KONY2012 campaign inside the corridors of the congress can easily be drawn. The video displays the 12 political figures the campaign intends to motivate towards a military intervention, and not surprisingly, the republicans are at the forefront of the little congress battalion ready to fight for a humanitarian intervention, as they did in Iraq and elsewhere.

Did IAM step back?

After the last media campaign which stirred countless responses over the VoIP problems apparently initiated by the telecommunication firm IAM, and the many blog posts, tweets, articles and letters from Skype, Viber and other software using the VoIP feature, the calm may have come back to the Internet community after many users reported an increase in Skype calls quality.

Source: http://wirelessfederation.com/news/91499-skype-blocked-in-morocco-morocco/

The speculations flying around assert that IAM may have pulled off and let the VoIP services re-operate fully without interference as a mean to cool down the public discontent which already shattered the companies reputation.

Some go as far as referring to a potential process of installing spying devices by IAM to control and monitor the information flow, cause of the potential interference with the VoIP feature... everything is plausibe!

While we are waiting for some of the technicians inside the company's corridors to leak a confirmation or a denial of the backing off from the usage of the newly deployed Cisco hardware, we can only speculate on a probable victory of the internet community to get the firm on its knee, asserting furthermore the immense power of the internet users in influencing policy making and companies behavior.

We hope to hear back from more people on the re-establishment of the good quality calls in Skype and other software using the VoIP feature, and until then, I will keep you updated on the news and development concerning the matter.

Mohamed Amine Belarbi

Occupy IAM!

A lot of tumult has been raised concerning the outraging initiative Itisalat Al Maghrib, the leading telecomunication company, undertook in the last period.
The provider of internet decided to cut the VoIP services and thus thousands if not million of Moroccans are unable to use softwares using this service such as Skype and others.

Steming from a protectionist policy meant to safeguard the earnings of the company against any competition, IAM has shown a coward attitude towards its consumers and towards the worlwide softwares using the VoIP technology, and thus lost respect and allegiance from a wide array of local consumers ranging from the old grandma who used to talk to her grandson in Europe, to the businessman holding his meeting through Skype conferences with international partners, passing by the usual student who needs to pass a Skype interview with the admission offices of the US universities.

What makes the problem doomed to persist is the probable interference of the government in such matters, knowing that our lovely intelligence officers have a hard time tracking and monitoring our conversations which bypass the conventional phone lines.
The intelligence networks spread out accross the country have all to win from such measures prompted by IAM, and the lack of a governmental initiative to tackle the problem and restaure the citizen's right to enjoy the internet services wouldn't come with much surprise.

Whether it is to blame on IAM or on the old grumpy intelligence officers, the necessity to act is more than pressing in a society where the citizen strives to show that he is aware of his rights and is ready to fight for them.

Let us boycott IAM, shame it publicly through a staunch media campaign against it, and let us write petitions to Skype and other companies using the VoIP services prompting them to remind the government of its responsibility to assure a free internet where no company nor government can interefere and imped the rights of its users.

Let us Occupy IAM offices around Morocco!

Follows a video post concerning the matter:

IAM response: Deny everything as expected!

Viber Response to the consumer complaints about the VoIP problem: Source: 

http://www.demainonline.com/2012/02/23/voip-maroc-teh-lecom-dement-la-censure-mais/

Mohamed Amine Belarbi

The New Gulf Vision for International Education

An NYUAD future undergrad insight 

On the request of a friend, I'll be writing this post on a subject loosely related to politics, specifically on the New York University of Abu Dhabi, with a modest approach to the Gulf politics, just so to keep the writing line of the blog present...

It is quite unique to observe a new trend in Education, sourcing in the Gulf countries, namely Qatar and the UAE... students around the world have noticed the fierce advertising of a new "kind" of Universities who, strange enough, bear US brands while being located in the middle of the oily arabian deserts.
Quite an explosive cocktail one would say, especially that the Middle East was never recognized for being the harbor of US Universities with great caliber. (Some even still think of the Middle East as an empty desert populated by bedouins...)

After the invasion with tanks, Fighter jets and ground troops, the Arabian peninsula is now living the era of intellectual incursion, and incursion one would argue which benefits the locals more than it offers a fruitful ground for brainwashing and Westrn conditionning for propsective Arab leaders.

As I am heading to the New York University of Abu Dhabi to be part of the 2016 class, I believe an insight on the new educational fashion promoted by the wealthy Emirates from my part would be highly appreciated, as some of my countreparts evoked.

The first impression that most of us would have is the stereotype of the wealthy fat sheiks and how a University planted in the Gulf would ultimately enjoy the many financial benefits of the area...and indeed it turns out to be true!
The logistics, infrastructure and budget of the US Universities out there, or at leat the ones I know (NYUAD and Georgetown University in Qatar) are virtually limitless! Ranging from Luxurious dorms to 3D TVs, passing by scholarship packages which include countless benefits and Filipino servants clearing your plates, this new Gulf/US branded universities have the primary weapon to drag the brightest students who are more than willing to study for free and get pocket money over it.

Another prominent feature of these Gulf branches of imminent US Universities is the outstanding faculty they manage to gather in their campus corridors. Draging top professors from Yale, Harvard, Oxford and numerous prestigious institutions, the head hunters don't go easy in selecting a stunning panel of teachers to make the University stand out internationnally, with of course fat paycheques being thrown left and right.
More impressive, the University I am attending in a couple of months welcomes the NYU president John Sexton bi-weekly so that he can teach his famous course (Government and Religion) to both the NYUAD students and an Emirati selected group, raising concerns about the costs of such journeys without mentionning the fury it starts among the environementalists who would get pissed off when it comes to the presidents' carbon footprint...

From personal experience, I can totally confirm the luxury these Universities afford to their students, especially after a journey I undertook to Abu Dhabi as part of a candidate weekend (part of the selection process).
Bringing 70 students from around the world to the UAE and bearing all the costs of travel, stay in a luxury hotel with on the top fancy activities in the desert and in the 7 stars hotel Emirates Palace(fancy dinner in Emirates Palace. pic down), this is what one would call hardcore advertisement!

And indeed it is one of the most powerful tools to expand the influence of the University, making the students go crazy over how fancy the trip to AD was and spread the word about the institution among their fellow coyears...(Bear in mind that not all the students got admitted at the end, though they were brought from the end of the globe to take part in sample courses and undertake a campus tour among others...)

It is indeed impressive that the Arab Gulf countries are heading in this new educational road where new perspectives and revolutionary vision are being drawn alongside the tall skycrapers which burst in the deserts of Arabia!
John Sexton  didn't spare words when describing the vision he sees taking place in NYUAD, a vision which reflected the eagerness of the UAE to take over the global leadership in the domains of Education, Business and Technology.

The UAE is a country which is still building and shaping itself, and the efforts of nation-building undergone in the oil rich emirates are to be met with an equivalent effort by the international community in order to foster peace and prosperity in times where wars are waged, ignorance is spread and hunger is a valuable currency in world marketing.

Coupled with the limitless financial capabilities made possible by the oil revenues, the new world vision taking place in the Gulf is to be taken on serious grounds, especially that the economic uncertainties in the West and the shifting of geopolitical centers to the East makes the emergence of centers of power in the Gulf a certain outcome. A clear display of such ground breaking changes is the shining of the star of Qatar in the last Arab Uprising where the tiny country unblocked huge funding ans tactical moves which threw it on the front line of those benefiting from the advantages of regime removals.

From organized protests in Qatari studios to political and logistical support to rebels, without forgetting the highly trained media staff which organized the unfolding of the revolutions in Aljazeera corridors, Qatar has shown that the determination of the Gulf countries to enclench its fist and grab the torch of leadership is not an ephemer fantasy, but a true vision for a New World Order where the rules of the global gameplay are drawn differently.

Heavy International investments are no more than a small fraction of what the Gulf has to offer, yet, the era of subordination and passive politics is now gone. Turning from the receiver to the active player, the Sheiks of Arabia have learned the lesson and are ready to make drastic changes (relatively ;) in order to channel the power of oil into palpable holdings in politics, business and education.

The conventional is not welcome in the Gulf of the 21st century, and so is the idea behind hosting US campuses while boosting their capabilities to make them outsmart their mother institutions back home. Give them money, give them logistics, give them buildings, internships, stunning faculty, countless research opportunities, study abroad programs, trips, conferences, evenings with top world personalities, luxury in its most mindblowing forms, and collect the results!

It is still an experimental process which found many supporters and critics, yet the fact that there is a genuine willingness to move the Gulf forward and make it a new hub for intellectual, political and economic leaps brings hope and faith in the Middle East as a whole, especially that it doesn't lack capabilities to bring real change to the ground, provided the West allows such re-emergence and sees it as a collaborative advance rather than a potential threat to the US and EU predominance in the global scene.

Mohamed Amine Belarbi