The Good Governance Partnership

The Middle East and North Africa is one of the most important regions in the world; rich in natural resources and has strategic position connecting with different parts of the world. However, the region is doomed with the spread of bad governance and conflict.

With one of the youngest populations in the world, the MENA region can unleash a strong growth potential by increasing economic opportunities for its youth and reducing youth unemployment, currently the highest in the world at 29%. Enrollment in tertiary education has seen impressive progress with over a 190% increase in the number of university students since 2000. The region’s young and well-educated population is a solid base for future and strong economic development.

The Youth talents, resources, perspectives and energy are still significantly untapped in the region. Youth and women are valuable assets in both developing and implementing development policies in the region.

As part of the Middle East Month, this webinar will address questions related to the youth and engagements aspects of countries of  the region and potential scenarios that can transform the region. The Webinar hosts a panel of experts and bring a fresh perspective into the debate on perspective and aspiration of Youth in the MENA region. 

Martin El Khouri

Shan Hussein

Basel Al-Madhoun

Fadel Saleh

Our host Martin El-Khouri discusses opportunities and threats arising for ASEAN against the background of the newly signed Regional Comprehensive Partnership between 15 Asian countries, including ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea. 

It was a momentous day as Leaders of ASEAN Member States, Australia, China, Japan, Republic of Korea and New Zealand witnessed the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement.

The RCEP marks ASEAN’s biggest free trade pact to date, covering a market of 2.2 billion people with a combined size of US$26.2 trillion or 30% of the world’s GDP.

“The signing of the RCEP Agreement is a historic event as it underpins ASEAN’s role in leading a multilateral trade agreement of this magnitude, despite global and regional challenges and eight years of negotiations,” said Dato Lim Jock Hoi, Secretary-General of ASEAN.

“RCEP will give a much-needed boost for a swift and robust recovery for businesses and peoples in our region particularly during the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis,” he added.

The deal will improve market access with tariffs and quotas eliminated in over 65% of goods traded and make business predictable with common rules of origin and transparent regulations, upon entry into force. This will encourage firms to invest more in the region, including building supply chains and services, and to generate jobs.

The Agreement has 20 Chapters, 17 Annexes and 54 schedules of commitments covering market access, rules and disciplines, and economic and technical cooperation.

But specifically in the West, sceptical voices arise, describing ASEAN as a facilitator for an overwhelmingly powerful China, as yet another step towards a unrewindable Chinese dominance in APAC. But is that really so?

We also discuss her new book ASEAN-EU Partnership (worldscientific.com), which is currently available at a 20% discount at world scientific  if you type in the code AEUP20.

The United Arab Enemies and Bahrain are only the third and fourth Arab country in history to establish diplomatic ties with the state of Israel. 

In his paper "Reinventing the Middle East" written in 2018, Martin El-Khouri argued that stability in the Middle East is only achievable if the ties between Sunni-Arab states increase. He also claimed that peace between the Gulf-Arab states and the state of Israel is already being negotiated. According to him, Israel's security interests in the region are aligned with those of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other members of the GCC. The Trump administration shares the the desire to further contain Iran, and hence, has already started to act as an intermediary between the "alleged enemies" Saudi Arabia and Israel since Trump was elected into office. In fact, in 2018 already, numerous events and claims from high officials of Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have already hinted at a normalization of relations, which now has become a reality. How can the Abraham accords change the trajectory, the Middle East has taken? And what do the corruption allegations against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the upcoming US-elections have to do with all of this? And, what comes next? Will tensions with Iran increase? Or are we witnessing a new dawn for a peaceful Middle East?

In this video, Martin El-Khouri spoke with young individuals from all continents. He collected insights on how 12 different countries are coping with COVID - 19. How are people feeling right now? How strict are the measures taken by the local authorities? This video is created by us to show that in the midst of the world's biggest crisis since the second world war, the people of the world are and remain united. We are in this together, and we will get out of this together as well.

The world can be strange at times. On the one hand, everything is as interconnected and intertwined as it has never been before in the history of humankind. On the other hand, people increasingly emphasize their uniqueness. Individualism has become tremendously important, and despite a global economic system, political infrastructure and challenges that can only be solved jointly, it feels like separation is increasing. Does individualism, or rather identity, play a role in this development? In this episode, I had the pleasure to discuss this phenomenon with Dr. Richard Burchill. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Bussola institute in Brussels and former Director of Research and Engagement for TRENDS Research & Advisory. He has lived in the Middle East for several years and hence, provides valuable insight on the development in that region. We are speaking about right-wing extremism, Islamist Extremism, and how that affects decision makers and global governance in the future. 

Governance in authoritarian systems is difficult to implement. Corporate Governance could provide opportunities not only to support private sector growth in the region, but also to provide a framework, which allows for political reforms.  In this episode, Martin speaks about how governance could help the Middle East to overcome some of the most serious challenges. Especially economically, appealing Good Governance principles can provide new opportunities for the region. This topic has been discussed during the World Economic Forum in Davos 2019. 

Listen to our co-chair Martin's view on the conceptualization of Governance and its importance in the 21st century. This episode introduces approaches to conceptualize governance and sets the stage for all upcoming episodes. 

Martin El-Khouri studied Political Science with a major in Economics at the University of Bremen, Germany, and holds a Master’s degree in International Relations – Global Political Economy from Dresden, Technical University.

In 2015, he co-founded IPS-Germany, an internationally operating medical services and health care company based in Wiesbaden, Germany. Martin is a journalist and news-reporter for ZDF. His work at the editorial inspired him to delve deeper into all kinds of governance-related issues, supporting his decision to also work for the German Corporation for International Cooperation. He supported the Good Governance Cluster Yemen team for six months by implementing projects that support the concepts of Good Governance. His work also allowed him to satisfy his deep interest and connection to the Middle East.

Martin has been with GDF since 2017. He is a YDF alumnus and member of the Global Diplomatic Forum’s Youth Working Group.

What made us get together and form this group within the Global Diplomatic Forum? Find out in our first episode. Who are we, what is our goal, and most importantly, why have we chosen Governance as the topic to discuss? In this first episode, you will find that out. Welcome to the Good Governance Partnership. 

Good Governance is a term, that is widely known, but not quite as precisely understood. While in business, the term Corporate Governance is broadly defined as the collection of mechanisms, processes and relations by which corporations are controlled and operated, there is much more to it than we can see at first sight. Governance is a structural element.

The principles identify how rights and responsibilities are distributed in a corporation. And these principles are omnipresent, and every member of a corporation is bound to these rules. The board of directors, managers, shareholders, regulators, and stakeholders. In business, Governance is measurable, even though not easily.  In politics however, applying Good Governance is much more challenging.

The level of Good Governance applied by a government for instance cannot easily be measured. The term Good Governance includes how state makes its decisions, formulates and realizes its policies. Good Governance is transparent, efficient, and accountable. It includes the whole population in the decision-making process. And it also includes the interests of minorities and weak members of a society, to make sure that they are all, inclusively, recipients of necessary goods and services.

Even though the general concept sounds logical, it really is hard to grasp. Is Good Governance a value or a principle that stands for itself, autonomously, without any link to other aspects of a state’s organization? Or is good governance rather an integral part of each sector in which policy decisions are made? And: Is Good Governance only possible in democratic systems? And if yes, what does that mean for the autocratic regimes in the MENA, for instance?  Are they all operating without any kind of guiding governance? Or could the installation of sector-wide Good Governance principles actually help to end the Arab Malaise? And what about Europe the European crisis? Is the declining belief in this supranational framework a consequence of a lack of the application of good governance principles?

We will address relevant questions in this regular series, step by step, by looking at the key challenges, the application of Good Governance principles is facing in the context of crisis. We address the broad topics of political participation, education, access to labor-markets, climate change, and the distribution of goods and services. We will discuss to what extent the lack of governance contributes to the poor performances in relevant domains. This is to show that Good Governance is more, than a means to itself. It is a requirement for success, sustainability, and growth.