The second volume in a new series, the Contemporary Archive of the Islamic World (CAIW), this title draws on the resources of World of Information, a Cambridge-based British publisher that since 1975 has published analyses of the politics and economics of all the Middle East countries. The United Arab Emirates is a young country. This title covers the first four decades or so of the country’s existence looking at the individual emirates, their rulers and their tribes. Rivalries occasionally became conflicts, but year by year differences have diminished and unity prevailed. In this title each annual overview gives a comprehensive picture.

The first of a new series, the Contemporary Archive of the Islamic World, this title draws on the resources of World of Information, a British publisher that since 1975 has published analyses of the politics and economics of all the Middle East countries. For decades Syria lay at the heart of Middle Eastern affairs. Under Assad rulers, and sharing a border with Israel, Syria’s fortunes have been complex. Strategic alliances were formed and fell apart. Domestic rebellions were quelled, often violently. Since 2011, Syria has been in the world’s headlines every day, riven by a civil war that has risked bringing the world’s major powers into open conflict. The CAIW provides an essential background to a complex international problem.

Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) is today a core capability for the modern military, in peacetime and in war. ISR is and will remain a key enabler in the Gulf region in ongoing conflicts. There is still a reliance on the United States, and its ISR systems deployed in the Gulf, to facilitate ongoing operations and to provide situational awareness at the tactical, operational and strategic levels. However, even US ISR is finite, and there is growing demand for its resources in other regions. The Gulf Cooperation Council states have some ISR capacity, but this needs further development and improved exploitation to better address regional needs. Written by a team of IISS specialists, ISR & the Gulf: An Assessment considers the meaning of and requirement for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in the context of the region. It examines the military needs and industrial aspirations of the Gulf Arab states regarding ISR, and the opportunities and risks these present. The report is a companion work to the Institute’s Missile-Defence Cooperation in the Gulf, and is similarly intended to help provide the basis for informed decision-making to support improved security in the region.

In recent decades Russia has played an increasingly active role in the Middle East as states within the region continue to diversify their relations with major external powers. Yet the role of specific Russian regions, especially those that share an 'Islamic identity' with the GCC has been overlooked. In this book Diana Galeeva examines the relations between the Gulf States and Russia from the Soviet era to the present day. Using the Republic of Tatarstan, one of Russia's Muslim polities as a case study, Galeeva demonstrates the emergence of relations between modern Tatarstan and the GCC States, evolving from concerns with economic survival to a rising paradiplomacy reliant on shared Islamic identities. Having conducted fieldwork in the Muslim Republics of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan and Dagestan, the book includes interviews with high-ranking political figures, heads of religious organisations and academics. Moving beyond solely economic and geopolitical considerations, the research in this book sheds light on the increasingly important role that culture and shared Islamic identity play in paradiplomacy efforts.

Offering contributions from international leaders in the field, this volume builds on empirically informed meta-analyses to foreground relationship-based aspects of parental involvement in children’s education and learning. Chapters explore how factors including parent-child communication, cultural and parental expectations, as well as communication with a child’s teacher and school can impact educational outcomes. By focusing on relationships between parents, teachers, and students, chapter authors offer a nuanced picture of parental involvement in children’s education and learning. Considering variation across countries, educational and non-educational contexts, and challenges posed by parental absence and home schooling, the book offers key insights into how parents, schools, communities, and educators can best support future generations. Using multiple forms of research from the relational perspective, this volume will be of interest to students, scholars, and researchers with an interest in educational psychology as well as child development.

This is one of six volumes that present the results of the PISA 2018 survey, the seventh round of the triennial assessment. Volume III, What School Life Means for Students’ Lives, focuses on the physical and emotional health of students, the role of teachers and parents in shaping the school climate, and the social life at school. The volume also examines indicators of student well-being, and how these are related to the school climate.

This report presents the latest conclusions of the peer reviews of the legal frameworks put in place by jurisdictions to implement the AEOI standard and two new initial effectiveness reviews. It supplements and builds upon the assessments of the legal frameworks and the initial reviews of the effectiveness of their implementation in practice published in 2022, for around 100 jurisdictions that were the first to commit to commence AEOI.

This report presents the latest conclusions of the peer reviews of the legal frameworks put in place by each jurisdiction to implement the AEOI standard. The results relate to the more than 100 jurisdictions that committed to commence AEOI by 2020.

The volume has a twofold purpose: first, to question main presuppositions and perceptions regarding religion and international politics in the Middle East and, second, to reflect on the role(s) of religion in the regional order. The first part deals with the contribution of religion to a post-Western turn in International Relations in the Middle East and beyond. It discusses the postsecular conceptual framework in order to expand their approaches to the analysis of the Middle East and addresses the search for religion’s “suitable place” within International Relations, taking as a starting point the social changes in the world and the postulated "Mesopotamian turn" in International Relations. The second part focuses on the role of state-like non-state actors. ISIS challenged the international order because, contrary to revolutionary states in the past, it negates the foundations of the Westphalian system. At the same time, the rise of ISIS had a tremendous impact on the jihadi (sub) system. The third part studies the impact of religion on foreign and security policy (Israel, UAE, UK, and Saudi Arabia). It explores how religion has been shaping each stage of the decision-making process, the position that religion holds in perceptions of stability in the post-2011 era, and the politics of ‘‘moderate Islam’’, arguing that even though ‘’moderate Islam’’ has been devised for creating ‘’soft power’’, it serves ‘’sharp power’’ as well.

The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI) is the most forceful multilateral initiative to coordinate tax regimes on a worldwide basis since the dawn of modern income taxation over a century ago. This book evaluates two radically opposed viewpoints on the convention—a momentous and revolutionary paradigm shift versus a mechanism that merely continues an ongoing flow of limited policy coordination—with detailed investigations that bring to life the hopes and the realities of the current era of multilateral tax cooperation. Bringing together authors from national jurisdictions across the globe to scrutinize the MLI and its likely future ramifications, the book provides in-depth commentary and analysis in the following sequence: first, a comprehensive discussion of the design and goals of the MLI as a treaty and an institutional framework; second, an overview of the structure of the convention and its take-up across the globe to date; and third, the substantive implementation of the MLI with a wide range of country reports. Practice areas covered include tax law, international law, and international relations. The legal workings and implications of the MLI might still seem mysterious to those whose daily work is impacted by it, and there is as yet little jurisprudence regarding its legal nature or ultimate effect on the bilateral treaties coming within its scope. For these reasons, this pathbreaking book will be warmly welcomed by in-house counsel and law firms advising cross-border investors and firms; nongovernmental organizations involved in policy analysis and issue advocacy; researchers working on technical areas of international tax law; and lawyers interested in international policymaking, including the creation and diffusion of consensus-based fiscal and related regulatory norms across jurisdictions of differing development levels.