Tag Archives: Lebanon

#StatsDay2020: Data-telling in MENA

There’s story-telling. There’s tattle-telling. Then there’s data-telling. How much does a country’s data collection efforts reflect its social, economic, political, institutional, civic, human and health development? Given the global pandemic of COVID-19, PITAPOLICY argues that the data transparency correlates with … Continue reading

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Reducing Freedom Through #AutocraSisi #BloggerFlogger #OilSpoils … and torture

Freedom includes many things: freedom from autocracy and/or flogging.  (The autocratic practices in Egypt, by, say, President Sisi, is what prompted us to coin the term “autocrasisi”.  We are also a bit worried about the “blogger flogger” phenomena in Saudi … Continue reading

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Why Is #Morocco the Outlier in Gallup #Poll?

Why is Morocco the outlier in Gallup’s poll?  Morocco is more confident about its economic future than ANY other MENA neighbor!  Gallup released a poll last week looking at economic confidence across the Middle East and North Africa in 2013 … Continue reading

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Gini Out of the Bottle: How Dangerous Is Wealth Inequality to Democracy?

  The “Gini is out of the bottle” as we grossly joked last week.  (We couldn’t help but insert a pun about the Gini Coefficient.)  Gini Coefficient measures the level of wealth distribution…the higher the number, the higher the inequality … Continue reading

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She Entrepreneurs Programme Wants Females from MENA

Greetings Pita-consumers! Do you know of a rising female entrepreneur?  The She Entrepreneurs 2014 is now open for applications!  Founded in 2011 to harness the talent of the MENA region’s precious resource, its youth, “She Entrepreneurs” is operated by the … Continue reading

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World Economic Forum Covers Energy, Employment, #SSN, #Syria…What did the #WEF not cover?

The World Economic Forum just held its meeting in Jordan this past weekend and focused on energy, employment, Palestinian peace, and smatterings of Syria crisis issues.  However, certain political issues were avoided.  For example, questions about both Lebanon’s suspended elections … Continue reading

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Happy Holidays: Reflecting on the Lands Where Christianity Began…

Dear Pita-Consumers: PITAPOLICY would like to wish you all a happy holidays…and to our Christian Pitapals, a very SAFE merry Christmas. We look forward to hearing your Christmas reflections on the holy lands where Christianity began and other pita-consuming countries … Continue reading

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Islamic Month of Dhul Hijja: Opportunities for Corporate Social Responsibility? #CSR

  Dear Pita-consumers: A few days ago, the Islamic month of Dhul Hijja started for Muslims in the pita-consuming region.  However, PITAPOLICY is struggling to put the events in the region into perspective.  The list of downers is quite frustrating: … Continue reading

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Providing Aid Hurts Recipient Countries’ Local Businesses Too

Do you think the United States should cut off aid to the Middle East? PITAPOLICY Founder Mehrunisa Qayyum explores this issue further, building on her September 25th post Cutting Off Aid to Arab World Hurts U.S. Business, in response to the … Continue reading

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Business in Beirut

PITAPOLICY has gained a new appreciation for technology–not simply because of attending the Annual ArabNet Summit. Although the Lebanese War lasted until 2006, Lebanon’s capital has drastically undertaken measures to boost its economy–notwithstanding the significant re-investment of the Lebanese Diaspora … Continue reading

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