Translating Gulf boom into books

By Roula Khalaf in Dubai November 20, 2007 2:36 pm Financial Times

As Gulf states forge ahead with economic expansion plans, they are starting to address a glaring social deficit - the dismal dissemination of knowledge in Arab societies.

In the latest of a series of initiatives, the Abu Dhabi government is on Wednesday launching Kalima - which means ‘word’ in Arabic - a project that aims to finance the translation of 100 classic and contemporary books every year.

The project comes as a new Dubai foundation focussing on education works with three regional centres dedicated to translating select works into Arabic and ensure their free distribution to universities.

Linking up with 20 of the top publishers in the region, concentrated in two countries - Egypt and Lebanon - Abu Dhabi’s Kalima will choose the works and back their distribution and marketing.

The effort to boost translation of foreign works is both educational and political, marking an attempt to counter the dominance of religious books on the market.

Among the first books that Kalima will be promoting are Umberto Eco’s The Sign and Stephen Hawkins’ A brief history of Time.

A 2003 UN Arab Human Development Report said serious constraints hampered the acquisition, diffusion and production of knowledge in the Arab world and offered some alarming findings.

Translation of works into Arabic, it said, lagged far behind the rest of the world, with five times more books translated into Greek at that time, which was spoken by 11m people, compared to an Arab world population of more than 280m. A best seller in Arab countries might have a print run of only 5,000 copies, it said.

According to Karim Nagy, chief executive of Kalima, more recent statistics show that from 1972 to date, only 8,000 books were translated into Arabic, compared to 190,000 in Spnish. He attributes part of the problem to the deep fragmentation of the publishing industry.

But in the largely autocratic Arab world, government control and censorship have also impeded the industry and hampered the development of other key aspects of a knowledge society, particularly the media.

Pressure on publishers has also come from political groups, with Islamists seeking to prevent the sale of books they find offensive. Press laws in the United Arab Emirates itself, which includes Abu Dhabi and Dubai, remain restrictive and there is a high level of self-censorship in the local press.

Mr Nagy said Kalima did not intend to be deliberately controversial but that it would also not exercise censorship filters in the title selection. International publishers, he said, will be on the selection committee. “We want to win the readers,” he said. Ends

By David B. Roberts Last updated: November 1, 2012 9:53 am Financial Times

When plans for Qatar to create a €50m euro fund to invest in some of Paris’s poorest suburbs emerged last month, the French political right and left united in disapproval. Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, denounced the move as a plot to stoke Islamism in Paris’s Muslim-dominated districts, while the left-leaning Libération railed against the French government allegedly subcontracting its sovereign duties to a Middle Eastern state whose motives were suspect.

Yet the reaction shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the way Qatar operates globally and what it is trying to achieve. The pattern of its international relations shows its investments are geared primarily to three things: profit, security and building a brand that appeals to its western allies despite not being a democracy. The investment in the banlieue – long a scar on France’s social conscience – looks no different.

Part of the suspicion of French commentators stems from the difficulty of evaluating what kind of financial return Qatar could make from such a venture. Simultaneously, Qatar’s well-known support of Islamists in the Arab Spring has spawned far-fetched reports in the French press, quoting military intelligence sources who accuse Doha of supporting pro-Sharia armed militants in Mali.

Yet all this ignores a long record of examples that suggest financial gain is typically foremost in any Doha-backed investment. Such strategy is driven by a desire to bolster the country’s balance sheet and diversify earnings away from oil and gas.

The Qatar Investment Authority, the state’s main international investment vehicle, was established in 2005 to bolster and secure the longer term health of the economy through diversification. Subsequently, it has earned a reputation as a successful, thirsty investor with a particular eye for bargains and blue-chip companies.

Image in the west is also an important element of Qatari ventures overseas, whether backing Libyan rebels or building the Shard, London and Europe’s tallest building.

Since the mid-1990s, Qatar has been trying to present itself as a business-savvy, culturally-sophisticated and forward-thinking country, differentiating itself from other Gulf city-states such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Manama. Doha’s heavy investment in international art and education facilities, conferences and big sporting events such as the World Cup are all part of building the brand of Qatar™.

A third strand in Qatar’s financial strategy is linked to its core security concerns. It has seen Kuwait invaded in 1990, a deepening crisis over Iran and often acrimonious relations with Saudi Arabia – all of which mean it needs its western allies.

While Doha already has the US security umbrella and various agreements with France and the UK, it has been steadily building these relationships, particularly with London, over the past few years. Tens of billions of pounds of investment in London, not to mention supplying a vast proportion of the UK’s gas requirement, guarantees Qatar an appointment at Downing Street whenever it wishes. Doha has also made a series of important acquisitions in France and buys up to 80 per cent of its military material from the republic.

Although there is no document setting out Qatar’s strategy, it is apparent from – and only possible because of – the concentration of power in the hands of a tiny number of decision-makers who are related and share a vision of a country’s future. While Hamad Bin Kalifah Al Thani, the emir, remains in broad strategic control, Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the crown prince, is increasingly active and is behind several recent sporting ventures, including the acquisition of Paris St Germain football club. Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani, prime minister and foreign minister, is the key player in the Qatar Investment Authority, while Sheikha Moza, the emir’s second wife, is the guiding force behind the social and educationally-focused Qatar Foundation. Sheikha Mayassa, the emir and Moza’s daughter, is in charge of museums and art projects.

The Paris banlieue project contains elements of all the imperatives that have driven Qatar’s international investment spree so far. The fund may prove to be a successful micro-lending facility from which Doha will gain financially in the longer term. Its charitable and social focus also help Qatar look good and while the plan has its roots in the Sarkozy presidency, that it continues under President Hollande reinforces the flowering bilateral relationship between Paris and Doha.

Fear of Qatari motives seems unwarranted in this case. Doha’s slowly liberalising rulers prize their key western allies above all else. They would be loathe to see what – for them – is a tiny deal financially jeopardise goals that they have been aiming at for many years now.

DNA project to trace human steps

By Paul Rincon BBC News science reporter Scientists aim to trace ancient human migratory routes (Image: Chris Johns/National Geographic) A project spanning five continents is aiming to map the history of human migration via DNA. The Genographic Project will collect DNA samples from over 100,000 people worldwide to help piece together a picture of how the Earth was colonised. Samples gathered from indigenous people and the general public will be subjected to lab and computer analysis to extract the valuable genetic data. Team leader Dr Spencer Wells calls the plan "the Moon shot of anthropology". We see this as part of the commons of our species Dr Spencer Wells, The Genographic Project The $40m (£21m) privately funded initiative is a collaboration between National Geographic, IBM and the Waitt Family Foundation charity. Participating in the five-year study are some of the world's top population geneticists, as well as leading experts in the fields of ancient DNA, linguistics and archaeology. Future resource "We see this as a resource for humanity going into the future. It could potentially become the largest genetic database ever created," Dr Wells told the BBC News website. The DNA double helix is held together by 2.9 billion chemical components called base-pairs Enlarge Image Members of the public will be able to buy a kit that contains all the material needed to add their genetic information to the database. Already, evidence from genetics and archaeology places the origin of modern humans (Homo sapiens) in Africa roughly 200,000 years ago. It is thought, the first moderns to leave the continent set off around 60,000 years ago. By studying the Y (or male) chromosome and mitochondrial DNA (which is passed down exclusively on the maternal line), scientists have pieced together a broad-brush picture of which populations moved where in the world - and when. What is lacking, says Wells, is the fine detail, which could be filled in by this large-scale project. Many Native American communities are strongly advised by their elders not to give samples François Balloux, University of Cambridge "We know which markers on the Y chromosome to focus on; we know our way around the mitochondrial genome fairly well. We just haven't had the large sample sizes to apply these technologies properly," Dr Wells explained. "There are still many questions we haven't answered. Was there any interbreeding with Neanderthals as modern humans moved into Europe? Did any of the migrations to the Americas come across the Pacific - or even the Atlantic?" These and other unanswered questions form the research goals of the project. They include: Who are the oldest populations in Africa - and therefore the world? Did Alexander the Great's armies leave a genetic trail? Who were the first people to colonise India? Is it possible to obtain intact DNA from the remains of Homo erectus and other extinct hominids? How has colonialism affected genetic patterns in Africa? Was there any admixture with Homo erectus as modern humans spread throughout South-East Asia? Is there any relationship between Australian Aboriginal genetic patterns and their oral histories? What are the origins of differences between human groups? A total of 10 DNA collection centres located around the world will focus on obtaining samples from indigenous peoples. The genetic markers in the blood of these groups have remained relatively unchanged for generations. "Sub-Saharan Africa harbours the spectrum of variation that will allow us to trace the very origin of our species as well as more recent incursions," said Himla Soodyall, principal project investigator for that region. Collection challenge But some researchers said experience on other projects suggested this one could run into trouble with indigenous groups - particularly those, such as Native Americans and Aboriginal Australians, with a history of exploitation. "I don't know how they'll deal with getting samples from more sensitive places," commented François Balloux, a population geneticist at the University of Cambridge, UK. Spencer Wells aims to build the world's largest genetic database ( Image: Mark Read) "Amongst Australian Aborigines and Native Americans, the cultural resistance to co-operating with scientists is very strong. "For example, many Native American communities are strongly advised by their elders not to give samples." Ajay Royyuru, IBM's lead scientist on the Genographic Project was optimistic on the issue. "We want to attract their participation by being extremely clear about what we do and do not do. For example, we are very clear about not trying to exploit their genetic diversity for medical uses," he told the BBC News website. Project directors said they had already sought advice from indigenous leaders about their participation. The project will shed light on the origins of human diversity (Image: Jodi Cobb/National Geographic)