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Norway: Home of the corrupt

Since I'm doing mostly school work these days, i'm posting some work that I just started on Norway and corruption. Kinda frustrating sitting inside writing papers on my computer while mass battles between copts muslims are going on around Cairo.

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/431159

Anyways, here's some stuff on corruption and Norway:

Rentier theory tells us that countries with oil and natural resources are prone to authoritarian features. Taking a brief look at the correlation between oil and minerals as a portion of national economies and democracy will lead us to support this notion. Ross’ study from 2001 deals with 113 countries and reaches the conclusion that there is an inverse relationship between rent and democracy; where rent constitutes a small, but significant portion of the economy, regimes will be most authoritarian, while countries with a larger rent-economies will be a little less so.
Norway then, must be the exception that confirms the rule. Pumping up about 3.400 barrels of oil from the North Sea daily, external rent constitutes nearly half of exports and over 30% of state revenue. Norway has top score on the freedom house scales for political and civil rights, as well as a +10 polity score, ranging from -10 to +10. It is also frequently considered by the UN to be the generally best place to live in the world.
In 2003 a corruption scandal shook the Norwegian national oil company, Statoil. During its operations in Iran, it had paid vast sums the son of the ex-president for dubious services. Later investigations revealed that Hydro, another Norwegian oil company, had been involved in a similar case in Libya. Both cases were brought into daylight due to critical journalism. Since then more attention has been given to the problem of corruption on Norway.
But hold on for just a minute. If the corruption in the Norwegian oil companies primarily occurs on countries that are generally considered corrupt, such as Iran and Libya, would it not be natural to assume that the corruption happens on the initiative of actors from those countries, and not the Norwegian representatives? I think it is reasonable to assume that the Norwegian oil companies are accomplices in the conduct of the crime until proven otherwise. After all, Statoil was sentenced by courts in both the United States and Norway to pay fines of 70 million NOK and 20 million NOK respectively. Further critical journalism also revealed that oil companies generally discourage Norwegian diplomats from talking about corruption. Even if this might serve short term Norwegian economical interest, a continuation of a “don’t ask don’t tell policy” would be harmful both to Norwegian attitudes against corruption in the future and the focus of the Norwegian foreign ministry.
The last decade has seen the publication of many books about national corruption, including the titles “Political corruption as a democratic problem” and “Corruption in Norway”, both finding the trail of corruption to lead partly back to the oil industry. The first mentioned alleges that there are strong ties from the top of the oil companies to political circles.
A necessary precaution to make when addressing corruption as an effect of rent is to consider the fact that the states we generally consider rentier states in the Middle East seem to be spread out along Transparency’s corruption perceptions index. This means that we cannot generally associate corruption with rentier states. However, when one looks closely enough at what is generally is considered rentier-economies the paths leading to authoritarianism and flawed governance are case-dependent. In Saudi-Arabia the national oil company has a strict anti-corruption policy, but the regime has a long history of repression and autocratic rule.
To see if oil might harm Norwegian governance, the Scandinavian context might be more useful, as they offer an opportunity for a similar-system design. The following table gives an overview over corruption perceptions in Scandinavia and the Middle East oil countries:

Corruption perceptions Index
Ranking Score
Nordic countries
Denmark 1 9,3
Finland 4 9,2
Sweden 4 9,2
Norway 10 8,6
Iceland 11 8,5

Middle East oil countries
Qatar 19 7,7
UAE 28 6,3
Bahrain 48 4,9
Saudi Arabia 50 4,7
Kuwait 54 4,5
Iran 146 2,2
Iraq 175 1,5

Control Countries
USA 22 7,1
Egypt 98 3,1

Transparancy International CPI for 2010

I går var jeg på Cuba, jeg bare nevner det:P

Catching up with Emadh

Months have gone since I last saw the first Egyptian that I ever had an extended conversation with. I have been prevented from seeing him partly because we always miss each other’s calls and partly because life has been busy, at least for me. Emadh has not been so busy. He lost his job at the bakery during the revolution, and the tourists, his main income source, have been gone for quite a while now. For two months he has been hanging out in Tahrir square, protesting and engaging in the activities there. Although one might think that all the people in Tahrir have high hopes for a better future Emadh has turned very pessimistic. He always had a pessimistic way of seeing things, but his mood now was more depressing than ever.

At the same time Tahrir and the movement there has changed his world view. I believe he is still profoundly religious. Still he seems to be pro secular government, and thinks that the strong religiousness in Egypt poses big challenges for the country. His mind was opened now, he said. He felt freer, but believed that he somehow had exchanged his economic “freedom” for a newfound political freedom. He had no belief in a rapid transition to democracy, and also thought that the scheduled elections will be postponed several times, maybe even never held. He had a profound mistrust in the current military government, and said that that the few people of the old regime that has been detained is a mere tip of a bigger iceberg that will stay put at the center of Egyptian politics. The economic downturn and absence of tourists that has followed the riots seems everlasting too Emadh. He has little hopes for a rapid recovery.

I would have suspected Emadh of being more taken up in his own grievances, but his concern seemed more to be about the future of his country. I found that his newfound political preferences are left-leaning (in a socio economic sense) rather than religious conservative. He told me that he identified strongly with the leftist/nasserist Hamdeen Sabahi, the founder of the Karama (dignity) party.

Emadhs (negative) thoughts reflect the more suspicious analyses by critical commentators on the changes in Egypt. (See for example Ellis Goldberg, professor of mine: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67416/ellis-goldberg/mubarakism-without-mubarak ). His suspicion of the military is also relieving. Seeing the collective embrace of the people in uniform has been disturbing to many of the foreign observers here. There has been a filling of the power vacuum by the generals. At the same time seeing crowds cheering at the sight of military helicopters and tanks has caused many to worry. I hope, and I think Emadh hopes too, that he is wrong in his negativism. I think the very observance by Emadh and other Egyptians that there is reason to worry about the army’s tightened grip on things, is a positive sign and that as long as the people will continue to check power by turning to the streets, they will have a say in their country’s future.

When it comes down to it, the future of Egypt will depend on the will and action of the people. That the crowds on the streets can no longer be ignored is a remarkable change in itself, but only if the people use their newly achieved space for assembly and expression will Emadhs negativism be proven wrong.

Lars

Cairo

Spring Break, Cars and Beauty of Beirut

Written on Apr 16th

So what to do? I realized that the cord from my computer charger to the wire extension from the power outlet had tangled around my foot, and that this was what caused me to trip over. In frustration over the internet connection not working properly, not being able to send the overdue application that I had spent far too much time on, I had too quickly and with a clumsy movement raised up from the table. I now found myself lying on the floor on the terrace of this Italian restaurant, having partly wet pants because of the fancy fountain flowing over on the floor right next to me. I was alone on the terrace, as Ragna and Simon had left an hour earlier to let me work on my application. The inside of the restaurant was filling up though, and I could feel eyes glaring at me through the large windows. “Are you alright?” As expected the waitress had come out to check on me. She unplugged the charger cable tangled around my foot. “Mumkin al Hasaab?”

I figured Beirut could only get better from then on. Short on sleep, after a disastrous week of late homework turnins, class skippings and not showing up for mid-terms, I could not be more ready for a few days of indulging in the pleassures of modern city life. After leaving the Italian place in a hurry, I found a Costa Coffee in Hamra street, and sent my intern-application after (again!) some hassle with their wireless connection. Time to party, finally.

The bars in Beirut have females in them. Also enjoyable liquor and music. Good service too. I didn’t miss Cairo.

Downtown Beirut. Really something. Today we went around in its posh side alleys, discussing politics and gender equality, business opportunities and fantasizing about our features.

There is a fancy car for every purpose in Downtown Beirut. The upper middle classes cruise around in huge BMW X6s and Audi Q8s. The even richer ones have Corvettes and Ferraris. I knew that there was money in Lebanon, but really? The police drive some pretty mean looking Chevys, and the army has specialized Gelenderwagens with mounted machine guns. Then there are the VIPs. GMCs with dark windows, driving around in columns.

And the women. A hot babe, climbing her Harley Davidson. Tight leather west, Ray Bans and a hands free microphone. Probably aware but still naturally ignorant of the attention she was getting, she roared out of sight down the Beirut avenue. I say no more.

Tomorrow, or maybe the day after, we’ll go to Shatilla refugee camp. Insh Allah we’ll see contrasts. Maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll have time for a glimpse of Hezbollah too before we leave this place.

Lars, Beirut

I morgen drar jeg til Cuba. Jeg bare nevner det.

Hilde.

SLAPS, Sofa og SamPol

St.Petersburg er milevis unna, og det sludder i Bergen.
Maja studerer politisk økonomi, krangler med Keynes og Friedman, og skriver bachelor-oppgave om russisk energipolitikk. Noe som er det nærmeste jeg kommer Russland og russisk om dagen.

Mens mine bestevenner slikker sol, suger til seg andre kulturelle impulser og boltrer seg i alt det "utlandet" har å by på, er jeg i Bergen. Og hverdagen i Bergen er definitivt rask, rå og spennende! Jeg møter nye utfordringer hver dag. Idag, for eksempel, var det NOK EN GANG noen i kollektivet som ikke hadde brettet melkepakken riktig, slik at det er plass til mye færre melkepakker i kartongen. Videre så er det ingen som gidder å ta ut papp-søpla. I stedet står hver på sitt, og presser ned mer papp i en pose som gir begrepet "stappfull" en helt ny betydning.

Også den ville byen byr på utfordringer. Igår sluddet og regnet det om hverandre, og det var ingen annen utvei enn å kle på seg STØVLER og REGNTØY!
Dagene på SV-biblioteket er harde. Rett som det er blir en allerede sjør konsentrasjon satt på prøve av rare, kroppslige lyder fra Pål Bakkas kontor.
I kantina blir man stadig satt på prøve med Marthas nye sjokoladeboller, som hun prakker på deg ved en hver anledning.

Ikke minst er jobben utfordrende! Her møter jeg topptrente studenter hver dag, som trenger hjelp til EN REKKE problemer! Av og til trenger de for eksempel plaster hvis de har sittet så lenge på spinningsykkelen at de har fått gnagsår. Dette er det min jobb å hjelpe dem med, og det er veldig utfordrende.

Så jeg savner ikke det spennende utland i det hele tatt, jeg.
Neida, Bergen er utfordrende og spennende, hver dag. Så Mexico, Zambia, Buenos Aires og Egypt kan bare gå å ta seg en bolle.

Bergen is the shit!

Maja

Som sild i tønne.

Jeg vil gjerne benytte anledningen til å berette litt om min daglige opplevelse av metroen i mitt kjære Mexico City. Ja, det bor mange mennesker i denne enorme hovedstaden, nærmere bestemt 9 millioner i selve byen, eller 22 millioner om man regner med ”la area metropolitana” som omringer byen. Det synes i og for seg godt i gatene, men det ingen steder du virkelig kjenner menneskemengden på kroppen (og man snakker nå i ordets videste betydning) som på metroen. Spesielt mellom 7am og 10am - det tidsrommet jeg, beleilig nok, tar metroen hver dag. Min egen reiserute går fra metro Patriotismo til Universidad, med overgang på Centro Médico, og estimert reisetid er cirka 40 minutter. Det er i alle fall det jeg overbeviser meg selv om hver morgen i det jeg løper ut av døren hjemme [les: går rolig].

Det som er spesielt med metroen i Mexico City er at det opereres med separate vogner for kvinner og menn i de verste rushtimene. Jeg innbiller meg at dette er for å unngå (ufrivillig) tafsing og trakassering på trange vognene. De to/tre første vognene er dermed øremerket kvinner, eldre og barn (og som regel en og annen slesk mann), mens resten av toget kjører fritt vilt policy. Kos.

Jeg skal forsøke å beskrive min dagligdagse opplevelse av det hele. Se for deg at du er en tann i en massiv tannhjulmekanisme og når metroen så ankommer plattformen settes maskineriet i gang. Presset blir plutselig helt enormt, fra alle sider, og man blir løftet opp noen centimeter fra gulvet og deretter sakte dyttet innover mot togvognen, og forhåpentligvis en åpen dør… Bevegelsen er sterkest i midtpunktet av den tette kvinnemassen, og som et vakkert samspill dreier vi som tannhjul rundt våre egne og hverandres akser, som ballerinaer i slow motion. Egentlig er det ikke alltid at det er så veldig slow motion heller, og da er det virkelig om å gjøre og ikke falle av lasset. Trangt, spør du? Ja, trangt og jævlig er det, men likevel kontrollert og når du først er i midten av smørja er det ingen vei tilbake. Du kommer verken inn eller ut. Trikset er å holde vesker og andre hindringer over hodet eller inntil kroppen. På den måten blir det ikke liggende igjen på perrongen og samtidig du blir lettere tatt opp i dragsuget, og du slipper å vente de tre minuttene på at neste stappfulle metro på nytt ankommer slagmarken. [De som kjenner meg vet at de tre minuttene er kritiske for om jeg rekker frem til destinasjonen ”kun” fem minutter for sent eller åtte. Tro det eller ei, tidvis er det faktisk mexicanere som krever punktlighet]. Det går også an ta en spansk en og presse seg inn fra siden, men dette krever at du har et sett med spesielt spisse albuer, er likegyldig og usympatisk overfor dine medpassasjerer, er målbevisst og ikke minst har erfaring og god oversikt over metroens (ikke-eksisterende) normer for av- og påstigning.

Sannheten er at jeg hater det, selv om jeg tar meg selv i å le av det i blant da det er som verst. Det er rett og slett så ville tilstander at det er bare blir, ja nettopp latterlig. Likevel, ingen kan si at det ikke er verdt de tre pesosene [én krone og femti øre] det koster med ei litta tur med de oransje, nedslitte tunellbanevognene. Det kan jo være verdt å nevne at metroen i Mexico City er faktisk verdens billigste.

Helt til sist smetter jeg inn et lite bidrag som ble sendt til meg fra en venn:

Klipp og lim fra en "T-bane-diskusjon" i et homoforum :P



"Jeg kan anbefale T-banen i Mexico by.
 Glimrende system bygd opp på den serien av franske T-banevogner med opprinnelse på 70-tallet som bruker gummihjul i tillegg til stålhjul, og som man fremdeles kan se i trafikk på en eller to av linjene i Paris.
Billettprisen i Mexico by er på NOK 1,50, alle linjer og stasjoner har et eget symbol slik at analfabeter skal kunne orientere seg, i rushtiden har man reservert egne vogner der menn ikke har tilgang (trengselen er usannsynlig, og får selv Moskva og Tokyo til å blekne), og det har utviklet seg en særlig lokal skikk der bakerste vogn i hvert togsett brukes til male-on-male sexcruising på kveldstid.
 En av verdens mest severdige T-baner. Regnet i antall passasjerer pr. år er systemet visstnok verdens femte største."



God tur.

Hilde

Mattevask

Det er stor turnering på lørdag, alle mattene må skures så de ser bra ut. Turneringa blir sendt på tv.

Vaskedag

En dag i uka vasker vi draktene.

Vegarbeid i zambia

Revolution of the Mind

Skrev nytt innlegg på nyemeninger.no:

http://www.nyemeninger.no/alle_meninger/cat1002/subcat1020/thread126760/#post_126760

Lars

Kairo

Videoer og bilder fra 28 feb

Følg med på politimannen(/gutten) som løper mot kamera. Mengden v Hilton forholdt seg stort sett i ro, men allikevel velger han å gjøre det han gjør. Folkemengden var svært tett rundt inngangen.



På kvelden utenfor museet. Bålet er en politi personel carrier. Folkemassene er på vei inn på Tahrir fra andre steder i byen.



1 Folkemengden ruller på en politivaktpost


2 Demonstrantene knabba tåregasskanon fra snuten



3 Demonstranter med stein, politiet i bakgrunnen

4 Kaos

5 Snut

Videos - Mohamed Mahmood st before and after demonstrations (next to AUC downtown)

Stay safe

I’m not going to make a thorough attempt to analyze the total current situation in Egypt. Enough people seem to be doing that. Besides, the past events have felt so close, and have been occurring so rapidly that it’s hard to have the proper distance that I feel that you need to perform a decent analysis. However, I can tell you about what it has been like to live in Cairo downtown for the past two weeks and throw some random thoughts out there. Above all, my relationship to and respect for every common Egyptian seems forever strengthened. The time I’ve spent on Midan Tahrir, the time I’ve spent talking to people, and the time I’ve spent attempting to document the uprising have ensured this, and increased my feelings of sympathy as time has passed.

During the past two weeks I have tried to balance the placing of myself in the middle of what’s happening with paying attention to my own safety. I moved to a spot right in between midan Talat Harb and the Egyptian museum, a couple of hundred meters away from Tahrir, just before the protests started. To be honest, I’m glad I did. My trips over to Zamalek in the past days to see friends and fellow students, gave an impression that the whole island has manifested its position as an isolated fortress of diplomats, expats and rich Egyptians during the protests. Security turned top priority once the disturbances broke out. The “Neighborhood watch” consisted of a lot more people than in downtown. I know that the media across the world make it seem like all of Cairo is in total mayhem, but this is only partly true. Staying indoors, for example, prevents you from being exposed to any discomfort whatsoever, at least in downtown. Violence is also mainly concentrated and limited to certain areas, which you know about before you go out, and are easy to spot even if you are already out the door.

About security, two other Norwegians and I just flew out of Cairo, headed for Amman. Passing through the airport and observing the practices of local security really pinpoints what the Egyptian concept of security actually means. I passed through three or four metal detectors. They all beeped. I did not get checked. Passing through one of the final checkpoints, three police officers were too busy arguing with each other instead of actually checking the monitors and people coming through. Not until we boarded the plane, Jordanian airlines personnel did a superficial check. I carried a water bottle in my bag through all of the airport and onto the plane, and my fellow traveler did not even get her purse checked once. Personally, I don’t really care that much. Security levels at western airports are paranoid. It just says something about the Egyptian way. The airport crawls over with police officers, but more than actually securing the passengers, they just loaf around trying to display a show of force or whatever.

I must say that I feel the same way about the normal state of the inflated Cairo police force. More than filling the typical functions that westerners associate with police, they constitute a bunch of manpower that scares off, or potentially knock down unrest and unwanted behavior. I think I read somewhere that Cairo has more police per citizen than any other city on the continent. The recent “pro Mubarak protests” and organized looting might be the states attempt to prove for Cairenes that the police presence (not to say Mubarak’s presence) ensures stability. Stability is the word of the week, being the core topic of all the announcements from the regime, and partially in the statements from foreign leaders (much more than democracy anyways), and then transmitted to everyone’s lips in Cairo. Residents at the dormitories of the American University in Cairo barely dared looking out the windows the past week, even though the streets have been mostly safe until the pro-regime goons barged out in downtown a couple of days ago. Not that I blame the university for being overprotective or anything. Once you move into the dorms the safety thing is part of the package I guess.

Everywhere you go as a foreigner in Cairo right now, the Egyptians warn you about your safety and to stay inside. Next, they ask you not to take pictures. Journalists have been hospitalized due to over courageous reporting in the past days. The journalists seemed to be intentionally targeted to spread the message that documenting the ongoing brutality is a no-go. Then the attacks themselves could be used as an excuse to keep foreigners in general from witnessing what’s going on in the streets. “Where you from? Passport, passport! Please go to hotel for your safety.”, and then blocking your way. The whole thing seems a bit backward to me. If Egyptians are so concerned about the well-being of foreigners, they should constrain those who attack people with cameras, not prevent foreigners from using them. I think the explanation lies in the regimes hostility to openness is imprinted to people’s minds. It might also be that people are still scared. Once a picture is taken, there is no knowing where it might be shipped off to, be it a newspaper or the secret police. In an awkward form of patriotism, attacks on journalists/ people with camera are also actions to prevent Egypt from being seen in an unfavorable light. Can’t really say it’s working.

The situation escalated quite a lot in my neighborhood from around three days ago. Clashes and beatings were going on in my street, and gunshots were frequently heard around downtown. I struck a deal with myself when the protests began that I would leave the country if live rounds were fired, so that’s what I’m doing right now. As I mentioned at the top, we just flew out of Cairio. We slept one night in Amman and are now headed for Jerusalem. I have a return flight to Cairo from Amman on Friday. Hope it’s safe to go back.



I have a bunch of videos from the protests that I’ll try to upload and post continuously on this page. Also, I wrote another blog entry in Norwegian on this link:

http://www.nyemeninger.no/lch081/
Lars, Jerusalem

CSR in Buenos Aires

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYMFWuVwpUc&feature=related

Jeg reiser til Buenos Aires på lørdag for å studere Bedriftens samfunnsansvar. Ta en titt på youtube videon! Jeg gleder meg:)

Kristin

Paris

Kristin

Frivillig i Zambia

I anledning rekrutering av neste års judofrivillig i Zambia skreiv jeg et lite inlegg til judo.no. Artikkelen finner dere her:

http://www.judo.no/index.php?id=20050908110159&news_id=201101271837




Ole

Ratatouille

Ryktene sier at det er flere rotter i Paris enn innbyggere. Vanligvis holder de seg under jorden, men det var jo veldig kaldt i år...
Sånt blir det god butikk av!

Happy Tunisian Revolution Day

Demonstrasjoner i Paris


Det franske politiet stiller opp som vanlig ved slike anledninger og sørger for å spraye litt tåregass på folket

Kristin, Paris

Incendies

Vil du se en film som får det til å gå rundt i magen, se Incendies. Den finner sted i Libanon og Québec. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YStpiwG3CiE

Basquiat à Paris

Ja, jeg befinner meg i Paris og her går man på kunstutstillinger:) Den hotteste utstillingen i Paris om dagen finner sted på Musée d'Art Moderne. Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) startet som grafitti-artist, utviklet seg til maler og ble god venn med Andy Warhol før han døde bare 27 år gammel.


Warhol og Basquiat

Kilibilder

Det var et ganske ålreit år.

Kilimanjaro

Her er noen videoer fra Kilituren

Dbayeh

Borj el barajni

Lebanese/Palestinian traditional food

Saida

Beirut

The Rafic Hariri Mosque

Dbayeh, ruins from the Civil War

Dbayeh/Beirut in the background

Tripoli

Baalbeck

Baalbeck

Cedar trees

Dbayeh


Flere bilder fra Libanon/Jordan på Mie's blogg: http://miekongstad.wordpress.com/