Irak: un escenario de competencia por el liderazgo regional entre Arabia Saudí e Irán (2005-2012)

La región de Medio Oriente se ha caracterizado por su importancia estratégica. Cruce de caminos de la primera y más antigua ruta internacional del comercio entre Oriente y Occidente, la región ha sido un escenario de competencia entre diversos actores domésticos y foráneos. Esto ha condicionado la estabilidad regional, durante buena parte de su historia, a la influencia recíproca de fuerzas contendientes, tanto internas como externas a la región. No obstante, un cambio del equilibrio entre esas influencias, en los últimos 10 años, ha llevado a que en detrimento de los actores externos a la región, sean los actores locales quienes van adquiriendo poder y capacidad de imponer sus propios liderazgos. En este contexto, la actual competencia por el liderazgo regional entre Arabia Saudí e Irán, puede analizarse a partir de sus respectivas participaciones en la confrontación sectaria entre suníes y chiíes en Irak, en el periodo comprendido entre 2005 – 2012.

El conflicto sobre la peeregrinación entre Arabia Saudí e Irán: La posición de la República Islámica

El conflicto geopolítico entre Arabia Saudí e Irán es un hecho conocido en la academia y los medios de comunicación. Tiene diferentes focos. Quizás su cara más oculta es el Hajj. Incidentes trágicos durante la peregrinación a la Meca y Medina pueden incrementar las tensiones entre los dos países. En esto intervienen agentes políticos y estatales igual que personas privadas. Nos interesa especialmente cómo el discurso y la acción política se utilizan con fines de legitimación del régimen. Para ello, hacemos uso del análisis del discurso. Este artículo se centra en la posición de la República Islámica de Irán. Por esto, entre nuestras fuentes destacan medios de comunicación iraníes y las páginas web gubernamentales de este país. A partir de ellos, analizamos la cultura política y la identidad étnico-religiosa de este país. También identificamos las reacciones a los incidentes y las demandas de la República Islámica.

Implementación de estrategias de poder por parte de Irán, Turquía y Arabia Saudita en la disputa por la hegemonía de Medio Oriente. Periodo 2005-2012.

El interés de esta monografía es analizar las distintas estrategias políticas, económicas y militares que han implementado Irán, Turquía y Arabia Saudita en busca de la hegemonía de Medio Oriente. A lo largo del trabajo de investigación se analiza por medio del realismo ofensivo de John Mearsheimer las distintas estrategias de los tres Estados antes mencionados, con el fin de establecer la voluntad y las capacidades de cada uno para alcanzar la hegemonía regional. Finalmente, por medio de la medición de percepción de poder establecida por David Jablonsky se examinan las capacidades y la proyección de poder que poseen Irán, Turquía y Arabia Saudita para obtener la hegemonía de Medio Oriente.

History of Europe and the Middle East: IB Diploma programme.

Esta guía contiene una revisión de todos los temas de historia de Europa para el Programa del Diploma de Bachillerato Internacional (IB Diploma). Los temas del libro son: la revolución francesa y Napoleón (Francia bajo Napoleón, las guerras napoleónicas, el Congresos de Viena), las unificaciones de Italia y Alemania, Austria en el siglo diecinueve, Europa occidental y septentrional en 1848 y 1914, la Segunda Guerra Mundial y la creación del estado de Israel, Irán, Arabia Saudí, la Segunda Guerra Mundial en Europa, la Europa de la posguerra, reconstruyendo y unificando Europa.

El Oasis. Un modelo de enriquecimiento para el desarrollo del talento.

Monográfico con el título: Alta habilidad. Superdotación y talento. Resumen tomado de la publicación

El Congreso Islamo-Cristiano de Córdoba.

Es continuación de la publicación: Boletín de la Comisión Española de la UNESCO

El mundo árabe en la UNESCO.

Es continuación de la publicación: Boletín de la Comisión Española de la UNESCO

Impacto del coaching de equipos en los procesos y la eficacia del equipo: un estudio con dos equipos gestores de TI en el sector financiero-asegurador

Esta investigación explora el impacto del coaching de equipos en la mejora de los procesos y la eficacia de los equipos de trabajo. Entre los procesos de equipo se estudia de manera separada el impacto sobre la seguridad psicológica y las conductas de aprendizaje en el equipo. Se basa en un estudio realizado con dos equipos gestores del área de TI (Tecnologías de la Información) pertenecientes a dos organizaciones diferentes del sector financiero-asegurador de dos países distintos, España y Arabia Saudí. Se aplica un diseño cuasi experimental con grupos no equivalentes y medidas pre/post, a través del cual se miden los efectos de un programa de coaching de equipos y se comparan con mediciones de grupos de cuasi control. Se demuestra que existe una relación positiva significativa entre la intervención de coaching de equipos y los procesos del equipo, teniendo un efecto moderado en las conductas de aprendizaje del equipo. En cambio, no se obtiene evidencia empírica sobre el aumento de la seguridad psicológica y la eficacia del equipo. Este estudio se construye desde la revisión de enfoques teóricos y prácticos desarrollados desde la disciplina emergente del coaching de equipos aportando evidencia y claridad sobre estos enfoques, así como indicaciones para futuras investigaciones y para la práctica del coaching de equipos en las organizaciones.

The representation of the world in national Arab news agencies: an exploration of (trans)national networks in the official Arab media

The purpose of this paper is to draw a map of the representation of the world and of Arab states as reflected by the countries of the region. To do so, we have analysed the news (4,093 news randomly collected on February and August 2005) produced by the governments of the Arab states through their national news agencies. Several regional and world maps had been constructed to show the official Arab representation of the World, the Arab countries conflict agenda, the persistence of colonial ties (with the European metropolis) and the emergence of new relationships (Asian countries). The representation of the world that appeared in the analysis focuses its interest on the USA, the war in Iraq, the Israel-Palestine conflict, the United Kingdom, France, and Iran. The Arab regional powers organise the flow of information (Saudi Arabia and Egypt) and the colonial past determines the current structure of communication (French-speaking bloc and English-speaking bloc).

The Arabia of Ibn Saud,

Photocopy. Ann Arbor, Mich., Xerox University Microfilms, l975. xiii, 179 p. (on double leaves).

Challenges facing sustainable housing in Saudi Arabia : a current study showing the level of public awareness

Sustainable housing implementation requires strong support from the public, government and the housing industry. Lack of public awareness and understanding of the language and the meaning of sustainable housing may cause lack of public support. Salama stated that "sustainability or sustainable design is simply a rephrasing of some of the forgotten values of traditional architecture and urbanism"(Salama 2007). This exploratory paper examines public awareness of sustainable housing in Saudi Arabia. In developing countries, like Saudi Arabia, which have been experiencing a rapid rate of urbanisation, sustainable concept intervention is essential due to the scarcity of resources (Reffat 2004a). Sustainable building methods include the full use of the site design, passive solar design, natural light and ventilation. This paper reports on an exploratory survey on understanding the potential of the implementation of sustainable housing in Saudi Arabia. The main problem is that more than half of respondents were not aware of sustainable housing. Thus, one of the recommendations from the survey is to educate the public by using local media to inform people of the benefits of sustainable implementation to both new and existing housing stock.

Quality of work life and turnover intention in primary healthcare organisations : a cross-sectional study of registered nurses in Saudi Arabia

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to improve the retention of primary healthcare (PHC) nurses through exploring and assessing their quality of work life (QWL) and turnover intention. Design and methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used in this study. Data were collected using a questionnaire comprising four sections (Brooks’ survey of Quality of Nursing Work Life [QNWL], Anticipated Turnover Intention, open-ended questions and demographic characteristics). A convenience sample was recruited from 143 PHC centres in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. A response rate of 87% (n = 508/585) was achieved. The SPSS v17 for Windows and NVivo 8 were used for analysis purposes. Procedures and tests used in this study to analyse the quantitative data were descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, General Linear Model (GLM) univariate analysis, standard multiple regression, and hierarchical multiple regression. Qualitative data obtained from responses to the open-ended questions were analysed using the NVivo 8. Findings: Quantitative findings suggested that PHC nurses were dissatisfied with their work life. Respondents’ scores ranged between 45 and 218 (mean = 139.45), which is lower than the average total score on Brooks’ Survey (147). Major influencing factors were classified under four dimensions. First, work life/home life factors: unsuitable working hours, lack of facilities for nurses, inability to balance work with family needs and inadequacy of vacations’ policy. Second, work design factors: high workload, insufficient workforce numbers, lack of autonomy and undertaking many non-nursing tasks. Third, work context factors: management practices, lack of development opportunities, and inappropriate working environment in terms of the level of security, patient care supplies and unavailability of recreation room. Finally, work world factors: negative public image of nursing, and inadequate payment. More positively, nurses were notably satisfied with their co-workers. Conversely, 40.4% (n = 205) of the respondents indicated that they intended to leave their current employment. The relationships between QWL and demographic variables of gender, age, marital status, dependent children, dependent adults, nationality, ethnicity, nursing tenure, organisational tenure, positional tenure, and payment per month were significant (p < .05). The eta squared test for these demographics indicates a small to medium effect size of the variation in QWL scores. Using the GLM univariate analysis, education level was also significantly related to the QWL (p < .05). The relationships between turnover intention and demographic variables including gender, age, marital status, dependent children, education level, nursing tenure, organisational tenure, positional tenure, and payment per month were significant (p < .05). The eta squared test for these demographics indicates a small to moderate effect size of the variation in the turnover intention scores. Using the GLM univariate analysis, the dependent adults’ variable was also significantly related to turnover intention (p < .05). Turnover intention was significantly related to QWL. Using standard multiple regression, 26% of the variance in turnover intention was explained by the QWL F (4,491), 43.71, p < .001, with R² = .263. Further analysis using hierarchical multiple regression found that the total variance explained by the model as a whole (demographics and QWL) was 32.1%, F (17.433) = 12.04, p < .001. QWL explained an additional 19% of the variance in turnover intention, after controlling for demographic variables, R squared change =.19, F change (4, 433) = 30.190, p < .001. The work context variable makes the strongest unique contribution (-.387) to explain the turnover intention, followed by the work design dimension (-.112). The qualitative findings reaffirmed the quantitative findings in terms of QWL and turnover intention. However, the home life/work life and work world dimensions were of great important to both QWL and turnover intention. The qualitative findings revealed a number of new factors that were not included in the survey questionnaire. These included being away from family, lack of family support, social and cultural aspects, accommodation facilities, transportation, building and infrastructure of PHC, nature of work, job instability, privacy at work, patients and community, and distance between home and workplace. Conclusion: Creating and maintaining a healthy work life for PHC nurses is very important to improve their work satisfaction, reduce turnover, enhance productivity and improve nursing care outcomes. Improving these factors could lead to a higher QWL and increase retention rates and therefore reinforcing the stabilisation of the nursing workforce. Significance of the research: Many countries are examining strategies to attract and retain the health care workforce, particularly nurses. This study identified factors that influence the QWL of PHC nurses as well as their turnover intention. It also determined the significant relationship between QWL and turnover intention. In addition, the present study tested Brooks’ survey of QNWL on PHC nurses for the first time. The qualitative findings of this study revealed a number of new variables regarding QWL and turnover intention of PHC nurses. These variables could be used to improve current survey instruments or to develop new research surveys. The study findings could be also used to develop and appropriately implement plans to improve QWL. This may help to enhance the home and work environments of PHC nurses, improve individual and organisational performance, and increase nurses’ commitment. This study contributes to the existing body of research knowledge by presenting new data and findings from a different country and healthcare system. It is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia, especially in the field of PHC. It has examined the relationship between QWL and turnover intention of PHC nurses for the first time using nursing instruments. The study also offers a fresh explanation (new framework) of the relationship between QWL and turnover intention among PHC nurses, which could be used or tested by researchers in other settings. Implications for further research: Review of the extant literature reveals little in-depth research on the PHC workforce, especially in terms of QWL and organisational turnover in developing countries. Further research is required to develop a QWL tool for PHC nurses, taking into consideration the findings of the current study along with the local culture. Moreover, the revised theoretical framework of the current study could be tested in further research in other regions, countries or healthcare systems in order to identify its ability to predict the level of PHC nurses’ QWL and their intention to leave. There is a need to conduct longitudinal research on PHC organisations to gain an in-depth understanding of the determents of and changes in QWL and turnover intention of PHC nurses at various points of time. An intervention study is required to improve QWL and retention among PHC nurses using the findings of the current study. This would help to assess the impact of such strategies on reducing turnover of PHC nurses. Focusing on the location of the current study, it would be valuable to conduct another study in five years’ time to examine the percentage of actual turnover among PHC nurses compared with the reported turnover intention in the current study. Further in-depth research would also be useful to assess the impact of the local culture on the perception of expatriate nurses towards their QWL and their turnover intention. A comparative study is required between PHC centres and hospitals as well as the public and private health sector agencies in terms of QWL and turnover intention of nursing personnel. Findings may differ from sector to sector according to variations in health systems, working environments and the case mix of patients.

Job satisfaction and intention to leave among critical care nurses in Saudi Arabia

Aim The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between registered nurses’ (RN) job satisfaction and their intention to leave critical care nursing in Saudi Arabia. Background Many studies have identified critical care areas as stressful work environments for nurses and have identified factors contributing to job satisfaction and staff retention. However, very little research has examined these relationships in the Saudi context. Design and Methods This study utilised an exploratory, cross-sectional survey design to examine the relationship between RN job satisfaction and intention to leave at King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital, Saudi Arabia. Respondents completed a self-administered survey including demographic items and validated measures of job satisfaction and intention to leave. A convenience sample of 182 RNs working in critical care areas during the data collection period were included. Results Regression analysis predicting RN intention to leave found that demographic variables including age, parental status and length of ICU experience, and three of the job satisfaction subscales including perceived workload, professional support and pay and prospects for promotion, were significantly associated with the outcome variable. Conclusion This study adds to the existing literature on the relationship between job satisfaction and intention to leave critical care areas among RNs working in Saudi Arabia. These findings point to the need for management and policy interventions targeting nurses’ workloads, professional support and pay and promotion in order to improve nurse retention.