Social Security in the Middle East

Abstract

The countries of the Middle East all have traditional social insurance type social security programs. The move towards defined contribution individual accounts that is occurring in some regions has not affected this region The social security programs in the Middle East are not facing the problems of financing found in Europe and North America, in part because they still have relatively high fertility rates and are thus little affected by population aging. They tend to have low retirement ages and some of the wealthy countries of the region provide very generous benefits. Many of them need to consider reforms that raise retirement ages. A characteristic of many of the social security old-age benefit programs of the region is that they exclude foreign workers, who in some countries account for more than half the workforce.     

Social security in Africa: a brief review

Africa is the poorest region of the world and has the youngest and least developed social security programs. Most Africans are not covered by social security programs. The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in some sub-Saharan countries and internal armed conflicts in others have created difficult problems in some countries for social security programs. As a result, some countries do not have functioning social security programs. The social security programs that do exist in Africa are influenced by their colonial heritage, with the programs in English-speaking Africa differing from those in French-speaking Africa. Six different patterns of social security provision can be identified.     

Social Security in Africa

Abstract

Africa is the poorest region of the world and has the youngest and least developed social security programs. Most Africans are not covered by social security programs. The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in some sub-Saharan countries and internal armed conflicts in others have created difficult problems in some countries for social security programs. As a result, some countries do not have functioning social security programs. The social security programs that do exist in Africa are influenced by their colonial heritage, with the programs in English-speaking Africa differing from those in French-speaking Africa. Six different patterns of social security provision can be identified.     

Social security in Asia and the Pacific: a brief overview

In terms of numbers of people, the global challenges facing social security systems are largely Asian. Because of rapid population aging in Asia, while it accounted for 28% of the world's population aged 60 and older in 1985, that percentage will more than double to 58% in 2050. Provident funds are a prominent feature of retirement income systems in the region-Asia and the Pacific contain the majority of the world's countries with provident funds. These programs typically provide lump-sum benefits, and thus, do not provide annuity protection against outliving one's resources. Because of the influence of Confucian philosophy with its emphasis on family responsibility for elders, countries in the region have been relatively slow in developing social security programs. China does not have a social security program for workers who do not work for the government or in government-owned enterprises.     

Social Security in Asia and the Pacific

Abstract

In terms of numbers of people, the global challenges facing social security systems are largely Asian. Because of rapid population aging in Asia, while it accounted for 28% of the world's population aged 60 and older in 1985, that percentage will more than double to 58% in 2050. Provident funds are a prominent feature of retirement income systems in the region-Asia and the Pacific contain the majority of the world's countries with provident funds. These programs typically provide lump-sum benefits, and thus, do not provide annuity protection against outliving one's resources. Because of the influence of Confucian philosophy with its emphasis on family responsibility for elders, countries in the region have been relatively slow in developing social security programs. China does not have a social security program for workers who do not work for the government or in government-owned enterprises.     

中东恐怖主义和国际反恐合作现状

中东是当今世界受恐怖主义威胁最严重的地区之一。该地区传统安全问题与非传统安全相结合，恐怖主义问题与国家主权、民族冲突和宗教矛盾等纠缠在一起，虽然各国都在反恐，但成果非常有限。只有促进经济合作，增加中东国家在经济上的相互依赖，将人们的关注点从宗教、民族和政治事务转移到经济议题上来，才有可能建立一个较完备的地区反恐合作机制。     

中东国家核选择动因比较

国家寻求核技术主要出于核武器和核民用两个目的，具有政治、安金和经济三重动因，核选择必须满足动因的需要才能够促进国家利益最大化。中东国家核选择动因不仅受到国内政治、经济、社会形势的影响，而且受地区和国际形势的影响。美国对中东国家核选择执行多重标准，中东国家采取了模糊、强硬与温和的核政策。伊朗核问题的曲折变化集中反映了伊朗核计划与其动机存在非契合性，当前正处于微妙的阶段。     

转型时期的中东社会和当前政治危机分析

二战后,中东国家进入社会发展的转型时期,目前处于矛盾集中爆发且极为动荡的"过渡政治发展阶段"。中东国家必须面对一系列既有来自外部也有自身发展无法回避的严峻挑战和重要任务。当前中东出现的政治危机大致分为三种类型,其产生既有多种现实动因,也有深层社会原因和外部势力的影响。政治危机已对中东各国政治发展产生了重大影响。中东国家已步入矛盾、危机多发期,下一次政治震荡可能会冲击中东君主制国家。     

Economic security for the elderly in India: an overview

The basic concept of social security is not new in India. Traditionally, a sort of moral economy existed to provide security to older destitute and other vulnerable groups in society. However, gradually, traditional support systems are disappearing, and state-based social security systems have come into existence. Under standardized economic security policies, government is covering retirement benefits for those in the organized sector; economic security benefits for those in the unorganized sector; and old-age pension for rural elderly. These are contributory as well as non-contributory programs. Besides life insurance approaches, savings-linked insurance and Annapurna (food security) are other important programs. However, in terms of coverage, program quality and effectiveness have been largely criticized by social security experts, suggesting immediate reforms to old-age programs.     

论“大规模杀伤性武器”与中东地区安全

本文通过对大规模杀伤性武器的概念及其政治意涵的考察,关注中东地区的军备竞赛,分析了利比亚、以色列、埃及、叙利亚和伊朗等国的核计划和核政策,以及外部大国对中东地区核扩散的基本立场,指出在当前局势下中东地区无核区的提出和建设,不能从本质上改变该地区日趋恶化的安全形势。公正解决历史遗留问题和地区冲突,真正实现阿以和解,在有关国家间确立相互信任,才是解决问题的关键所在。     

中东大规模动荡与我国的外交应对

中东剧变一年多以来,阿拉伯国家蒙受巨大冲击,引起了所有中东国家乃至国际社会的高度关注,而这首先与中东的重要位置有关.这次变局几乎波及所有阿拉伯国家,民众诉求涉及政治、经济、社会诸多方面.问题是长年积累下来的,2011年的动荡应是这种情绪的大爆发,虽会推动社会前进,但代价却是巨大的.叙利亚问题前景仍不明朗,目前只维持了脆弱的和平.中国以“不干涉内政”原则和“劝和促谈”的方针应对这次大动荡是正确的、主动的,不管外界有多少反对声音和暂时的不理解,都应坚定不移地走下去.     

Economic Security for the Elderly in India

Summary

The basic concept of social security is not new in India. Traditionally, a sort of moral economy existed to provide security to older destitute and other vulnerable groups in society. However, gradually, traditional support systems are disappearing, and state-based social security systems have come into existence. Under standardized economic security policies, government is covering retirement benefits for those in the organized sector; economic security benefits for those in the unorganized sector; and old-age pension for rural elderly. These are contributory as well as non-contributory programs. Besides life insurance approaches, savings-linked insurance and Annapurna (food security) are other important programs. However, in terms of coverage, program quality and effectiveness have been largely criticized by social security experts, suggesting immediate reforms to old-age programs.     

中东油气与中国石油发展的战略思考

在当前国际环境下,中国的石油安全战略应是开放和外向型的,其核心思想是“保内争外”,即中国政府应进一步加强对中国石油企业参与国际能源合作的宏观指导和支持;中国石油企业应加强国内油气资源的可持续开发和利用,坚持开展国际能源合作,直面国际博弈。中东国家油气资源丰富,且与中国关系友好,应是中国石油企业对外开展能源合作的首选地区。     

美国中东政策调整与中、美、阿关系互动

迫于国际形势和国内外舆论压力，布什政府从2007年开始调整中东政策，把遏制伊朗作为政策重点。为此，美国重新扮演了巴以和平调解人的角色，主动缓和与阿拉伯国家关系。美阿关系的发展对正在积极参与中东事务的中国具有重要意义。未来中东仍是美国对外战略关注的重点，“美国因素”在中阿关系中会更加频繁，三者互动将更为密切。中国对中东问题的积极立场及对中东事务的主动参与，对于推动中、美、阿关系的良性互动将产生深远影响。     

关于中东变局的若干基本问题

中东变局是一场席卷阿拉伯世界的地区性政治与社会运动,它以发展民主、改善民生为其主要政治诉求,以推翻现政权为目标的政治抗议浪潮为其典型表现形式。中东国家的政治变革既有典型的共性特征,又有鲜明的差异性特点,同时有着深刻的政治、经济和思想文化根源。从未来的发展趋势看,民主化、世俗化以及如何处理与西方的关系问题构成了影响阿拉伯国家政治变革的三大核心议题,而阿拉伯国家、以色列、土耳其、伊朗四大力量的地位变化和地区热点问题的复杂化则成为中东地区格局变化的主要趋势。     

中东能源地缘政治与中国能源安全

本文研究了中东地缘政治发展趋势以及未来该地区对中国能源安全的潜在影响,并就制定具有针对性的中东能源安全战略提出了建议,并认为,中国经济将继续依赖中东能源;中东政治动荡的危险正在增大,中东油气供应存在极大风险.中国的中东能源安全战略应包括:转变外交理念,平衡在中东的能源利益与不干涉内政原则间的关系,建立与中东能源供应国的相互依存关系,制定中美能源合作的长期目标,建立一个以问题为核心的功能性多边制度.     

Retirement plans, personal saving, and saving adequacy

This Issue Brief addresses three questions raised by recent trends in personal saving: How are national savings measured and what is the meaning of the trends in measured personal saving rates, given what is included and what is not included in those measures? What is the effect of retirement saving programs--in particular, 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs)--on personal saving levels? What are the implications of existing saving behavior for the retirement income security of today's workers? The National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA), the most commonly referenced gauge of personal saving, is a widely misunderstood measure. One could argue that a complete measure of saving would include increases in wealth through capital gains, but NIPA does not factor accrued and realized capital gains on stocks and other assets into the saving rate. By one measure, accounting for capital gains results in an aggregate personal saving rate of 33 percent--more than double the rate of four decades ago. A major policy question is the impact of tax-qualified retirement saving plans (i.e., IRAs and 401(k) plans) on personal saving rates. Empirical analysis of this issue is extremely challenging and findings have been contradictory. These programs now represent an enormous store of retirement-earmarked wealth in tax-deferred vehicles: Combined, such tax-deferred retirement accounts currently have assets of about $4 trillion. Ninety percent of IRA contributions are now the result of "rollovers" as employees leave employer plans, like 401(k) plans. While leakage from the system remains a challenge, the majority of the assets in the system can be expected to be available to fund workers' retirements. One could argue that, from a retirement income security perspective, workers in general are better off because IRA and 401(k) programs exist. Surely, many of the dollars in these programs would have been saved even without the programs; but they would not necessarily have been earmarked for retirement and been available to fund retirement expenses. As rollovers become larger, this "partnership" of employment-based qualified plans and IRAs will grow even more important. The evidence indicates that many groups of American workers appear unlikely to be able to afford a retirement that maintains their current lifestyle (at least not without working more years than currently planned). Consensus does not exist on how many workers are at risk or the typical magnitude of their retirement saving shortfall. There is a consensus, however, that a substantial number of individuals are at risk. This is not surprising--despite the fact that the 70 percent of workers are saving for retirement--since relatively few workers know how much it is that they need to accumulate to fund their retirement.     

Fragmentation in Social Security Old-Age Benefit Provision in China

Currently, in many countries most workers are covered by a national social security benefits program that applies equally in all parts of the country. In China, however, social security old-age benefits are provided in a highly fragmented manner. This article documents the high degree of fragmentation. It discusses both why that has occurred and the effects of the fragmentation on participants. It examines effects of the fragmentation on benefit levels, focusing on variations in the generosity of benefit formulas but also considering other measures of benefit adequacy. Fragmentation is seen to cause differences in benefit levels even within a single city. While the new National Rural Pension Scheme is a major improvement in the provision of retirement security for rural workers, important differences still exist in the social security programs for urban and rural workers.     

共建“丝绸之路经济带”的机遇及中国中东战略

共同建设“丝绸之路经济带”和“21世纪海上丝绸之路”不仅是中国经济进一步发展的客观需要,是深化改革开放特别是向西开放的国家战略,也是亚欧国家特别是中东国家的重大历史发展机遇。中国经济获得了举世瞩目的发展,而中东国家经济却在动荡与战乱中艰难前行。从全球经济来看,中国经济和中东国家经济处在不同的历史发展阶段,这种差异恰恰反映出经济合作中的互补性,双方应该把握历史机遇、利用互补优势、实现双赢的合作。明确中东在中国外交中的地位,中国对中东战略应该把握好拓展国际政治空间、加强国家安全、扩大经贸合作、注重提升软实力等四个发力点。     

从伊拉克战争看美国中东战略之变化及战后中东格局

伊拉克战争是海湾战争后中东地区最重要的政治事件，它标志着美国中东战略正在发生重大转折．当前的美国领导层对美国在中东地区利益的认识发生了很大变化，意识形态色彩更为浓厚，推行民主成为关系到美安全核心利益．伊战打破了中东地区原有的力量平衡，战后的中东格局面临新一轮重组．