No pictures to disturb, no fancy things to get you involved, just the point of view which may differ from the things you’ve got used to. Just read and comment if you wish… Sincerely, Oksana

Me, my 23 and the eternal beauty of the Gulf

Yesterday talking to one of my friends who was planning marketing research on the Middle East, I just realized that there was one peculiarity that connected all the countries into one region, and that’s more than just geography or some cultural similarities. What is the Middle East? It’s not Near East anymore, but a place which is caught in the middle of oil and gas, religion, world politics, and internal cultural and social movements. They are in the middle, and that’s the point which sometimes makes the negotiations in those countries so difficult. Maybe, the region used to be the Near East when such countries as Iran and Iraq were more secular, Bahrain and Oman more traditional, and the Emirates had their period of construction. The countries were more understandable and sometimes easier to deal with. Now, I am sure that many would like to move all the countries in this region into the Far East list because they seem very far from the western way of thinking. But still, their low range of similarities to China and Japan created the new notion of the Middle East in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Negotiators, planning to start their dealing with MENA countries, also often feel caught in the middle of two extremely different attitudes to the developing and colorful Middle-eastern countries. Are they those new super-modern foreigner-friendly and investment-attractive goals to struggle for or those medieval-style extremists? And here’s the time they have to decide what stereotypes should be put aside to make it work with the Middle-eastern counterparts.

Many tourists sharing their impressions on Dubai tours would say they haven’t felt like in the Middle East, due to the similarities of the Emirates resorts to any other resort in the US or Mexico in means of hospitality standards, hotel decoration and so on. On the other hand, there’s an opposite opinion that the UAE is so cute and fashionable in the desire to maintain the ethnic identity in the form of modernized appearance.

The Middle East may not be called a modern center of the IT market, but its place on the world IT map is really special. All the self-respecting companies in the field have opened their representative offices in the region, and we can witness a tendency of brain drain from the Middle East to the “silicon valleys” in Europe and North America. On the other hand, the Middle East is one of the biggest consumers of IT goods: CRM applications, antivirus products, and some sophisticated software for the QC in petrochemical production. And it’s interesting to know that Iranian engineers design one of the best robotic equipment in the world. But the majority of them work for foreign companies under non-Iranian flags.

Many HR specialists, recruiters, and top managers from the Middle East emphasized the fact that 10-15 years ago, to get hired, a good job applicant didn’t have to know Arabic. The level of proficiency in the field and a good level of English were enough. Now, we have quite the opposite situation. Arabic is at least a plus, if not a must. What has changed? There’s a theory that in previous decades the Middle East tried wanted to seem less eastern, more understandable, less right-to-left-writing to take their niche in the world economy. But now, the main tendency among the Meddle-eastern countries is to return to their linguistic, cultural, and historical identity.

At the same time, there’s a very harmful stereotype that they are all the same Arabs. And it frequently causes a lot of problems for foreign companies in establishing strong and long-lasting business relations with companies in the Middle East. Of course, if we exclude Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey, and follow the classic definition of the Middle East without the Caucasus, the majority of the countries in the region are Arabic-speaking. But are they all the same? Even if you consider a linguistic aspect, they all speak different Arabic, with some small differences in pronunciation and lexicology, but a huge amount of cultural, regional and historical differences depicted in the language too, ultimately they are the representatives of different Middle East ethnic groups. Furthermore, during the previous centuries, all the countries experienced different histories. Some used to be empires, and the others were cities and provinces. So if you’ve had a good experience in working in Kuwait, and you are proud to be called MENA expert, kindly spend at least a couple of days, searching, and studying the materials on Egypt, if you are planning to start working there. You will find out that there might be Arabs, but not the same Arabs you have met before.

The other theory I’ve got for you: we don’t understand the Middle East well because we don’t know where it starts and ends and who are exactly in the Middle East countries list. Is Middle East a continent? Is Israel in the Middle East? Are Afghanistan and Turkey in the Middle East? Many people get caught in the middle of two ideas: they are all Arabs (it was mentioned previously), and we don’t know where exactly the Middle East is. On the other hand, many readers are fed-up with the news from the Middle East. They just scroll them down. They don’t have anything in the middle with this part of the world. The news themselves are not so diverse, and mostly depict the same range of topics. Writing this part I simply checked the topic of the Middle East current events on Reddit. Guess what? Again, the US vs. Iran. Imagine a person who hasn’t got enough awareness about the Middle East. Will he/she ever desires to learn more after reading such titles? Never.

The countries in the Middle East need to raise awareness about their culture, geography, language, arts to seem more attractive, and easy to understand. We don’t know much about the Middle East music and folklore. I’m not a great fan of festival films, and I’m sure that there’ve been some noteworthy films depicting life in the Middle East in recent years. Many of them reveal problems and concerns about the situation in the region. But what about the films showing good sides and attractive points of the Middle East? Again, I don’t want to mention the films originally representing the Middle East countries like the Oscar-winning Salesman from Iran. To be honest, it has little in common with the Middle East, and the tragedy in its plot could happen in any other country. In contrast, how many international blockbusters of the last years were set in Mexico? We haven’t enough fingers to count all of them, starting from the Zorro Mask (1998), to the Spectre (2015) and the Terminator (2019). What I remember from the Hollywood films set in the Middle East are Sex and the City (2010) or Furious 7 (2015). Do they bring more understanding of the Middle East to the broad international audience? Not much. More ground for stereotypes? Yes.

Women’s rights issue has also been one of the main stereotypes and concerns about the Middle East. In recent years, much attention is paid to the notion called Islamic feminism. What is it exactly? A form of anti-islamophobic movements in the western countries, or the true doctrine about the role of women in the society, family, culture, and other aspects of modern life, originating from the Middle East? It’s hard to define, but in recent years we are happy to see significant changes in the means of women’s rights in the region. As an example, let’s mention the last changes in the laws of Saudi Arabia.

However, in my lectures, I always pay attention to the degree of emancipation in women from the Middle East. I have a theory that the Middle East is the place to go to get more practical knowledge about emancipation. In the process of cooperation, establishing business relations, and just being a friend to many women from the UAE, Oman, Iran, Pakistan, I always get amazed how goal-oriented, self-driven, and emancipated they are. They make money, develop science, rule big commercial companies, NGOs and charities. But at the same time, they are wives, mothers, and daughters.

Being a woman in the Middle East business community, I haven’t experienced any glass ceiling issue so far, though I don’t say it doesn’t exist. Well. This aspect can sometimes be seen in any country worldwide. But what I’m sure about is that women as leaders and members of negotiation teams can be successful in dealing with the middle-eastern companies. Though there are certain restrictions for women in some countries in the region, in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, which are almost drowned in the anti-feministic stereotypes, women have gained the excess to education and working opportunities, especially in the recent years. Of course, there are still a lot of things to do, and I’m sure, the new decade is the right time to keep improving. I remember that once I was the only woman in the negotiation team, and was given a key role in the bargaining part. And I made it with no prejudice from our counterparts. Don’t forget that international business ethics must be followed everywhere and the only aspect which really matters is a business interest towards future cooperation and it’s neither male nor female.

When you are in the Middle East, sometimes you have to think big. The Middle East market is huge and annually it attracts many companies from all over the world who are eager to sell or buy something, looking for or, vice versa, providing a solution. The biggest oil production coexists with the biggest consumption of grains and one of the biggest markets of everything edible. Middle East natural resources are diverse, and their reserves are hard to calculate. Traditionally living in very big houses and preferring big decorating elements, they still pay very small utility bills, in comparison to small flats and big bills in Western Europe. Gulf countries are considered the biggest Coca Cola consumers in the world, and Saudis drink more Cola in comparison to their neighbors. In the Middle East, they prefer Cola in family-size bottles instead of 330 ml cans. So they drink much from big jars. Big portions of food in the restaurants are something ordinary, same as broiling the whole camel instead of turkey for holidays (don’t accuse me in stereotypical thinking, I saw it with my own eyes).

The Middle East is full of paradoxes. It’s dramatically tangible in Iran. From one side, Iranians are constantly trying not to forget that they are descendants of Cyrus the Great, and King Darius, celebrate their New Year in spring and keep their own calendar. At the same time, due to the long list of reasons much related to the political situation in the country, sanctions, and some other less obvious issues, the majority of Iranians seek to have at least one non-Iranian passport, and citizenship.

The Middle East has been the land to great thinkers who created the super-logical world of Algebra. On the other hand, it is difficult to find more emotional people in any other region. If anyone objects, telling that Spanish are more emotional, I’ll strongly disagree. Having worked with them too, I’m still sure that people from the Middle East are still more emotional. It happens during the negotiations to experience too emotional reactions to what’s been said. At the same time, that emotionality makes them so helpful and hospitable. You might forget what was at the meeting as the years pass, but you’ll probably remember the incredible dinner they’ve invited you for after closing the deal.

Zakariyya Al-Razi is considered to be the discoverer of alcohol. At the same time, the region is non-drinking due to its commitment to Islam. And you can’t tell they are not able to relax or not happy. Have you ever visited a wedding in Bahrain or Iran? They really can do without alcoholic beverages, and feel even more joy than others find in drinking.

People in the Middle East like to study, and many of the great modern theoretical scientists all over the world originate from Middle-eastern countries. But still, this region is known as the one hiring a great number of foreign practicing specialists.

I can talk about the Middle East for hours, but the main aim of this article is to invite you not to hurry and take a deep breath, consult Ayatollah Google more and just put aside all the prejudice and stereotypes about the region. They won’t lead you to the right decisions and actions. On the other side, I want to believe that the country branding and the region branding ideas which haven’t had implementation in the region would grow into the big and well-designed concept of what the Middle East exactly is.

By the way, you can book the 6-session online program on the Middle East negotiation skills in one click. All you need is just fill in the form or contact me on LinkedIn for more details.