As today is World Elephant Day it’s time to acknowledge all of the wonders of the beautiful creature that is the elephant.

World Elephant Day was set up on August 12th 2012 to bring attention the the urgent predicament of Asian and African elephants. These majestic and intelligent creatures praised by people worldwide are still in danger of being hunted, captured and killed.

It’s also a day to focus on raising awareness for the elephants worldwide stricken by lack of habitat, working in captivity (circus) and not just ones being hunted by trophy hunters.

Many organizations are doing their part to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future safe for nature and humans to live in harmony. The WWF, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and ELEPHANTVOICES are but a few of the charities working in areas of Africa and Asia. From research, education to conservation and advocacy, many are working to protect elephants through programs that aim to diminish human-elephant conflict and reduce the tragic ivory trade and poaching.

However, even though there are so many people devoted and passionate out the future of our elephants, there are still huge concerns.

It is estimated that 25,000 elephants are born and 30,000 thousand are killed each year.

With their round brown eyes and their plump fuzzy offspring who would want to kill these beautiful animals and why?

According to Trophy Hunters, bagging an elephant is the ultimate win. While the hunter gains an ivory from the elephant’s tusks, the elephant population suffers. Each elephant killed is a senseless move on the hunters behalf, and it only brings us one step closer to not having these beautiful animals as part of our wild in the future.

In the past elephants were not known to be killed for meat, in fact they were regarded as a fantastic animal and rarely needed to be killed. Yet, not all elephants are hunted to be killed and hung on the wall of a poacher.

Some elephants are hunted to be captured, and then trained to work. Elephants are highly intelligent animals which makes training them all the easier, so there really is no need to put them through beatings in the process.

These beautiful, mellow animals who are far too often confused for mournful are in danger, not only from hunters but from lack of habitat too. The African habitat has declined by over 50% since 1979, while Asian elephants are now closed into just 15 % of their original space.

These problems that are unfortunately a reality for some elephants yet can be solved by us. Start today, through donations to elephant research and preservation organizations. We can save our elephants for generations to come.
To find out how  you can help, click visit the World Elephant Day website here.

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Western brands, advertising agencies, marketing professors, brand gurus, and celebrities dominate Global rankings; and English is the lingua franca of global business.

Inevitably, this means that success for ‘the rest’ is judged next to that of the West. A further by-product of this is the framing of brands according to Western Christian values.

Bringing religion into branding may seem like a strange assertion, but when you consider the use of terms such as icons, avatars, and brand worship; the more recent rise in prominence of Halal and Islamic finance; and not to mention how religion is being branded and proselytised through social media: then pairing of branding with religion is on the rise.

Where did it begin?
Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud published a book in 1928 called Propaganda. In it he pioneered the scientific technique of shaping and manipulating public opinion, which he called ‘engineering consent’. This was also a concept that linguist, intellectual and political activist Noam Chomsky revisited with a much more chilling appraisal in his documentary and book Manufacturing Consent.

Interestingly, in a revised version of Bernay’s book, published in 2004, Mark Crispin Miller provides an introduction; in which he cites how the term propaganda was coined in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV and the Vatican. Their mission was to establish The Office for the Propagation of the Faith (Congregatio de propaganda fide) and to spread Christianity throughout the world. Bernay’s work, Max Weber’s book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, and the strategic galvanisation of public opinion during the First World War signalled the migration of Christianity into the engine room of business, driven by branding and public relations. Heaven on earth and success in the hereafter was to be achieved through the creation of global brands and corporations, as vehicles of worship.

Fast forward to brands today…

The framing of brands according to boundaried national identities, Marxism, and capitalism plays into the hands of the West. But the major monotheistic Abrahamic religions originate from the Middle East and East Africa, and these regions’ influences seldom feature in branding, other than according to consumer consumption. Furthermore, with 60% of the 7 billion world’s population hailing from Asia, notably with Indonesia being the most populous Muslim nation, alongside other widely practiced religions throughout Asia, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, a similar pattern is observed. In short, the majority of the world draws from religious guiding principles that are underrepresented in brand theory, development and practise.

Japan is an interesting case in practice, as one of the few Eastern nations to feature in brand rankings. They largely follow Buddhist and Shinto doctrines, but brand strength is more likely to be attributed to Japanese culture, with little mention of religion. More recently, author John Grant presents a treatise in which he observes a rise in an alternative anti-West, or alternative to Western branding approaches. What he articulates is that the ‘non-Christian’, shies away from the ego, and iconography. Instead, for John and I, it appears to be more compatible with the value systems of Islam, Buddhism, and celebrating the craftsmanship of the artisan in-tune with nature.

Alternative religious guiding principles
For me, the purpose of a brand is less about a restrictive definition according to a name, logo, colour, and legally defensible position; and more about the brand fulfilling the role of storytelling, transmitting signals, packaging meaning, connecting communities, generating interest, galvanising value systems, and the creation of social capital.
I have mentioned Halal and Islamic finance as being areas of growth, and these are both very much still work in progress. Also, if we look to other religions then the opportunities and possibilities are even greater.

For example, a Koan is a paradoxical anecdote or riddle, used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and to provoke enlightenment. In a globalized age of social media, and promiscuous or polytheistic branded consumption – due to increased accessibility, product lines, and consumer spending power especially in the East: I’m suggesting that brands which elicit worship will be afforded greater success where they draw more from Eastern and pluralistic principles.

Furthermore, with increased economic migrancy, population growth, education attainment, and wealth in the East, alongside a rising interest in the role of faith in business and marketing: the influences of the East will continue to become more significant.

The road ahead
My argument is that future competitive advantage will result from authentic brands that resonate with more of the attributes of different religions explicitly from guiding first principles. Furthermore, this has to be about appraising the implications of introducing different religions into branding as theory, as opposed to an upstream consumer targeting and advertising.

Can we picture a world beyond that of the glamorous MAD Men in television dramas and in the advertising agency offices of London and New York – towards one of the AhMAD Men of the East? Is it time to retire the cognac and rosary beads in favour of coffee and tasbeehs?

We have to understand the very human, precarious, and nuanced nature of brand survival, beyond mere product and service functionality. This Gestalt of the sacred, mundane, and the profane capitalizes on the transient, and aspires for brand transcendence. Brands are at the vanguard of extending the life cycle of products and services; and in some cases the mechanism for re-launching and stretching retro and nostalgia offerings. It’s about understanding human nature, our reality, and that we don’t just humanize brands – they make us more human.

If emerging economies don’t get the brand part of the puzzle right, then rather than Adam Smith’s invisible hand of social benefit, the invisible handcuffs of Christian propaganda may remain.

Image from Dolce and Gabbana F/W 13/14 campaign.

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Iqbal Latif is an international businessman, entrepreneur, humanitarian and a philanthropist supporting several charitable causes.

About Iqbal Latif

He began his professional career in Kuwait but defeated overwhelming odds during the Iraqi invasion in 1990 to attain the success he enjoys today.

Aside from his professional credentials, he is a thinker, philosopher, scholar, economic analyst, historian and a prolific writer, renowned author of several articles on news sites and his own web pages. His range of intellectual interest is vast. extending from polymaths and sciences to theology, history and global politics.

He is the developer and owner of one of the first eco-friendly boutique hotels in London which was established on his ethos on preserving Mother Nature. He is also a key investor in sub-Saharan countries focusing on helping the people of Africa.

If you like to read more of Iqbal click here.

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Vasily Koledov is the Science and Innovation Editor at BRIC Plus, and will also be blogging about business and entrepreneurship.

About Vasily Koledov

“I was born in Russia and grew up in UK, starting my first business at 16. I spent some time in investment banking before leaving to start an online business. Now, I’m one of the founding partners at an venture capital fund in London in addition to my work for BRIC.

I’m interested in pretty much everything – in particular, I enjoy both creative arts and numerical sciences. I’m a keen painter and musician, and am interested in the advancement of humanity through scientific progress.

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Take a look at Vasily Koledov’s latest Post! Just click here.

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Dominic Knight is a leading Harley Street expert focusing on behavioural analysis and human optimisation. He is a public speaker for many top executive forms, as well as working with private clients from a huge range of industries.

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I have recently wrote an opinion piece in BRIC Magazine relating to why I think oil prices will rise from current lows. Here is some backing information I have used in formulating that argument.

The collapse of oil prices that started in July of 2014 has had wide-ranging implications on the fortunes of most oil producing nations and has received endless coverage in the media with particular attention being paid to the negative effects on their economies. As such, a number of opinions have become prevalent in the market – in particular the resulting weakness of the Russian economy and the likely resilience of Saudi Arabia.
It is therefore of interest to see what the real big picture of the situation is and its likely effect on the health of this group of countries going forward.

First, let’s start by looking at the difference in the cost of oil production (i.e. the physical cost to extract a barrel from the ground) and the market price that is needed by a country to balance their budget (i.e. what price the country then needs to sell the oil on the open market in order to generate sufficient revenue to cover government expenses on infrastructure, welfare etc.).

Figure 1: Breakeven production and budget breakeven costs. Source: Agora Financial and Total S.A.

As we can see from Figure 1, there is a wide gap between cost of producing a barrel of oil and the required sale price needed to budget the balance.

For instance, Saudi Arabia can produce oil at very competitive prices – c.$5-$10 per barrel, however needs to sell it at a minimum of $75 to balance its budget. This is similar to the price Russia needs to balance its budget, however Russia’s cost of production are almost double those of Saudi Arabia.
Why is this difference so high? In order to understand this, we need to look at how much of a countries’ GDP is based on their Export earnings.

Figure 2: Oil export earnings as % of GDP. Source: euanmearns.com

Looking at Figure 2, the picture becomes rather interesting. We see that certain oil producing countries, such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq are far more reliant on oil revenue for their GDP income than more diversified economies such as Russia and even Iran. As such the next question that is worth asking is – what will be the effect on a governments’ annual deficit if oil stays at $50?

 

Figure 3: Annual government deficit at US$50 / barrel. Source: euanmearns.com

 

Figure 3 shows the impact on state economies of a sustained fall in oil price to US$ 50 per barrel. Whereas Kuwait, Qatar and Russia will be least hit by this situations most oil producers, including UAE, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia will be strongly affected.

Since countries will be using their foreign reserves to plug in gaps in their domestic reserves, the final question we need to ask is – how long will these last?

 

Figure 4: Duration of foreign reserves at US$ 50 per barrel. Source: euanmearns.com

Looking at Figure 4, we can see that if oil remains at US$50 per barrel, Venezuela, Nigeria, Ecuador and Angola will ruin out of foreign reserves within 18 months and will require international assistance. Iran, Iraq, UAE and Libya will be able to last for another 24 months and only Saudi Arabia, Russia, Algeria, Qatar and Kuwait will be able to sustain a prolonged oil price glut of 4 years or more.

Sources

http://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Oil-Wars-Why-OPEC-Will-Win.html
http://uk.businessinsider.com/citi-breakeven-oil-production-prices-2014-11
http://wolfstreet.com/2014/09/12/the-countries-most-at-risk-from-declining-oil-prices/
http://graphics.wsj.com/lists/opec-meeting

If you like this article you may be interested in “Ask the Experts: Is This The Next Global Crisis?”.

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]]> https://bricplusnews.com/opinion/established-oil-nations-versus-emerging-market-producers-who-will-survive/feed/ 0 2602 https://bricplusnews.com/opinion/mankind-to-set-up-permanent-lunar-colony-in-the-mid-2020s/ https://bricplusnews.com/opinion/mankind-to-set-up-permanent-lunar-colony-in-the-mid-2020s/#respond Mon, 16 Mar 2015 04:30:00 +0000 https://bricplusnews.com/?p=2603 Everything we know about the moon has been changed…but what would mining off-Earth mean for humanity? In December 2013, something shocking happened: the Chinese Yutu (or “Jade Rabbit”) rover landed. Sent to explore the soil content around the moon, Chinese scientists discovered a much younger geological surface than that explored by NASA during the Apollo landings in [...]

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Everything we know about the moon has been changed…but what would mining off-Earth mean for humanity?

In December 2013, something shocking happened: the Chinese Yutu (or “Jade Rabbit”) rover landed. Sent to explore the soil content around the moon, Chinese scientists discovered a much younger geological surface than that explored by NASA during the Apollo landings in 1969-1972, and by the Soviet lunar missions.

These results are the first detailed look at the moon’s surface, and the results are complex. Crucially, the results found that the moon has been – geologically speaking — extremely active over the last 3 billion years, with at least 9 layers in its soil – 5 more than previous estimates – all formed through volcanic eruptions. This is the latest in China’s recent interest in the moon and lunar exploration. In November last year, China became only the third nation to launch a successful test mission to the moon and back.

But what does it all mean?

These ground breaking findings underpin a larger movement in lunar exploration activity, in particular from the Chinese government. The Yutu rover is part of the Chinese Chang’e program to explore the moon, with the goal of identifying resources available for mining. Ouyang Ziyuan, a prominent Chinese geologist and chemical cosmologist is the chief scientist for the Chang’e program. He has previously urged for the exploration and mining of the Moon’s surface for uranium, titanium and Helium-3: a power source that can one day be used in nuclear fusion power stations of the future.

According to China space expert Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, “China wants to go to the moon for geostrategic reasons and domestic legitimacy.”

To this extent in June 2014, Chinese newspaper The People’s Daily reports that “Chinese aerospace researchers are working on setting up a lunar base,” based on a speech by Zhang Yuhua, deputy general director and deputy general designer of the Chang’e-3 probe system.

The timeline is vague, but the Chinese have indicated that they want to set up a permanent Lunar colony some time in the mid 2020s to begin moon resource mining and research operations.

Figure 1: Picture of the Rover’s path and drilling activity around the Landing site

Private U.S. corporations are also interested in visiting the moon, but the nature of these missions is more commercial in nature, seeing it as a touristic and research opportunity, with the intention to own, lease and operate inflatable space habitats on the moon.

As such, it is important to see today’s discovery, not only as an important milestone for understanding the geological make up of our nearest celestial body, but also as a precursor to a large increase in lunar exploration activity and increased human interaction with the universe.

Sources

http://www.space.com/28810-moon-history-chinese-lunar-rover.html

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