ijems | editorial VariousAspectsofHistory:ThePresent andFutureinEuro-Mediterranean Research jaka vadnjal Euro-MediterraneanUniversity,Slovenia jaka.vadnjal@emuni.si https://emuni.si/ISSN/2232-6022/16.155-158.pdf In this new issue the International Journal of Euro-Mediterranean Studies, we are proud to present five articles with very diversified content.Twoarticlesfocusonpasthistoricalperiods,twodealwith the business reality of today and the last is centred on one of the most important questions concerning the future: our fresh water supply. Meshal Alenezi (Kuwait), in his article ‘Loyalty and Affiliation oftheAndalusianElitesTowardsMul¯ ukAl-T . aw¯ a’ifDuringthe11th Century/Fifth ah’ explores how 11th century Islamic rule in the Iberian Peninsula (al-Andalus) witnessed political and military dis- integrationcausedbyitsdivisionintotwenty-twoArabandBerber states.Inthepresenceofintellectualandscientificprosperity,schol- arsandhistorianswerealsopromptedtoexaminetheculturalpros- perity of the Islamic states inal-Andalus, the domination of Chris- tians in these states as well as the conflict between the Islamic states.This researchclarifiesthe loyalty of Andalusianelites tothe 11th century Muslim rulers in the Iberian Peninsula. It delves into the political positions and ambitions of these elites, particularly those of famous poets and jurists since many scholars concentrate onhowthepoliticalweaknessoftheIberianMuslimrulersimpacted the cultural contributions of poets and jurists without examining how it affected their political ambitions and loyalty to those rulers inquestionduringthiscentury. AdjobaAudreyPauleNzeandAbderrahmanTenkoul(Morrocco), volume 16 | 2023 | number 2 | 155–158 [156] JakaVadnjal inherarticle‘ExploringStateEffectivenessinSustainableDevelop- ment: Development and Use of a Measurement Tool for the Fez- Meknes Region’ investigates the application of sustainable devel- opment, which has evolved into a fundamental tenet that is incor- poratedintonumerouslawsandframeworksforgoverningbodies. The paper presents a tool for measuring and comparing internal governancecapacityforsustainabilityandoperationalisationinthe Mediterraneanregion,suchastheprovincesandprefecturesofthe Fez-Meknesregion,whichaimstobeareferenceforthesub-region asasmart,resilient,andsustainablecity.Usingthistoolrevealsthe variety of governance arrangements and their various capacities. It also shows where and how our modes of cultural management, which can be further reinvented and better organised, can be im- provedintermsofgovernanceofthesustainabilityofgovernments andadministrations. HebatallaEmam,NagwaSamak,andIsraaAbdElaziz(Egypt)fo- cusedonmoderndayfinanceintheirarticle‘MeasuringtheTrans- parency of the Central Bank of Egypt as a Prerequisite for Adopt- ingInflationTargetingPolicy.’Ithasbeenalmosttwodecadessince theCentralBankofEgypt(cbe)initiallyannounceditsintentionto adoptthe it regimeoncethefundamentalprerequisitesweremet. Thetransitiontowards the it policyhasbeenpartofthecomplete revamping and reform of monetary policy in Egypt following the various challenges in the Egyptian economy that have been under- waysincethelatenineties(AlMashat2008).Thus,the cbe haspaid continuousattentionincomplyingwiththepreconditionsofthe it policy. The purpose of this paper is to assess the degree of trans- parencyof the cbe over the period2005–2021. The studyrelieson the most recently developed index for Central Bank Transparency (cbt) for inflation-targeting centralbanks, designedby Al-Mashat etal.(2018)toquantifythedegreeoftransparencyofthe cbe.The analysisrevealsthatcbtinEgyptisadvancing,butwitharelatively reasonablepathofchange.Still,thecbehasalargevoidtofill,espe- ciallypertainingtothetransparencyrelatedtotheForecastingand PolicyAnalysisSystemandpolicy-makingprocess. Predrag Ljubotina and Jaka Vadnjal (Slovenia), in their article ijems VariousAspectsofHistory [157] ‘Career Decisions in the Mediterranean: To Be or Not to Be an En- trepreneur?,’discussrecentresearchonfamilybusinesssuccession, which has primarily focused on the importance of individual and family factors; nevertheless, regional influences have often been disregarded. This study investigates the influence of regional cir- cumstancesonthecareerchoiceintentionsoffamilycompanyheirs with respect to employment, beginning their own entrepreneurial endeavour, or family firm succession using individual level cross- country data. The authors have found that there are several dis- tinctionsbetweentheEuropeanandnon-EuropeanMediterranean countries. Even beyond circumstances, such as the university set- ting,entrepreneurshipinthecurriculum,entrepreneurialmindsets, locusofcontrol,powerdistanceandsubjectivestandards,individual characteristics of the family business and start-up time are impor- tant determinants. Policies regarding company succession and re- latedfirmsurvivalshouldbeparticularlybasedonvariousmacroe- conomicandyouthlabourmarketfactorsinordertoreducesucces- sionfailures. Yousra Ezzghari, El Khalil Cherif, Ayman Bnoussaad, Hamza El Azhari and Hakim Boulaassal (Morrocco) in their article ‘Assess- ment of Coastal Water Quality by Testing a Linear Model Using Landsat8 sst data:ExploratoryStudy,’discusstherichnessofthe ecologyoftheMediterraneanBasin,whichliesoffthecoastofTang- ier,Morocco,consideredoneofthemostvaluablewaters.However, pollution is a growing problem along this coastline.In order to de- termine the northern Mediterranean coastal water quality in fif- teenselectedsitesalongthecoastfromTangiertoKsar-Sghir,alin- earmodelwasdevelopedfortheAtlanticwesterncoastalwatersof Tangier using a sea surface temperature estimated from Landsat 8 images and Escherichia coli concentration. According to the find- ings,thecitiesaroundtheSouaniandMghoghaRivers,andTangier MedPort,hadthehighestmeasurements,whichisindicativeoflow qualityandextremelyhigh levels of hazardous contamination. The testedmodelisusefulforestimatingthequalityofcoastalwateron theMediterraneansideofTangier,andinthefuture,asameansof potentiallymonitoringpollutioninthisregion. volume 16 | 2023 | number 2 [158] JakaVadnjal Wehopeyouwillenjoyreadingthesearticles.Pleasefeelfreeto recommend them to your colleagues for use in their own research and to refer them to ijems for future submissions for potential publication. ijems