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TunisiaDemocracy and GovernanceKais Saied Continues His Assault on the Tunisian State
Apr 8, 2022Daniel BrumbergIt is difficult to say whether Tunisian President Kais Saied’s March 30 announcement that he is dissolving the country’s parliament represents a turning point …
- Policy Analysis
LibyaDemocracy and GovernanceLibya: A Return to Uncertainty
Mar 16, 2022Imad K. HarbIt appears that all bets are off in Libya. Elections that were scheduled for last December were postponed as competing institutions and individuals interpret p…
- Policy Analysis
EgyptRegional Relations and GeopoliticsSisi Intensifies Arms Imports to Secure External Support for His Policies
Feb 28, 2022Khalil Al-AnaniEgypt has become the third largest arms importer in the world, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The institute’s “Trends i…
- Policy Analysis
IraqDemocracy and GovernanceThe Quiet Kurdish Rivalry over Iraq’s Presidency
Feb 9, 2022Zeidon AlkinaniZeidon Alkinani discusses the rivalry between Iraq’s main Kurdish parties—the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)—and i…
- Policy Analysis
Palestine/IsraelDemocracy and GovernanceProspects for the Israeli Governing Coalition
Feb 9, 2022Yousef MunayyerYousef Munayyer evaluates the prospects of survival of Israel’s current governing coalition, whose partners have little in common except that they coalesced ar…
- Policy Analysis
Media and TechnologyMapping Digital Authoritarianism in the Arab World
Feb 3, 2022Tamara KharroubThe Arab uprisings of 2011 gave rise to a utopian vision of information and communication technologies (ICTs), highlighting their abilities to bypass governmen…
- Policy Analysis
Justice, Equality, and Human RightsA Bleak Landscape for Democracy and Human Rights in the MENA Region in 2022
Feb 2, 2022Charles W. DunneAny survey of human rights in the Middle East and North Africa at the start of 2022 has to open with the bad news.Promising protest movements that began in 201…
- Policy Analysis
EgyptJustice, Equality, and Human RightsSisi’s Transnational Repression: Silencing Political Dissidents in Exile
Jan 26, 2022Khalil Al-AnaniOn January 6, the FBI arrested Pierre Girgis, an Egyptian American, for spying on critics of Egypt’s president in the United States. According to the US Depart…
- Policy Analysis
Democracy and GovernanceThe Democracy Deficit in the Arab World
Jan 14, 2022Imad K. HarbImad K. Harb examines the democracy deficit in the Arab world and the associated widespread violations of human rights, probing possible explanations of what h…
- Policy Analysis
LibyaDemocracy and GovernanceLibya: Political Paralysis and Continued Uncertainty
Jan 11, 2022Gregory AftandilianGregory Aftandilian writes that the postponement of Libya’s presidential and parliamentary elections has helped plunge the country into another crisis that thr…
- Viewpoint
SudanDemocracy and GovernanceSudan’s Revolution Must Be Allowed to Continue
Jan 4, 2022Imad K. HarbIn a move that reflected his failure to garner the support of the Sudanese public, Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok submitted his resignation on January 2…
- Policy Analysis
TunisiaDemocracy and GovernanceCan Tunisia’s Leaders Forge a New Democratic Bargain?
Dec 29, 2021Daniel BrumbergNothing captures Tunisia’s crisis of democracy better than this act: the sentencing, in absentia, of former President Moncef Marzouki to four years in prison. …
- Policy Analysis
IraqDemocracy and GovernanceIraq’s Post-Election Government Formation: Political Deadlock
Dec 28, 2021Zeidon AlkinaniMajor changes to the Iraqi political scene are awaiting the formation of a new government following the results of the early parliamentary election that took p…
- Policy Analysis
Education and DevelopmentWhat Future Exists for the Arab Youth of Today?
Dec 22, 2021Yara M. AsiIn December 2021, an unprecedented event happened in Saudi Arabia: a rave just north of Riyadh. Men and women danced in mixed company, alcohol and marijuana we…
- Policy Analysis
LebanonDemocracy and GovernancePolitics, Geopolitical Conditions Pushing Lebanon into a Death Spiral
Dec 22, 2021Imad K. HarbConditions in Lebanon today betray a slide toward the total failure of state institutions amid a precipitous downturn of the country’s economic and social indi…
- Policy Analysis
Democracy and GovernanceBiden’s Summit for Democracy Ignored the Middle East
Dec 15, 2021Charles W. DunneThe Biden Administration’s recent Summit for Democracy should be regarded as a modest success, fulfilling a campaign promise by President Joe Biden and decisiv…
- Policy Analysis
SudanRegional Relations and GeopoliticsSudan Coup: The Regional Interference behind a Faltering Transition
Dec 11, 2021Khalil Al-AnaniOn October 25, 2021, Sudan’s General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan staged a coup, declared a state of emergency, dissolved the power-sharing Sovereign Council, sacked…
- Viewpoint
Democracy and GovernanceIs Biden Serious about His Summit for Democracy?
Dec 6, 2021Khalil E. JahshanSince his inauguration on January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden has been hinting at a renewed focus on democracy by his administration to reverse the dismal re…
- Policy Analysis
TunisiaDemocracy and GovernanceIs Tunisia Transitioning to a Liberalized Autocracy?
Nov 18, 2021Daniel BrumbergIf in the coming months Tunisia undergoes a transition, given current conditions, it will probably not be along a path back to democracy. Indeed, while Preside…
- Viewpoint
SyriaConflicts and Conflict ResolutionThe Failure of Syria’s Constitutional Committee
Nov 16, 2021Radwan ZiadehIn October 2019, Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres enthusiastically welcomed the creation of Syria’s Constitutional Committee that would…
- Policy Analysis
LibyaDemocracy and GovernanceUncertainty Overshadows Libya’s Elections
Nov 11, 2021Imad K. HarbThe agreement governing Libya’s advancement toward presidential and legislative elections, which are slated to be held in December, ran into serious trouble th…
- Policy Analysis
IraqProtests and ActivismIraq’s Tishreen Protest Movement: The Exceptional Domestic Pressure Tool
Nov 10, 2021Zeidon AlkinaniIn October 2019, Iraq witnessed its most significant anti-government protests since the US-led invasion and occupation in 2003. The demonstrations blasted the …
- Policy Analysis
EgyptReligion and PoliticsEgypt’s Muslim Brotherhood: Old Problems and New Divisions
Nov 3, 2021Khalil Al-AnaniSince its removal from power in 2013, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt continues to face many problems and challenges. Having always prided itself on being the …
- Policy Analysis
SudanUS Foreign PolicyBiden’s Chameleon-like Policy in the MENA Region
Nov 3, 2021Imad K. HarbHaving invested time, effort, and treasure in helping to sustain the 2019 political agreement between the Sudanese military and the civilian Forces of Freedom …
- Viewpoint
SudanDemocracy and GovernanceMilitary Takeover in Sudan: The Writing Is on the Wall
Oct 25, 2021Imad K. HarbWe have seen this before: military officers in the Arab world not quite enamored with sharing power with civilians—let alone ceding it to them peacefully—show …
- Policy Analysis
JordanRegional Relations and GeopoliticsJordan: Uptick in Diplomacy amid Pandora Papers Revelations
Oct 20, 2021Gregory AftandilianRevelations in the so-called Pandora Papers about King Abdullah II’s substantial real estate acquisitions of luxury homes in the United States and United Kingd…
- Policy Analysis
LebanonDemocracy and GovernanceForeign Influence in Lebanon and the Third Miqati Premiership
Oct 13, 2021Joe MacaronFor the third time in 16 years, Prime Minister Najib Miqati comes to office as a consensus candidate in a country with deep divisions within the Lebanese polit…
- Viewpoint
LebanonDemocracy and GovernanceNo Rest for the Weary: Lebanon’s Miqati Must Hit the Ground Running
Sep 10, 2021Imad K. HarbNajib Miqati, the billionaire tasked over a year ago with forming the Lebanese government, has finally finished putting it together, but not before President M…
- Policy Analysis
LebanonEnergy and EconomicsLebanon’s Energy Crisis Fuels US-Iran Tensions
Aug 25, 2021Joe MacaronIn the midst of an economic collapse and an energy crisis, Lebanon has found itself in a tug of war between the United States and Iran. On August 19, Hezbollah…
- Policy Analysis
TunisiaRegional Relations and GeopoliticsRisky Business: Kais Saied’s Regional Alliances
Aug 20, 2021Daniel BrumbergThree weeks after President Kais Saied used Article 80 of the constitution to impose what can be called a ‘state of exceptionalism,’ Tunisians are waiting for …
- Policy Analysis
TunisiaDemocracy and GovernanceKais Saied Can Either Save or Destroy Tunisia’s Democracy
Jul 27, 2021Daniel BrumbergThe political earthquake that rocked Tunisia July 25th—65 years after the country’s independence from France—seems all too familiar. Declaring that he was dete…
- Policy Analysis
KuwaitDemocracy and GovernanceKuwait Muddles through Its Confusing Politics
Jul 20, 2021Kristian Coates UlrichsenNearly a year has passed since the death, on September 29, 2020, of Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah, the respected elder statesman of Gu…
- Policy Analysis
SomaliaDemocracy and GovernanceMany Challenges to Address as Somalis Go to the Polls
Jul 19, 2021Imad K. HarbThe recent agreement on Somali presidential and parliamentary elections is a good but insufficient sign that Somalia’s many antagonists will allow the credible…
- Policy Analysis
AlgeriaDemocracy and GovernanceAlgeria Reestablishes Authoritarianism through Elections
Jul 1, 2021Imad K. HarbOn June 12, Algeria held an early parliamentary election whose results reflected both Algerian voters’ apathy about the system they inherited from former Presi…
- Policy Analysis
IranUS Foreign PolicyRaisi’s Election Creates Opportunities and Pitfalls for Iran’s Islamic Republic
Jun 25, 2021Daniel BrumbergIn the weeks leading up to Iran’s June 18 presidential elections, one joke making the rounds was that Ebrahim Raisi, then a candidate and now the winner, was r…
- Research Paper
LebanonIdentity Politics and SectarianizationYouth in Lebanon: Policy Narratives, Attitudes, and Forms of Mobilization
Jun 17, 2021Mona HarbIntroductionAs Lebanon is undergoing one of the worst economic and financial collapses in the world, one that was caused by the deliberate inaction1 of its rul…
- Policy Analysis
LibyaDemocracy and GovernanceThe Challenges and Opportunities in Libya Today
Jun 14, 2021Imad K. HarbAfter the uprising against former strongman Muammar Qadhafi in 2011, Libya’s road to stability and order—let alone to full democratic governance—has not been s…
- Viewpoint
IraqIdentity Politics and SectarianizationTime to Address Impunity in Iraq
Jun 4, 2021Abdulwahab Al-QassabOn May 26, Iraqi security forces arrested General Qasim Muslih, commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Anbar province, basing their action on…
- Policy Analysis
SyriaDemocracy and GovernanceSyria’s Presidential Election and the Absence of the American Role
Jun 1, 2021Radwan ZiadehOn May 26, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a fourth seven-year term in a practically uncontested election. No one was surprised by the original announceme…
- Policy Analysis
Women & Gender IssuesThe (Slowly) Changing Gender Dynamics in Arab Countries
May 11, 2021Yara M. AsiA now infamous image from 2014 captured the moment Loujain al-Hathloul’s life changed: it shows her sitting behind the wheel of a car, a small smile on her fac…
- Policy Analysis
TunisiaDemocracy and GovernanceIs Tunisia’s President Endangering Democracy?
May 7, 2021Daniel BrumbergRecently, Tunisia has witnessed a political dynamic that is all too rare in the Arab world: Islamists have joined forces with some secularly oriented Members o…
- Policy Analysis
EgyptDemocracy and GovernanceFailures of Authoritarian Governance in Egypt
Apr 28, 2021Khalil Al-AnaniOn March 23, the world's attention turned to Egypt as traffic in the strategic Suez Canal was disrupted after the 400-meter container ship, the Ever Given, ran…
- Policy Analysis
Palestine/IsraelDemocracy and GovernanceThe Palestinian Elections and Jerusalem
Apr 20, 2021Jonathan KuttabFifteen years have elapsed since the last elections in Palestine, and now Palestinians are poised to hold a new round for the Legislative Council of the Palest…
- Policy Analysis
EgyptDemocracy and GovernanceAn Old, Ongoing Struggle: Domesticating Religious Institutions in Egypt
Apr 2, 2021Khalil Al-AnaniThe relationship between religion and the state is controversial and problematic in the Arab world, particularly with the absence of clear demarcations that co…
- Policy Analysis
Democracy and GovernanceThe Seven Habits of Highly Effective Autocrats: Key Strategies That Beat Down the Arab Spring and Keep Regimes in Power
Mar 31, 2021Charles W. DunneThe 10th anniversary of the Arab Spring has unleashed a torrent of retrospectives focused on the legacy of the uprisings, mostly their failures. All these year…
- Policy Analysis
LebanonDemocracy and GovernanceLebanon Faces a Civil War, a Prospect of Its Own Making
Mar 23, 2021Imad K. HarbThe socioeconomic and political crises gripping Lebanon today are unprecedented in the country’s 100-year history, one that has witnessed intercommunal unrest …
- Policy Analysis
Palestine/IsraelDemocracy and GovernanceIsrael’s 2021 Elections: Background, Scenarios, and Expectations
Mar 16, 2021Honaida GhanimOn March 23rd, Israel holds its fourth round of parliamentary elections in less than two years, amid what in Israel has become known as “the political crisis” …
- Policy Analysis
Justice, Equality, and Human RightsChallenges to Biden’s Human Rights Agenda in the Middle East
Mar 9, 2021Khalil Al-AnaniIn his speech at the US State Department on February 4, 2021, US President Joe Biden pledged to support democracy and confront authoritarianism globally, sayin…
- Policy Analysis
LevantDemocracy and GovernanceNo Light at the End of Lebanon’s Long and Dark Tunnel
Mar 3, 2021Joe MacaronBy all accounts, Lebanon is a desperate case. The severe fiscal crises portend an extended economic depression ahead. The country has been in political paralys…
- Policy Analysis
Palestine/IsraelDemocracy and GovernancePalestinian Elections 2021: Reconciling Competing Motives
Feb 18, 2021Khalil E. JahshanOn January 15, 2021, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority (PA) issued a decreecalling for legislative, presidential, and National Council elect…
- Policy Analysis
TunisiaDemocracy and GovernanceTunisia’s Multiple Crises Threaten Its Brittle Democracy
Feb 16, 2021Daniel BrumbergOn January 26, Tunisia witnessed a scene that echoed the dramatic events of January 6 in Washington, DC. Outside the Tunisian parliament in Tunis, hundreds of …
- Policy Analysis
TunisiaDemocracy and GovernanceAs 2021 Begins, Rival Populisms Menace Tunisia’s Democracy
Jan 8, 2021Daniel BrumbergTen years after Tunisia’s “Jasmine Revolution” sparked grassroots uprisings in Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria, the pressures of an economic crisis, rampant c…
- Policy Analysis
Palestine/IsraelEducation and DevelopmentBuilding a Nation without a State: Civil Society in Palestine
Dec 23, 2020Yara M. AsiNever before has the Palestinian Authority (PA) seemed so isolated. American policy under President Donald Trump has unprecedentedly and openly been favorable …
- Policy Analysis
US Foreign PolicyDemocracy and Human Rights in the Middle East: The Biden Agenda
Nov 25, 2020Charles W. DunneAs news that former Vice President Joe Biden had won the American presidential election began to circulate on Saturday, November 7, messages of congratulations…
- Viewpoint
The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfDemocracy and GovernanceArab Public Opinion on National Security and Foreign Intervention
Nov 17, 2020Joe MacaronThe Arab League celebrated its 75th anniversary this year in the midst of regional politics that have never been more polarized, with continuous foreign interv…
- Policy Analysis
Security and DefenseMilitary Institutions and Poor Governance in the Arab World
Nov 16, 2020Imad K. HarbThe latest Arab Opinion Index (AOI) from the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS) in Doha, Qatar, reveals an interesting combination of views ab…
- Policy Analysis
LebanonDemocracy and GovernanceLebanon Risks Becoming Irrelevant
Nov 11, 2020Imad K. HarbFor the third time in the span of a year, Lebanese politicians are trying to go back to the proverbial drawing board. On October 22nd, President Michel Aoun ap…
- Policy Analysis
EgyptProtests and ActivismProtests of the Poor in Egypt: Causes and Implications
Oct 21, 2020Khalil Al-AnaniOn September 20th, a series of anti-government demonstrations broke out in a number of Egyptian governorates and villages protesting the social and economic co…
- Viewpoint
LebanonDemocracy and GovernanceLebanon Chooses a Prime Minister, Thwarting the Protesters Again
Aug 31, 2020Imad K. HarbImad K. Harb writes that Lebanon’s new and largely unknown prime minister-designate, Mustafa Adib, is relatively inexperienced in politics. Nevertheless, his c…
- Policy Analysis
SudanDemocracy and GovernanceDespite Some Progress, Sudan’s Transition Faces Mounting Hurdles
Aug 18, 2020Gregory AftandilianGregory Aftandilian states that although the government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has instituted a number of political and social reforms, Sudan’s democ…
- Policy Analysis
LebanonDemocracy and GovernanceThe Beirut Explosion Will Have a Lasting Impact on Lebanon
Aug 14, 2020Joe MacaronJoe Macaron argues that the Beirut explosion and its repercussions will have a profound impact on Lebanon’s future, whatever political scenario emerges followi…
- Viewpoint
LebanonDemocracy and GovernanceThe Hezbollah-Aoun Political Process Has Failed in Lebanon
Aug 11, 2020Imad K. HarbImad K. Harb posits that the resignation of the Lebanese government exposes the failure of the Hezbollah-Aoun political process but opens an opportunity for th…
- Viewpoint
LebanonDemocracy and GovernanceLebanon: A Failed State Explodes
Aug 6, 2020Imad K. HarbImad K. Harb contends that the failing Lebanese state will only begin to restore its legitimacy when the country’s political elites either step down or alter t…
- Policy Analysis
TunisiaDemocracy and GovernancePolitical Crisis, Regional Power Struggles, and Creeping Presidentialism in Tunisia
Jul 29, 2020Daniel BrumbergAnalyzing Tunisia’s political problems, Daniel Brumberg writes that nearly a decade into the country’s democratic experiment, many of its leaders appear incapa…
- Policy Analysis
LebanonDemocracy and GovernanceHezbollah Cannot Solve Lebanon’s Worsening Conditions
Jun 10, 2020Imad K. HarbImad K. Harb contends that Hezbollah has not succeeded in helping to repair Lebanon's domestic political and economic problems, has made the country hostage to…
