Publications

Since the desperate act of self-immolation of 26-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi in Sidi Bouzid, a marginalized city in the center of Tunisia, on December 17, 2010, …

President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree last January to hold elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the presidency of the Palestinian Authori…

Jordan’s carefully crafted international image was jolted recently when news broke of multiple arrests, the alleged detention of a Hashemite prince, and announ…

The relationship between religion and the state is controversial and problematic in the Arab world, particularly with the absence of clear demarcations that co…

The 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…

The socioeconomic and political crises gripping Lebanon today are unprecedented in the country’s 100-year history, one that has witnessed intercommunal unrest …

On 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” …

In his speech at the US State Department on February 4, 2021, US President Joe Biden pledged to support democracy and confront authoritarianism globally, sayin…

By all accounts, Lebanon is a desperate case. The severe fiscal crises portend an extended economic depression ahead. The country has been in political paralys…

On January 15, 2021, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority (PA) issued a decreecalling for legislative, presidential, and National Council elect…

Never before has the Palestinian Authority (PA) seemed so isolated. American policy under President Donald Trump has unprecedentedly and openly been favorable …

As news that former Vice President Joe Biden had won the American presidential election began to circulate on Saturday, November 7, messages of congratulations…

The Arab League celebrated its 75th anniversary this year in the midst of regional politics that have never been more polarized, with continuous foreign interv…

The 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…

For 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…

The Iraqi Council of Representatives voted to confirm Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on May 7, 2020, after two aborted attempts to replace his predecessor, …

On September 20th, a series of anti-government demonstrations broke out in a number of Egyptian governorates and villages protesting the social and economic co…

Imad K. Harb writes that Lebanon’s new and largely unknown prime minister-designate, Mustafa Adib, is relatively inexperienced in politics. Nevertheless, his c…

Gregory Aftandilian states that although the government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has instituted a number of political and social reforms, Sudan’s democ…

Joe Macaron argues that the Beirut explosion and its repercussions will have a profound impact on Lebanon’s future, whatever political scenario emerges followi…

Imad 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…

Imad 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…

If you thought the Middle East has hit rock bottom and may finally emerge intact from a decade of upheaval and conflict, think again.

Imad 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…

Radwan Ziadeh discounts the long-term political repercussions of the Assad-Makhlouf dispute and writes that if the regime gets in serious trouble, the cousins …

Yara M. Asi surveys the poor conditions of the Arab world's health care sector and writes that significant changes in efforts and resources should be prioritiz…

General Haftar's unilateral abrogation of the 2015 Skhirat Agreement is illegal and that his secession in areas under his control paves the way for Libya's dis…

The emerging differences about the issue of annexation between the two coalition partners could become the massive rock on which their agreement is apt to cras…

Oman is likely to continue to follow the policy prescriptions of the late Sultan Qaboos, Imad K. Harb writes, but the new ruler, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, may …

Gregory Aftandilian argues that even if a final political deal is reached between Khartoum and the rebel groups in Sudan, a poor economy will continue to worse…

The unconventional release of Lebanese-American Amer Fakhoury highlights the extent of Washington’s leverage in Beirut and raises questions about the status of…

Yousef Munayyer examines how Benny Gantz's political defeat and acceptance to form a coalition government with Benjamin Netanyahu have revived the Israeli prim…

Imad K. Harb argues that Mohammed bin Salman’s chaotic and authoritarian stewardship of Saudi domestic and international affairs may well impede the establishm…

Authoritarian governments and leaders in the Middle East have used the cover of the coronavirus pandemic to disperse demonstrations, jail activists, stifle dis…

Arab Center Washington DC's resident and non-resident fellows and scholars investigate and report on the different aspects of the COVID-19 global public health…

In examining Israel's uncertain political conditions following the inconclusive third parliamentary election, Yousef Munayyer observes that there is a possibil…

The failure of previous arrangements regarding Syria suggests that the latest ceasefire agreement between Turkey and Russia may only be temporary. Read this an…

The dissolution of confessional politics in Lebanon and the political coalescence of the street opposition to negotiate for social change are key to addressing…

The fate of Tunisia’s democracy may depend on the leadership of President Saied who, until 2019, neither played a political role nor had links to the existing …

Joe Macaron contends that the new Lebanese government of Hassan Diab is a continuation of the old oligarchic status quo and appears to prolong the US-Iran déte…

The clash between the 'resistance' and 'revolutionary' movements will define the Middle East in the future.

ACW analysts and academic board members discuss the prospects of the 2019 public protests in several countries of the Arab world and how technology is poised t…

In the long term, Trump’s executive order conflating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism is another effort to silence the debate in the United States on Israel’s p…

Significant differences between the Arab Spring protests of 2011 and the upheaval sweeping the region today are signs of things to come in the Arab world.

Tebboune’s presidential test in the coming months will be in his ability to gain the confidence of Algerians in general, and the popular movement in particular.

The military-imposed presidential election in Algeria should not deter the protesters from pressing on with their demand for radical political and economic cha…

Charles W. Dunne argues that in light of Iraq’s current crisis, the United States must take bold steps to help stabilize the country, enhance anti-corruption a…

A desperate Netanyahu will use all tools in a demagogue’s box, including racist incitement against the Palestinians, in order to remain politically alive—or at…

The ongoing protests in Iraq indicate that the country’s youth, who are overwhelmingly Shia, have become disillusioned with status quo politics of control by I…

Nabeel Khoury discusses the Lebanese leadership’s catch-22 dilemma resulting from the influence of entrenched parties and their militias as they confront the l…

Lebanon’s protests have been unique and inclusive and are united by a wish to topple the ruling political class and abandon the system of sectarian power-shari…

Nabeel Khouri argues that it is clear that radical reform in Lebanon is what stands between a safe and gradual transition to an accountable government, on the …

Tunisia after its elections will be ruled by a governmental coalition the nature of which will depend on the relationship between the new president and the new…

Imad K. Harb writes that Lebanon’s current protests are a reminder that the Arab Spring is alive and well and that Lebanese politicians have no choice but to h…

For nearly three decades, the so-called two-state solution has dominated discussions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the idea of two states for two pe…

Yousef Munayyer discounts the possibility of holding new Palestinian presidential and legislative elections despite the parties’ repeated assertions that they …

This Israeli election, like the one before it, has largely been about Benjamin Netanyahu himself and not his policies. Yousef Munayyer considers the possible s…