Middle East

Tunisia Needs Entrepreneurs

By Mohsin Khan and Hanane Lahnaoui

The lack of jobs was one of the most important factors in creating the conditions for the uprising in January 2011 in Tunisia that launched the so-called Arab Spring. In the decade 2000-2010, with the economy growing at an average annual rate of 4.5 percent, overall unemployment averaged nearly 14 percent and youth unemployment hovered […]

Selling the Iran Deal

By Owen Daniels

Four arguments the Obama administration will use to win over Congress With lawmakers a little over a month into the sixty-day congressional review period for the Iran nuclear agreement or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), US President Barack Obama’s administration is racing to secure votes of approval from undecided congressmen. The President has already […]

Syria: Kicking the Can Down the Road

By Frederic C. Hof

The United Nations Security Council authorized a statement by the Council’s president on August 17 endorsing a new search process for a negotiated political settlement in Syria. “Syrian parties” would be invited to attend “more focused consultations and discussions” in “four thematic working groups.”

The Republic of Fear

By Amr Hamzawy

The Egyptian government issued a decree in July placing regulatory and independent agencies under the auspices of the president of the country, authorizing President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to replace the agencies’ leaders. This move effectively puts an end to the agencies’ independent regulatory role by threatening their ability to both ensure the executive authority does […]

Yemen: Calling for a Comprehensive US Strategy to End the Conflict

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee, the primary mechanism for inter-agency coordination of UN- and non-UN humanitarian assistance, recently labeled the conflict in Yemen a category 3 emergency—the most severe category in the international system.