Programs

Middle East Programs

Working with our allies and partners in Europe and the wider Middle East to protect US interests, build peace and security, and unlock the human potential of the region.

Libya

Content

MENASource

Jan 20, 2015

Student Unions and Politics in Post-Revolution Tunisia

By Mohamed Abdel Salam

Student unions in Tunisia lack dividing lines between political action and the unionist role inside universities, which has contributed to the outbreak of campus violence in the past year. Politicized union structures lost the ability to distinguish between their own activity and the stances of students from political parties affiliated with them.

North Africa

In the News

Jan 20, 2015

Mezran and Radwan: The Libya Conundrum

By Karim Mezran and Tarek Radwan

Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Karim Mezran and Associate Director Tarek Radwan cowrite for The Cairo Review of Global Affairs on Egypt’s reaction to Libya’s political struggle:

Libya North Africa

MENASource

Jan 16, 2015

Factbox: Gearing up for Egypt’s Parliamentary Elections

By EgyptSource

Egyptians will head to the polls for the sixth time in the past four years, casting their ballots in the second parliamentary elections since the 2011 ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak. When will the vote take place? What kind of parliament can expect to be elected? What campaigning rules do candidates have to abide […]

Elections North Africa

MENASource

Jan 16, 2015

As Charlie Hebdo Ups Print Run, Egypt to Ban Foreign Publications Insulting Religion

By Joel Gulhane

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab was handed the power to outlaw the distribution of foreign publications in Egypt, as per a decree issued by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Tuesday. The order allows Mahlab to ban publications deemed “offensive to religion or publications promoting erotica in a way that can disturb the public peace.” At the time […]

North Africa

MENASource

Jan 14, 2015

An Economic Rebound in Egypt

By MENASource

The past four years in Egypt have wreaked havoc on the country and the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi by the military in July 2014 in addition to the subsequent crackdown on dissent left many feeling that the political process has all but fallen apart. Despite the Egyptian leadership’s heavy-handed approach in dealing with political […]

North Africa

MENASource

Jan 14, 2015

Abu Hasira: Between Religious Intolerance and Political Squabbles

By Sonia Farid

The Abu Hasira Festival, an annual celebration in Egypt commemorating the birth of a Moroccan Rabbi, was canceled permanently by court order in December 2014. The Alexandria Administrative Court, which issued the verdict, cited “moral offenses” as the main reason for cancelling the festival. It also ordered the removal of the shrine from Egypt’s list […]

North Africa

MENASource

Jan 13, 2015

Signs of Investor Optimism in Egypt

By Alfred Jasins

Despite the political and economic issues that continue to plague Egypt, the country’s benchmark stock market index, the EGX 30, was up 32 percent (or 28 percent in USD-terms) in 2014. This led not only regional markets but outperformed nearly all major markets globally, lagging only behind exchanges in Argentina and China.

North Africa

MENASource

Jan 12, 2015

Stalled Reform in Egyptian Journalist Syndicate: A Sign of Larger Media Malaise

By Miriam Berger

When the 2011 revolution broke out, the Egyptian Journalist Syndicate (EJS) stayed silent and kept its doors shut. The only constitutionally-allowed professional body for journalists did not condemn attacks on media or intervene to help those reporting in the street. In the euphoric and chaotic months that followed, many journalists rallied behind long-standing calls for […]

North Africa

In the News

Jan 11, 2015

Slavin: Novelist Chronicles Egypt’s Rough Revolutionary Road

By Barbara Slavin

South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin writes for Al-Monitor on a new book by Egyptian author Alaa Al Aswany: 

North Africa

In the News

Jan 11, 2015

Eljarh: In War-Torn Libya, It’s Life on the Edge

By Mohamed Eljarh

Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Fellow Mohamed Eljarh writes for Foreign Policy on ongoing developments in Libya:

Libya

Experts