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

In the News

Feb 14, 2014

Hawthorne on Russia’s Backing of Egyptian Military Ruler

By Amy Hawthorne

The Huffington Post quotes Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Amy Hawthorne on Russia’s decision to back Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in the upcoming Egyptian presidential elections:

North Africa

MENASource

Feb 14, 2014

The Mother of the World?

By Amrou Kotb

As I sipped my coffee at a sidewalk café in Beirut’s famed Hamra Street, I was approached by a man asking if I would like my shoes shined. “No thank you,” I replied, but he was insistent. As we spoke, hearing my accent, he asked if I was Egyptian, to which I said yes. As […]

North Africa

MENASource

Feb 13, 2014

Economic Consequences and the State of the Arab Transitions

By EgyptSource

As the Arab uprisings begin their fourth year, the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East continues to track and analyze the political and economic aspects of these transitions. Two new publications examine current trends and attempt to gauge future developments in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen.

North Africa

Issue Brief

Feb 13, 2014

The economic consequences of the Arab Spring

By Mohsin Khan

In a new issue brief, Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Mohsin Khan contends that although political turmoil has dominated economic decision-making in the Arab transition countries and Jordan and Morocco during the last three years, there is some encouraging evidence that these economies will turn around in 2014. Analyzing economic developments in the Arab transition […]

Libya Morocco

Report

Feb 12, 2014

The state of Arab transitions: Hope resilient despite many unmet demands

By Mirette F. Mabrouk and Stefanie A. Hausheer

Report authors Mirette F. Mabrouk, deputy director for regional programs, and Stefanie A. Hausheer, assistant director, examine the progress in achieving the original demands of protestors and contend that local actors would embrace greater international support to help facilitate genuine transitions. By examining six key themes—political polarization, constitution-drafting processes, transitional justice, economic progress, civil society […]

Civil Society Democratic Transitions

MENASource

Feb 12, 2014

Factbox: Egypt’s Brotherhood on Trial

By Sarah Saleeb

As Egypt’s government has moved to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, its leading members have been brought up on multiple charges by the country’s courts. WIth widespread arrests of Brotherhood members and supporters, the judiciary continues to bring new charges against former president Mohamed Morsi, and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood from which […]

North Africa

Issue Brief

Feb 12, 2014

Egypt’s labor dilemma

By Mustansir Barma

In a new Atlantic Council issue brief, “Egypt’s Labor Dilemma,” author Mustansir Barma analyzes the current issues facing the labor movement in Egypt and the failure of the government to improve the economic situation for workers and employers. Barma, a former senior economic researcher at the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, argues that each […]

North Africa

MENASource

Feb 12, 2014

Dispatch: A Critical Time for Libya

By Karim Mezran

The February 7 deadline for the General National Congress (GNC) has passed with news trickling in of a handful of legislators resigning in protest but no significant movement to shake the country out of its political paralysis and regenerate momentum for its transition to democracy. The streets, however, are grumbling as political maneuvers continue.

Libya

MENASource

Feb 11, 2014

A Threefold Regression of Knowledge, Information and Rational Thought

By Amr Hamzawy

The situation in Egypt since July 2013 has given rise to many negative phenomena, which defenders of democracy must dismantle, contain, confront or resist. One of the most significant of these phenomena has been a threefold regression: a regression in the value of knowledge, the declining importance of information and the marginalization of rational thought […]

North Africa

MENASource

Feb 10, 2014

The Strategy of Egypt’s Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis

By David Barnett

“Stay away from the installations and headquarters of the Ministries of Defense and Interior.” This was the warning issued to Egyptian Muslims by the Salafi jihadist group known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) when it took credit for a September suicide car bombing that targeted Egypt’s Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim in Cairo.

North Africa

Experts