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POMED: This Week’s Events

Monday, November 24, 2008 All Day: MESA Annual Conference 12:30pm GWU: From Nakhbah to Ghurbah: The Palestinian Diaspora and ..

Religious Freedom in Bahrain?

In the Daily News Egypt, Ron Kampeas writes that Bahrain “is softly encouraging the US-led push for democratization in the Middle East as the means toward stabilization.” In showcasing his country’s commitment to pluralism, last week in New York King Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa invited expatriate Jews to return home to Bahrain, and offered to allocate land for new homes. Adding to his recent philosemitic credentials, the king has also appointed Jews to high level government positions..

Israel-Palestine Deal “Not Possible”

In the Jerusalem Post, Aaron David Miller argues that “an [Israeli-Palestinian] agreement now or perhaps for the foreseeable future that resolves conclusively the four core issues (borders, Jerusalem, refugees and security)” is not possible. He notes that it is nice knowing what a final solution will look like, but that’s not nearly enough to overcome vertiginous levels of political dysfunction on both sides...

POMED Notes: Middle East Institute’s 62nd Annual Conference

On Friday November 21st, the Middle East Institute held its 62nd annual conference entitled, “US Middle East Policy: Pathways to Renewal.” Speakers included Aitzaz Ahsan, Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and President of of the..

Statesman Gaddafi Still Rules a Police State

the Post, Mohamed Eljahmi, brother of jailed Libyan dissident Fathi Eljahmi, reminds us of the Libyan government’s miserable human rights record. As Libyan tyrant Moammar Gaddafi rejoins polite society, receives congratulatory phone calls from the U.S. president, and son Saif gets an audience with Secretary Rice, Libya remains a police state and democracy advocates like Eljahmi languish in Gaddafi’s dungeons...

Democracy Promotion in U.S. Foreign Policy

Michael Allen at Democracy Digest points to a thread at the CFR Forum in which Peter Beinart asks the house: “how central is the promotion of liberal democracy to a liberal foreign policy?”..

POMED Notes: Future of the Middle East

Yesterday afternoon the Rumi Forum hosted foreign policy analyst, former diplomat, and independent consultant Stuart Schwartzstein to discuss the challenges facing the Obama administration in the Middle East...

The Mantra of ‘Change’ Makes Arab Autocrats Nervous

Daoud Kuttab writes in the Huffington Post about how the Egyptian government sought to expunge a newspaper cartoon that hoped for change in Egypt much like the one seen in the U.S. election. “The weekly stated that 150,000 copies of the paper’s first edition were quickly removed from the streets and destroyed and the ‘troublesome’ phrase disappeared from future prints that day.”..

Turkey Joins the Fray

Last week Turkey offered to mediate talks between Iran and the Obama administration. This fits into a pattern of recent diplomatic assertiveness on the part of Turkey in regional and global affairs. Iran said today that it would welcome a Turkish mediation role...

On Obama’s Inherited Freedom Agenda

In the Washington Post, Jackson Diehl argues that opting out of the promotion of democracy in the Middle East will not be an option for Barack Obama, and all that’s left is for him to pick sides in the struggle. Diehl writes that autocrats such as Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak feel emboldened by Obama’s election, seeing in it the official epitaph of Bush’s pestering freedom agenda. He cites the recent government-sponsored burning of jailed dissident Ayman Nour’s offices in Cairo as an example...

New Role for Women in the UAE

Raed Refai at Babylon and Beyond reports on a breakthrough for both women and the judiciary in the UAE: “judicial authorities in the United Arab Emirates this week appointed a woman to conduct Muslim marriages for the first time in the region, where women are often relegated to a secondary role in society..

The Near Future of Middle East Peace

Gershon Gorenberg at The American Prospect wants Obama to to tackle the foreboding problem of Middle East peace right away, “Move fast, very fast. Ignore all advice from old diplomatic hands who’ll tell you to avoid big, difficult issues and to stick to crisis management and interim accords. Seek a full end-of-conflict agreement. And apply lessons from your electoral campaign: Enforce absolute message discipline in your own team, and employ dramatic public events and rhetoric to restor..

Top-Down or Grassroots in Egypt?

Two pieces this morning that explore how the U.S. can support political reform in Egypt:..

Top-Down or Grassroots in Egypt?

Two pieces this morning that explore how the U.S. can support political reform in Egypt:..

More on Obama and the Middle East

It can’t be avoided so let’s make it quick. First, Scott MacLeod at Time Magazine’s Middle East Blog writes on Rahm Emanuel and his potential influence on Obama’s Middle East policy; Second, James Brazier at the Diplomatic Courier, offers his take on how the U.S. should play the “Saudi-Iranian Cold War” ..

Window of Opportunity

Shadi Hamid, POMED’s Director of Research, argues at Democracy Arsenal that Barack Obama has a window of opportunity to change the region by committing to “real support for democracy and democrats in the Middle East.” He notes that “for the first time in recent memory, Arabs and Muslims are cheering on an American president” in the hopes that the U.S. will clearly support human rights and political reform in the region...

More on Obama and the Middle East

It can’t be avoided so let’s make it quick. First, Scott MacLeod at Time Magazine’s Middle East Blog writes on Rahm Emanuel and his potential influence on Obama’s Middle East policy; Second, James Brazier at the Diplomatic Courier, offers his take on how the U.S. should play the “Saudi-Iranian Cold War” under an ..

POMED Notes: “Arab Youth Between Hope and Disillusionment”

Yesterday afternoon, the Brookings Institution hosted an event featuring Ahmed Younis, Senior Analyst at the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies; Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, Nonresident Guest Scholar at Brookings; and Tamara Cofman Wittes, Senior Fellow at the Saban Center at Brookings. The discussion was moderated by Navtej Dhillon, Director of the Middle East Youth Initiative at the Wolfensohn Center for Development at Brookings..

The Day After….

For those of you who aren’t glued to TV/internet/radio/civilization, last night Barack Obama was elected President. Check out the latest polls, counts, and punditry. Of course, bloggers didn’t wait long to remind readers that there is a lot of work ahead...

Welcome to Mideast Peace, President Obama

In Haaretz, Aluf Benn unintentionally reminds us that America’s foreign policy challenges in the Middle East are no less daunting or intractable today than they were yesterday. He offers his advice to the new president on the small matter of Arab-Israeli peace, saying to “forget the Palestinians for now and move forward on the Syrian track.”..