Ikhwanweb :: The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website

Arab Knowledge Report

The United Nations Development Programme has released its 2009 Arab Knowledge Report (link to the complete report) on the development of a “knowledge society” in the Arab world...

Islamists want democracy

According to Marc Lynch in The National, moderate Islamist movements‘ attempts to participate in democratic processes throughout the Arab world have been stemmed by secular authoritarian regimes..

POMED Notes: “The Origins of the Rule of Law: Europe and the Middle East”

Yesterday, in the third installment of his speaking series “Getting to Denmark: Where the State, Rule of Law and Accountable Government Come From,” Francis Fukuyama,..

POMED Notes: “The Challenge of Moderation in Islam: Egypt’s Religious Institution Versus Extremism”

The Middle East Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and the United States Institute of Peace sponsored a presentation by Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa titled “The Challenge of Moderation in Islam: Egypt’s Religious Institution Versus Extremism.”..

U.S. and Egypt: Partners on Free Expression?

The U.N. Human Rights Council, a body the U.S. only recently joined, passed a resolution on freedom of expression on Friday co-sponsored by the U.S. and Egypt. The Obama administration played up the resolution,..

Announcing POMED’s 2009 Emerging Leaders for Democracy Conferences

POMED is excited to announce that we are now accepting applications for our upcoming series of conferences in the Middle East...

Profile: Dr. Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh

Stability cannot be achieved by depriving social and political leaders of civil justice. Nor can it be achieved by resisting democracy and excluding the largest political force in the country from political life. By closing the doors to dialogue, the state is opening a door to chaos and extremism. The consequences will be severe, not only for Egypt but for the entire Middle East.” (Guardian, 16 March 2007)..

The Plot Twists and Turns Before Iran’s Election

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared that he will expose corruption and cronyism among his critics in a television special that he plans to air before the election. ..

Diplomacy and Democracy Spending In the House

The House is considering H.R.2410 this morning to authorize funding for the State Department, the United Nations and the expansion of other diplomatic programs, including the Peace Corps...

POMED Notes: “Dr. Rafe al-Eissawi, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq” at the USIP

The United States Institute of Peace hosted a talk today featuring Iraq’s deputy prime minister responsible ..

Who Won Lebanon, And What Now?

Claims of U.S. influence in Lebanon’s elections last Sunday, including from Syria’s Al-Baath daily newspaper, point to Secretary Clinton and Vice President Biden’s pre-election visits as having impacted a March 14 victory. Moreover, theories are abound that President Obama’s speech in Cairo last week inspired the Lebanese to reject Hezbollah. Indeed, Thomas Friedman at the New York Times suggests that the March 14 victory and the Lebanese rebuff of Hezbollah and Iran is a win for Obama..

Iran’s Great Debate

Over at Vote For Iran, Trita Parsi writes how the U.S. House of Representatives may inadvertantly be helping Ahmadinejad win the election due to some of the language in H.R.1327. Though the White House has pressed for the bill to be tabled until after the election, Parsi worries that the damage may already be done...

Satellite Democracy

Democracy Digest draws attention to Dishing Democracy, a recent PBS documentary on the relationship between satellite TV and democratic change. ..

POMED Notes: “Lebanon Elections: Outcomes and Implications” at MEI

The Middle East Institute yesterday ..

The Road To Democracy: Peace or Violence In Lebanon?

While President Obama and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have praised the success of Lebanon’s elections in creating national consensus, ..

Morocco’s Shifting Political Landscape Prefaces Elections

Morocco’s new electoral laws are likely frame women to be the winners in tomorrow’s municipal elections, reports the National. A new quota for women’s seats (12%) makes Morocco the leader in women’s political participation among Arab states. ..

The Eve of Iran’s Presidential Election

The tension is palpable. An editorial in the Financial Times notes that challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi has “mounted an unexpectedly menacing insurgent campaign that has galvanised reformists out of years of despondency.”..

Electoral Showdown in Mauritania

Mauritania’s strongest opposition movement, the Union of Democratic Forces (RFD) ..

Yemeni Secessionists Reject Northern Elite

Clamorous calls for secession are on the rise in southern Yemen, where violence intensified during May. ..

House Passes Foreign Relations Authorization Bill

The Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 (H.R. 2410) was approved yesterday by the House. This legislation, the first such bill introduced since 2002, aims to invigorate American diplomacy efforts through Department of State and USAID expansion and training. It also throws weight behind development as a key tenet of U.S. foreign policy...