Research & Commentary Results

This post originally appeared on The American Interest on August 23rd.

The 21^st century has been called the “Century of the City,” as half of the world’s population lives in urban areas.[1] Virtually all of the projected global population growth will be in cities of the developing world, and most of it will be concentrated in informal settlements.

Originally posted September 2009

Edward W. Said, who passed away at the age of 67 on September 25, 2003, was a towering “public intellectual” — a man of extraordinary erudition, a path-breaking scholar, and a passionate activist.

Said was a man of many interests, talents, and accomplishments — pianist, opera critic, newspaper columnist, popular essayist, television celebrity, and public lecturer. From 1963 until his death, he was Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.

The appointment of a political figure as ambassador often signals the level of importance attached to bilateral relations, more so if the person in question was a career military officer and current cabinet minister. This was the case in February 2012 when Israel named Matan Vilnai as its next ambassador to China. Beijing was more than happy to accept the appointment of then-Israeli Minister of Home Front Defense, seeing it as a signal for further improvement.

Originally posted September 2010

The Middle East Institute is pleased to host Nathan Brown, Khaled Elgindy, and Hafez Al Mirazi for a conversation about recent political developments in Egypt. As the first ever Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate prepares to take office, a larger standoff looms between the SCAF and the Brotherhood over the future of the recently dissolved Parliament and the question of the constitution. Brown, Elgindy and Al Mirazi will examine these and other challenges facing Egypt on its rocky transition toward democracy.

podcast for Egypt After the Elections, recorded on the 28th of June, 2012

podcast for Egypt After the Elections, recorded on the 28th of June, 2012

podcast for Egypt After the Elections, recorded on the 28th of June, 2012

podcast for Egypt After the Elections, recorded on the 28th of June, 2012

podcast for Egypt After the Elections, recorded on the 28th of June, 2012

This Opinion was originally posted on Freedom House’s “Freedom at Issue” blog on June 21, 2012.

Originally posted October 2010

This second edition of the MEI Viewpoints series on Higher Education and the Middle East focuses on Empowering Under-served and Vulnerable Populations.

The cacophony of bullhorns, fireworks and frenzied cross-country barnstorming in trucks, busses and three-wheeled “tuk-tuks” emblazoned with candidates’ posters has come to an end, and a historic moment has arrived: tens of millions of Egyptians are heading to the polls today in the first democratic presidential election in the country’s history, an election borne out of the 2011 revolution that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak and injected Egyptians with a novel feeling of excitement for participatory democracy.

This Opnion first appeared in the Huffington Post on May 11, 2012.