Podcast for “Egypt’s Unfinished Revolution: One Year Later”
Ashraf Khali
10 Feb, 2012
MEI Annual Banquet
Wednesday, November 16, 2010
6:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Award Recipient – Issam M. Fares Award for Excellence
H.E. Amb. Lakhdar Brahimi
The Arab Spring: Implications for US Policy and Interests
*This Opinion first appeared in the Huffington Post on December 13, 2011
The first free and by all accounts fair elections in Egypt mark a major turning point in the country's long history. In what is likely to be a tenuous and trying transition to democracy, Egypt's Islamists won a resounding victory, gaining two-thirds of the vote in the first round of Egypt's parliamentary elections. While many in the West fear that the Islamist victory in this first election will radicalize Egypt, in reality, the situation is far more complex and nuanced.
This Opinion first appeared in the Huffington Post on November 11, 2011
On November 28th, millions of Egyptians will finally breathe a deep sigh of relief as they gather at the polls to vote in the first phase of parliamentary elections following the ousting of the Mubarak regime.
This Commentary was first published as an op-ed in Politico on October 21, 2011
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta asserted recently that critics of the Libyan mission “have been proven wrong.” Now, with the death of dictator Muammar Qadhafi, the secretary’s view is supported by the overwhelming majority of Washington’s foreign policy establishment.
Amidst the historic turmoil sweeping across the Arab world, in the March 2011 Bulletin, MEJ editor Michael Dunn addresses political empowerment through social media, scholar Wayne White is interviewed on recent political developments, and Joshua Stacher previews his forthcoming article on authoritarian politics and hereditary succession in Syria.
Like almost everything else during the uncertain period of the transitional government, the future of personal status law reform is at a crossroads in Egypt. The new constitution (assuming one will exist)[1] may technically have little direct impact on how the country’s laws affect women’s lives, but the legislative process that emerges thereafter most certainly will.
Speakers: Amb. Wendy Chamberlin, MEI President
Amb. Gene Cretz, US Ambassador to Libya
Mark Ward, Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, USAID
Travis Gartner, Director of Community Stabilization, IRD
Originally posted September, 2011
Governments in the Middle East and North Africa have long relied on repression to intimidate, harass, and punish political opponents. During the Arab uprisings, dictators under threat have all ordered and used violence against peaceful protestors as a way to maintain power. But this repression has had widely divergent effects on the course of the different conflicts.
Focus
Drug and alcohol problems know no borders. Annually, the United Nations World Drug Report documents that heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, alcohol, and prescription drugs negatively impact public health, public safety, and social institutions in countries around the world.[1] In many parts of the Middle East, there is limited data on the nature and extent of alcohol and drug problems.
This Commentary was first published as an op-ed in the Washington Post on August 22, 2011
A relatively successful transition from the Gaddafi regime to a united, stable, more open and democratic Libya would be seen in the region, and more widely, as a credit to the NATO-led intervention. It would enable Libya to resume its oil and gas exports, demonstrate international community capacity to manage such transitions and encourage positive outcomes to other Arab Spring protests.
The global community was surprised by the suddenness and intensity of democratic movements in the Arab countries. While universally welcomed, the global response in support of these movements has so far been reactive, uncertain, and slow to build up. The only coherent rendering of such an initiative is the declaration of Deauville Partnership by the Group of 8 countries on May26-27, 2011.