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Karen Green, Wikimedia Commons

Character Reform: Egypt’s Year of Education

02.21.19

Egypt begins its Year of Education with an ambitious initiative in partnership with Japan that could shift Egypt away from its test-centric education model. Yet, critics worry about the emphasis on conformity and group cohesion in the new curriculum.

Podcast: Egypt’s parliament approves constitutional amendments, Hifter forces advance in SW Libya, and US House of Representatives votes to end support for war in Yemen

02.15.19

This week, Egypt’s parliament approves a motion to amend the country’s constitution. The proposed amendments would keep the current President, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in power until 2034. In Libya, Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Hifter continues operation to take territory in the country’s southwest, including al-Sharara oil field. And in Washington, the US […]

International Relations and Security
Source: PJMixer, Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/pjmixer/9189826590

Event Review: Critique, Dissent, and Solidarity – the Politics of Modern Middle Eastern Art

02.13.19

In a lecture at the Harvard Kennedy School, Sultan al-Qassemi discusses the role of art in the contemporary politics of the Middle East.

https://nara.getarchive.net/media/sunset-view-of-cairo-egypt-skyline-showing-minarets-and-temple-spires-exact-357931

Interview: U.S. Foreign Diplomacy in the Middle East with Ambassador Edward S. Walker Jr.

02.8.19

JMEPP Levant Editor Kelsey Wise sat down with Former U.S. Ambassador Edward S. Walker Jr., who served in the State Department as Ambassador to Israel, Egypt, and the UAE, as well as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. The discussion covered U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, especially the changes it has […]

Watch: Q&A with Dr. Bruce Rutherford

03.14.18

Dr. Bruce Rutherford, Associate Professor of Political Science at Colgate University, sits down with JMEPP Editor Elissa Miller to discuss political developments in Egypt since the 2011 revolution, including the current state of political Islam and prospects for democratic change in the country. This talk is part of the Middle East Initiative’s Inside the Middle East Q&A series.

Democracy and Governance

Podcast: Dire humanitarian situation in Eastern Ghouta and elections coming up in Egypt

03.9.18

In this week’s episode of the Middle East Weekly podcast, we discuss the worsening humanitarian situation in Eastern Ghouta, Syria, where over 1,000 people have been killed in 2 weeks and 400,000 families are living under siege, as Bashar al Assad’s forces attack the rebel-held city.

Human Rights

Social Media Alone Won’t Improve Women’s Rights in the Middle East

05.9.17

BY NABILA ABU-HANTASH I was sitting behind the wheel in Jedda, Saudi Arabia, with my close friend in the passenger’s seat. The car was parked with the ignition switched off. We were waiting for her husband to come back from souvenir shopping, so that we could begin the twenty-three-hour drive back home to Kuwait. He […]

Beirut River

Dying of thirst: The Levant’s water worries

02.14.17

Water is the cornerstone of human life – but what happens to countries when they start running out of “blue gold”?

Poverty, Inequality and Opportunity
Satellite view of the Middle East

The glass half empty: Water in the Middle East

02.12.17

The Middle East is an arid region to begin with, but climate change is set to exacerbate the region’s water scarcity.

Environment and Energy
Pro-Morsi protesters

Event Review: Is Islamism a threat to democracy?

11.21.16

An unfortunate characteristic of the discourse on Islamism is the muddling of definitions, terminology, historical references, and political positions. It is not uncommon to find criticisms of contemporary Islamist parties rooted in criticisms of premodern Islamic ideas. Even the basic definition of political Islam and “Islamism” is unclear, with no consensus as to what the […]

Democracy and Governance
Tunisian security forces

Watching the watchmen: A long way to go for security-sector reform in the Arab world

11.4.16

Embed from Getty Images Police brutality and the impunity of the security forces, though far from the only cause, were a major catalyst of the Arab Spring uprisings of 2010-11. In Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, Mohamed Bouazizi’s humiliating encounters with local police led him to light himself on fire. In Alexandria, Egypt, Khaled Mohamed Said was […]

International Relations and Security

Democracy Prevention: The Politics of the US-Egyptian Alliance

11.9.15

On October 21st, 2015, the first round of the first parliamentary elections held in Egypt since 2011 came to a close. A majority of available seats were won by loyalists to President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi, in an election in which approximately one-fifth of the electorate voted. The election has been hailed by Al-Sisi as the […]

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