Steven Heydemann
Vice President, Grant and Fellowships Program and Special Adviser, Muslim World Initiative
Contact
Steven Heydemann serves as vice president of the Grants and Fellowships program and as special adviser to the Muslim World Initiative.
His research and teaching have focused on the comparative politics and the political economy of the Middle East. His interests include authoritarian governance, economic development, social policy, political and economic reform and civil society. Heydemann has also researched the relationship between institutions and economic development and philanthropy and the nonprofit sector.
From 2003 to 2007, Heydemann directed the Center for Democracy and Civil Society at Georgetown University. From 2001 to 2003, he was director of the Social Science Research Council’s Program on Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Sector, with additional responsibility for development of new programs. Prior to that, he was a program director at the SSRC, where he ran the Council’s Program on International Peace and Security and its Program on the Near and Middle East (1990-1997). From 1997 to 2001, he was an associate professor in the department of political science at Columbia University.
Heydemann has held visiting faculty positions at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence (2001) and as a senior fellow at the Yale University Center for International Studies (1997). He has served on the board of directors of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) of North America and is currently a member of MESA’s Committee on Public Affairs.
Publications:
- Globalization, Philanthropy, and Civil Society: Projecting Institutional Logics Abroad, co-edited with David C. Hammack (Indiana University Press, 2009).
- "Institutions and Economic Performance: The Use and Abuse of Culture in New Institutional Economics," Studies in Comparative International Development, (March 2008).
- "Social Pacts and the Persistence of Authoritarianism in the Middle East," in Debating Arab Authoritarianism: Dynamics and Durability in Non-Democratic Regimes. Ed. Oliver Schlumberger (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2007), pp 21-38.
- "The Challenge of Political Islam: Understanding the US Debate," The Challenge of Islamists for EU and US Policies: Conflict, Stability and Reform." (SWP and USIP, November 2007).
- "Upgrading Authoritarianism in the Arab World," (Saban Center, Brookings Institution, October 2007).
- The Legitimacy of Philanthropic Foundations: United States And European Perspectives, co-edited volume (Russell Sage Foundation Press, 2006).
- Networks of Privilege in the Middle East: The Politics of Economic Reform Revisited, edited volume (Palgrave Press 2004).
- War, Institutions and Social Change in the Middle East, edited volume (University of California Press, 2000).
- Authoritarianism in Syria: Institutions and Social Conflict, 1946-1970, (Cornell University Press, 1999).
- "In the Shadow of Democracy," Middle East Journal, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Winter 2006).
- "La question de la democratie dans les travaux sur le monde arabe," (Critique Internationale, October 2002).
- "Middle East Studies After 9/11: Defending the Discipline," (Journal of Democracy, July 2002).
- Unlocking the Employment Potential in the Middle East and North Africa: Toward a New Social Contract, (contributing author, World Bank, 2003).
- "Lebanon After Elections: The End of the Beginning." al-Majalla, July 2009 (cover essay in Arabic and English-language editions).
- "The Return of Local Politics in Lebanon?" al-Majalla, June 7, 2009 (cover essay in Arabic and English-language editions).
Publications & Tools
November 2010
Facilitated by the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Stimson Center, "Engagement, Coercion, and Iran's Nuclear Challenge" is the culmination of recommendations from a distinguished group of more than 40 scholars and policy analysts, who met regularly over the past year to evaluate how the U.S. should proceed in its strategy with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Countries: Iran, United States
| Issue Areas: Conflict Analysis and Prevention, WMD, Nonproliferation, and Arms Control
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January 2010
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Working Paper
by Daniel Brumberg
This Working Paper is the culmination of the work of the Study Group on Reform and Security. Countries: Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
| Issue Areas: Conflict Analysis and Prevention, Economics and Conflict, Mediation and Facilitation, Negotiation and Diplomacy, Security Sector Reform/Governance
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August 2009
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Book
by Daniel Brumberg and Dina Shehata, editors
Conflict, Identity, and Reform in the Muslim World highlights the challenges that escalating identity conflicts within Muslim-majority states pose for both the Muslim world and for the West, an issue that has received scant attention in policy and academic circles. Issue Areas: Political Reform
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June 2009
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On the Issues
by Dan Brumberg, Steve Heydemann, Sheldon Himelfarb, Asieh Mir
Countries: Iran
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Events
November 16, 2010
The U.S. faces important decisions as it prepares for talks with the Islamic Republic of Iran on its nuclear activities. A distinguished group of 50+ scholars and policy analysts concluded that the U.S. should rebalance its approach to Iran, leveraging the gains achieved from sanctions by indicating a willingness to engage Iran diplomatically on a wide range of issues. The study group’s report is a broad prescription for rebalancing U.S. policy in a way that could increase the chances for success in the talks. |
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September 8, 2010
Daniel Benjamin, the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism discussed the circumstances in Yemen and provided insight on the current U.S. counterterrorism strategy.
Countries: Yemen
| Issue Areas: Conflict Analysis and Prevention, Security Sector Reform/Governance
| Programs: Grant Program
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January 22, 2010
This USIP event examined the complex nexus between democratic change and U.S. security interests, with a principal focus on Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Yemen. Countries: Afghanistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
| Issue Areas: Conflict Analysis and Prevention, Negotiation and Diplomacy
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January 30, 2008
Countries: Iran
| Issue Areas: Science, Technology, and Peacebuilding, WMD, Nonproliferation, and Arms Control
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November 9, 2006
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