Michael Eisenstadt, writing in Foreign Affairs, contends that "security is still job number one for the United States in Iraq," but that the relationship must evolve to include "a strategic partnership with the government and people of Iraq." Eisenstadt notes that the second election in a new democracy "often determines whether nascent democratic processes will take root and prove sustainable." Accordingly, the indeterminate results of the March election--Iraq's second--may portend the failure ...

Questions are being raised about how a new draft law will affect internet access and freedom in Syria. Obaida Hamad writes in Syria Today that the draft law has been "finalised." Details about the law are sparse, but Hamad postulates that, "it will entail a voluntary system of registration with the Ministry of Information, by which sites can choose to be officially recognised. Another proposed clause is that sites ...

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has called for "the immediate suspension of Judge Abolghassem Salavati...on grounds of deviation from judicial standards and procedures in this and numerous other cases." The group also called on an appeals court to overturn the case against Hossein Derakhshan because of the use of "academic connections" to help convict him. ICHRI claims that a letter of recommendation from Gary Sick, a faculty member ...

Following President Barack Obama's speech at the UN General Assembly on the importance of human rights and democratization, multiple commentators have called on the administration to reinforce its rhetoric by acting to support democracy in Egypt. An editorial in the Washington Post advocated for the Feingold-McCain resolution, which calls on Egypt to allow international and domestic monitors to verify the results of the upcoming elections. “The demand for observers is a reasonable one. Monitors from ...

On Wednesday, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in partnership with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) convened a panel to discuss political reform in Lebanon. The panelists were Lebanese Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Tamara Wittes, and IFES Chief of Party in Lebanon Richard Chambers. The discussion and the following question and answer session were moderated by Mona Yacoubian, the Director ...

An event was held today at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace celebrating the release of the book "Between Religion and Politics", coauthored by Amr Hamzawy and Nathan Brown. Marwan Muasher acted as the moderator for the event, where the authors explained the process they utilized in the researching of the book and explored, in depth, the case studies of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. (To read full notes, ...

President Obama issued an executive order today imposing financial sanctions and travel restrictions on several Iranian officials that have been accused of grave human rights abuses. Although multiple rounds of sanctions have been levied against Iran over its controversial nuclear program, this is the first time that the Obama administration has announced sanctions against the country for human rights abuses. The individuals named in the order are accused of committing ...

In an article for the upcoming issue of The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell examines the use of online social media tools for social activism, concluding: “ith Facebook and Twitter and the like, the traditional relationship between political authority and popular will has been upended, making it easier for the powerless to collaborate, coordinate, and give voice to their concerns.” He contends, however, that the “outsized enthusiasm for social media” has ...

On Wednesday, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the United States Institute of Peace co-hosted a panel discussion titled “Towards a Palestinian State: Is Institution Building Succeeding?” The discussion was moderated by Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, a Program Officer in USIP’s Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution. The panelists were Nathan Brown, a Nonresident Senior Associate of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment, Neil Kritz, the Senior Scholar in ...

Writing in Politico, Michael O'Hanlon, who recently returned from a trip to Afghanistan, argues that the outlook for that country is more positive than has been reported. "I saw more basis for hope than recent perceptions in the United States would allow." O'Hanlon describes several reasons for optimism: "Four million in turnout is not bad for a midterm election in a troubled, war-torn countryWhatever Karzai’s limitations, there are a number ...

The recent catastrophic flooding in Pakistan has caused tensions to rise between that country's civilian government and it's military. Jane Perlez writes in The New York Times that the seeming incompetence of President Asif Ali Zardari's government has brought the question of a return to military rule back into play: "In a meeting on Mondayas a rebuke to the civilian politicians and as having pushed the government to the ...

In a new interview, Carnegie Endowment Vice President for Studies Marwan Muasher argues that the Arab world is stagnating because of a lack of democratic reform: “There is not a single Arab country today that can be seen as adopting a serious and sustained political reform process. And this is really leaving the Arab world behind almost everybody else.”  Power in the region is divided between entrenched regimes and Islamist opposition movements, ...

Frederik Richter, writing for Reuters, reports that the recent crackdown in Bahrain may push Shi'ites away from moderate parties: “Analysts say the crackdown is making it harder for Wefaq, the largest Shi'ite bloc in parliament, to maintain its position of advocating dialogue with the government. They say Wefaq supporters could increasingly turn to more radical groups such as Haq, that dispute the legitimacy of reforms and whose leaders have been targeted during ...

Human Rights Watch has released a new report entitled "Looser Rein, Uncertain Gain: A Human Rights Assessment of Five Years of King Abdullah’s Reforms in Saudi Arabia." The 57-page report looks at four key areas: women's rights, freedom of expression, judicial fairness, and religious tolerance.(To read the full summary, continue below.)Women's rights reform has been limited to debate about the role of women in society, with no real institutional changes. ...

Al-Arabiya reports that a series of clashes between students and Basij militia members have occurred in the northwestern city of Rasht. According to the article, there has been an "unprecedented" level of Basij presence on campuses around Iran, with members of the militia group "... prevent(ing) male students from entering the campus for wearing a short-sleeved shirt as well as female students for not covering their head properly." This follows reports by Reuters ...

On Monday, September 27th, the Middle East Institute held an event entitled “The Struggle for a Democratic Future in Afghanistan: The 2010 Parliamentary Elections.” Kate Seelye, Vice President of Programs and Communications for MEI, introduced the two speakers: Marvin Weinbaum, scholar at the Middle East Institute, and Caroline Wadhams, Director for South Asia Security Studies at the Center for American Progress. Both recently returned from trips to Afghanistan, where they ...

Amidst growing uncertainty, the Sudanese government in Khartoum called on the international community to monitor the country’s January 9 referendum. The referendum, which if successful would grant independence to the Christian south of Sudan, faces significant opposition from the parties in the north, including President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s National Congress Party. Each side has accused the other suppressing dissent and threatening activists in advance of the vote.

The lack of independent judicial oversight during the November parliamentary elections "raises expectations of fraud," according to an article in Al-Masry Al-Youm. The lack of oversight can be traced to the 2000 elections when "'...the country experienced its first ever free elections, as the constitutional court had decided that each ballot box had to be supervised by a judge,”' says Nasser Amin, the general director of the Arab ...

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, in partnership with Human Rights Watch, recently released  a report documenting continued human right abuses during Bashar al-Assad’s rule entitled “The President’s 10 Year Anniversary: Curbing Worsening Repression and Human Rights Abuses in Syria.” While many hoped that al-Assad would be a moderating and modernizing force, the opposite has been true: “In these ten years, he has further entrenched a system of policies and practices that ...

Writing at the Telegraph's blog, Con Coughlin defends the Bahraini government's recent crackdown on what he describes as “Shia hardliners.” According to Coughlin, Bahrain should be congratulated for its attempts to pursue reform: “For years the ruling Sunni Al-Khalifa family have been working hard to reach an accommodation with its Shia Muslim population, who form the majority of the kingdom’s population.” Coughlin adds that “the kingdom has become a key regional ally, and ...