On Wednesday General James L. Jones, former National Security Advisor gave a speech entitled “The New Security Dynamic in the Mediterranean” at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Global Security Forum 2011.  Admiral Guido Venturoni, former Chairman of the NATO Military Committee introduced General Jones.  Craig Cohen, Vice President for Research and Programs at CSIS moderated the event.  The two discussants were Dr. Stephen Flanagan, Senior Vice President ...

Writing in the New York Times, Roger Cohen stated "Osama Bin Laden is dead -- and so is an old Middle East" and noted that the recent events in the Middle East demonstrate how the al-Qaeda leader had lost touch with Arab youth who have "move irrelevant....Facebook and Twitter turned out to be far more effective agents of change than any 'martyrdom' attack on apostates, crusaders and Zionists – the ...

The House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held an open hearing on U.S. policy in response to the political unrest across the Middle East as well as to discuss the economic  issues facing the region, the committee – chaired by Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) and with ranking member Congressman Gary L. Ackerman (D-NY) in attendance – requested the testimony of two individuals: Jeffrey D. Feltman Assistant Secretary ...

On Thursday the Brookings Institute hosted an event focused on the recent trip of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) to the Middle East entitled: “Revolution in the Middle East: A Trip Report by Senator John McCain and Senator Joseph Lieberman.” The event was opened by Strobe Talbott, President of the Brookings Institute and moderated by Robert Kagan, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute. For full notes, ...

The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) is organizing a "Training of Trainers" workshop for Jordan (end of January) and Bahrain (early February) for democracy education among local youth, women, lawyers, teachers and religious leaders. The organization is providing information and leading exercises on how Islam can be compatible with democratic principles and human rights in the Arab world.CSID held similar workshops in Morocco and Tunisia last November, where ...

On January 4, King Mohammed IV of Morocco announced his intention to establish an "Advisory Committee" which will be tasked with drafting legislation to "give regional authorities more power to determine their own paths to development based on local conditions." Magharebia reports that the committee, led by Morocco's Ambassador to Spain, Omar Azzamine, will "find ways to boost the power of regions so they can effectively contribute to Morocco's socio-economic and cultural development." Supplementing this announcement ...

A new Arab Reform Bulletin has been released by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.In this issue, Sam Parker explains why the passing of the Iraq election law provides a "fair" outcome for the Kurds while also offering a "small victory" to the anti-Kurd forces. The election law will allow Kurds on the 2009 voting rolls to vote normally, despite fears by anti-Kurd politicians that Kurds are moving to Kirkuk en masse to alter ...

The National Democratic Institute has announced that iKnow Politics, an online network dedicated to the advancement of women in politics, has released an Arabic website opening access to their services to potentially millions of more users.  The International  Knowledge Network of Women in Politics, www.iknowpolitics.org, began in 2007 and now operates in English, French and Spanish, in addition to Arabic. The announcement came as part of a two-day conference attended ...

The House Foreign Affairs Committee received testimony from Ambassador Jeffrey D. Feltman, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. The committee questioned Feltman about U.S. policy and diplomatic efforts regarding Iran, Israel and Palestine, Lebanese government develop, Syrian relations, and other issues confronting American interests in the Middle East.For POMED's full notes of the event, please click here.

Tunisia will hold presidential and legislative elections on October 25th. The Daily Star has reprinted a good overview of the upcoming election, originally in the Arab Reform Bulletin, by Hamadi Redissi that explains how Tunisia's electoral system "allows for an appearance of pluralism in the Chamber of Deputies without threatening the ruling party's hegemony."Writing for The Independent, Adrian Hamilton explains how Tunisia and North Africa's "ageing autocrats use elections for the sole purpose of keeping ...

After an interview with Morocco's ambassador to the U.S, Aziz Mekouar, journalist Anna Gawel lauds Morocco in The Washington Diplomat as a "moderate Muslim nation embracing modernity without shrugging off its valued traditions. It promotes women's equality, human rights, religious tolerance and social liberalization - all while remaining true to its Islamic heritage." Or, in the words of Ambassador Mekouar, King Mohammad VI has "delivered" on his promise for democratization, ...

On POMED's Morocco country page, James Liddell discusses a new report by the Potomac Institute and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) on why and how the U.S. should promote regional cooperation in the Maghreb region of North Africa.

Dana Moss, the Next Generation fellow at The Washington Institute, points out in the Christian Science Monitor that while the U.S. provides Morocco $110 million annually to address "drivers of youth disaffection," Washington lacks a policy for promoting human rights and political reform in Tunisia and Algeria. "In conjunction with European partners, a far more detailed and extensive program of scholarships, technical expertise assistance, civic education, English language programs, and other development programs should be offered ...

Kal at The Moor Next Door has an interesting analysis of Morocco's position towards Mauritania's coup, which it has taken a favorable attitude towards. Morocco's attempts to cultivate a positive relationship with the junta are an attempt, "...to cultivate a favorable disposition in the regime presently in place so that when the rest of the world does reconcile with the junta, which would ideally take place by way of ...

The Arabist writes that the coup in Mauritania is especially damaging to the country's democratic hopes as it was conducted by the same people involved in the 2005 coup as well as supporters of former President Ould Taya. He also says it will be impossible to justify this coup as protecting democracy as so much "symbolic capital" was spent on legitimizing the previous coup. On a related note, Kal at ...

GrandMasta Splash at Arabic Media Shack analyzes the recent New York Times article examining Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Splash says the Times article exaggerates the Al-Qaeda links as their tactics, such as killing foreigners, were part of the GIA's repertoire during its conflict with the Algerian government in the 1990s. Furthermore, according to Splash, the group's linking with Al-Qaeda is a sign of weakness as they were ...

Yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Institute of Peace hosted an event entitled "Rethinking Democracy Promotion in the Middle East," featuring Cairo-based writer and scholar Hugh Roberts, formerly of International Crisis Group, giving an analysis and critique of Western efforts to promote democracy in the Middle East, with suggestions for revamping the approach.  Roberts largely criticized the current approach to promoting democracy as ineffective, counterproductive intereference in the internal affairs of Middle Eastern ...

Jill Carroll of the Christian Science Monitor reports that US-funded democracy building projects in Tunisia, like a university newspaper produced by Tunisians and a program of roundtable discussions, are "complicated by popular anger over US policy" and consequently "some governments in the region are worried US efforts to stoke democratic reforms will destabilize their regimes."

Following on Marina Ottaway's editorial yesterday, the Daily Star today published an op-ed from Anouar Bouhkars examining secularism in North Africa, blaming secular political parties for their "organizational inefficacy and inability or unwillingness to lead meaningful tangible reforms" for their lack of success.