On Monday, the United States Institute of Peace hosted an event entitled "Beyond Tahrir: The Trajectory of Egypt's Transition." The discussion was with Major General Said Elassar, Assistant to Egyptian Defense Minister, Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Tara Sonenshine, Executive Vice President, United States Institute of Peace, provided introductory remarks. William Quandt, Edward R. Stettinius Professor of Politics, University of Virginia, moderated the discussion. For full notes, continue reading. ...

On Thursday, Foreign Policy and the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) co-hosted a discussion on foreign assistance in the context of the Arab Spring. A keynote address was given by Tamara Cofman Wittes, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Following her address was a panel discussion with John Norris, Executive Director of the Sustainable Security and Peacebuilding Initiative, Center for American Progress; Ehaab Abdou, Co-founder, Nahdet El ...

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs hosted a hearing entitled “U.S. Policy in Yemen.” Senator Robert Casey (D-PA), Chairman, and Senator James Risch (R-ID), Ranking Member, presided over the hearing. Senator Christopher Coons (D-DE) also attended. The witnesses on the first panel were: Janet Sanderson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs; Christa Capozzola, Deputy ...

On Tuesday, the Middle East Program hosted an event at the Woodrow Wilson Center entitled “Arab Spring or Arab Winter (or Both)? Implications for U.S. Policy” featuring expert panelists: Marwan Muasher, Vice President for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Ellen Laipson, President and CEO of the Stimson Center; Rami G.Khouri, Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of ...

On Tuesday, the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) hosted a panel discussion with the Heinrich Böll Foundation of North America to announce the release of a new publication, The Federal Budget and Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2012: Democracy, Governance, and Human Rights in the Middle East. The discussion featured Stephen McInerney, Executive Director of POMED and author of the report; Daniel Brumberg, Senior Adviser to the Center for Conflict ...

On Monday Partners for Democratic Change hosted the Society for International Development, Washington’s Middle East Workgroup for a monthly brown bag lunch entitled “An Update from Bahrain with Bahraini Human Rights Activist, Maryam al-Khawaja.” Monalisa Salib, Senior Manager, Partners for Democratic Change opened the event. Cole Bockenfeld, Advocacy Director for the Project on Middle East Democracy provided background information on events in Bahrain and introduced Maryam al-Khawaja. Notes on the event ...

On Tuesday, The Brookings Institution held a forum on “The European Union Response to the Arab Spring” featuring Catherine Ashton, the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Police.  The forum was moderated by Martin Indyk, the vice president and director of the foreign policy department at the Brookings Institution.  Ashton spoke on the role of the European Union in supporting the Arab Spring. For full text, ...

On Thursday, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems hosted a panel discussion on the “Road to Reform in the Middle East and North Africa.” Panelists included Ambar Zobairi, Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa, IFES; Elmar Brok, German Member of the European Parliament; and Michele Dunne, Director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, Atlantic Council. The panel was moderated by Bill Sweeney, President and CEO, IFES. For ...

On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing on human rights in Syria. The witnesses were Michael Posner, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; Andrew Tabler, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Radwan Ziadeh, the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy; Mona Yacoubian, the U.S. Institute for Peace Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention; and ...

On Thursday, July 14, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted an event on "Libya: Thinking Ahead to the Transition." The conference featured two Libyan-Americans: Fadel Lamen is the President of the American Libyan Council (ALC), and Esam Omiesh is the director of the Libyan Emergency Task Force as well as the chairman of the Political Committee of the Libyan Council of North America. Marina Ottaway, senior associate of the ...

On Thursday, the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), in partnership with Libya Outreach, the Libyan Council for North America, and the Libyan Emergency Task Force hosted an event entitled “Supporting a Democratic Transition in a Post-Gadhafi Libya: What Can the U.S. Do?” Stephen McInerney, POMED’s Executive Director moderated the event. The panelists were: Manal Omar, Director of Iraq, Iran, and North Africa Programs, Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability ...

On Wednesday, Robin Wright, Distinguished Scholar for the United States Institute of Peace and the Wilson Center, discussed her new book Rock the Casbah, which focuses on a new phase of Islamic activism termed “counter-jihad” by Wright. The discussion was moderated by Hala Esfandiari, Director of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center. Video footage of the event can be found online. For full notes, continue reading. Or click here ...

On Tuesday, July 12, the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held the first of two hearings on “Promoting Peace? Reexamining U.S. Aid to the Palestinian Authority.” The hearing was presided over by Chairman Steve Chabot (R-OH), and ranking member Gary Ackerman (D-NY). Also in attendance were Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY), Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA), Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA), ...

On Wednesday, the Institute for Gulf Affairs hosted a conference titled, "U.S. Foreign Policy and the Future of Bahrain" at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  The conference featured speeches by Bahraini political activists on the violations against human rights and a panel of experts that spoke on the current political situation in Bahrain.  The conference began with opening remarks by Ali al-Ahmed, the director of the Institute for Gulf ...

On Wednesday, the Project on Middle East Democracy hosted a panel discussion on recent developments in Bahrain and the impact on political dynamics in the Gulf region. Stephen McInerney, Executive Director, POMED, moderated the discussion. Panelists included Joe Stork, Deputy Director of Middle East and North Africa Division, Human Rights Watch; Hans Hogrefe, Chief Policy Officer and Washington Director, Physicians for Human Rights; Leslie Campbell, Senior Associate and Regional Director ...

On Tuesday, Tim Pawlenty, Candidate for the 2012 Republican Presidential Nomination and Former Governor of Minnesota, spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations about the importance of a strong U.S. presence in the Middle East during this time of change. Jon Meacham, Executive Vice President and Executive Editor, Random House Publishing Group, presided over the discussion. Streaming audio of the event can be found online. For full notes, keep reading ...

On Tuesday, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosted a panel titled “An Israeli-Palestinian Agreement? What’s Possible and What Isn’t.” Haleh Esfandiari, the director of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center, introduced the panel, which was moderated by Washington Post deputy editorial page editor Jackson Diehl. Panelists included Brandeis University professor Shai Feldman, author and Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar Aaron David Miller, and Hussein Ibish, a ...

On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a nomination hearing for five ambassadors to the Middle East and Central Asia. The first of the hearing’s two panels featured the Honorable Anne W. Patterson, to be Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt. The second panel featured Michael H. Corbin, to be Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Matthew H. Tueller, to be Ambassador to the State of Kuwait, ...

The U.S. Agency for International Development hosted a conference entitled “DRG 2.0: Promoting Democracy, Human Rights and Governance in 2011.” This conference focused on current development challenges and effective responses. Video coverage of the conference can be found online. For notes on the June 20, 2011 panels, read below or click here for the pdf. Nancy Lindborg, Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, USAID provided welcoming remarks. And Dr. ...

On Thursday, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held the second hearing on “Preserving Progress: Transitioning Authority and Implementing the Strategic Framework in Iraq.” In attendance were Congressmen Steve Chabot (R-OH), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), and Brian Higgins (D-NY). Witnesses included Max Boot, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies, Council on Foreign Relations; Michael Eisenstadt, Director of Military & Security ...