One month ago, POMED released its annual report on the Obama administration's FY 2011 federal budget request for democracy, governance, and human rights in the Middle East. Today, as part of our efforts to expand access to POMED's publications, we held an event in Cairo to launch an Arabic version of the report.  The full Arabic report is now available on our website to download as a pdf.

The Project on Middle East Democracy and the Heinrich Böll Foundation co-hosted an event on Capitol Hill to mark the release of a new publication, The Federal Budget and Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2011: Democracy, Governance, and Human Rights in the Middle East. What are the most significant changes in these portions of the budget request, as compared with the appropriations made in previous years? How does the budget impact ...

Political Islam is the single most active political force in the Middle East today. To offer insights into this critical issue, the Project on Middle East Democracy partnered with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung to bring together scholars and experts from the Middle East, the United States, and Europe. Moderated by Nathan Brown, Director of George Washington University’s Institute for Middle East Studies, guests discussed the topic “Strategies for Engaging Political Islam: A ...

This morning, the Washington Post editorialized that President Obama and his foreign policy team lack a firm commitment toward democratic reforms in Egypt. The paper singled out comments by U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to argue that the Obama Administration, unlike its predecessor, "appears to have put democracy promotion in the region on a back burner." The Post further laments the administration's foreign ...

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak arrived in the U.S. on Saturday for his first visit in six years. Today, Mubarak will meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  Mubarak's meeting with President Obama tomorrow is set to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Sudan, regional security and the Iranian nuclear program, leaving little space for discussion of human rights and democracy, reports al-Arabiya. In the Washington Post today, Michele Dunne writes that the uptick ...

Ben Smith at Politico writes about POMED's recent report that analyzes the 2010 foreign aid budget in the lens of democracy promotion.  Citing President Obama's budget cuts for democracy and civil society promotion for allies Egypt and Jordan, Smith highlights some potential contradictions in new U.S. policy about Middle East democracy promotion: "The return to 'realism' is an element of Obama's agenda that has rankled with some of his allies on ...

Mohamed Elshinnawi at Voice of America writes about POMED's newest report, The Federal Budget and Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2010: Democracy, Governance and Human Rights in the Middle East (click here to access the report). Elshinawi reports that the POMED analysis provides insight into the Obama administration's plans for promoting democracy in the Middle East, where funding for democracy programs has been increased overall.

Be sure to check out POMED's new policy paper on how the U.S. and its European allies can better promote democratic reform and human rights in Egypt. Written by Greg Aftandilian, "Looking Forward: An Integrated Strategy for Supporting Democracy and Human Rights in Egypt" is being released as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is due to visit the White House on May 26 and President Barack Obama will be delivering a major address ...

Come join us for a very timely discussion of strategies for supporting democracy and human rights in Egypt. The upcoming visits by President Mubarak to Washington and President Obama to Cairo will be watched closely for signals as to the place of democracy and human rights in a changing U.S.-Egypt relationship. On Wednesday afternoon, POMED will be hosting an event on Capitol Hill marking the release of a new paper ...

The Project on Middle East Democracy has recently released its analysis of the FY 2009 budget by POMED Advocacy Director, Stephen McInerney, as well as two papers by POMED's Director of Dialogue Programs, David DeBartolo, which outline the perceptions of U.S. democracy promotion efforts in the Middle East.

POMED has prepared a report that compares the presidential budget, House, Senate and final omnibus versions of State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2008, H.R. 2764. The original House version of the bill passed on June 22, 2007, and a Senate version then passed on September 6, 2007. As year-end efforts to agree on FY08 funding came to a head in late fall, the ...