On Friday, the Middle East Policy Council hosted an event entitled "A Reawakened Rivalry: the GCC vs. Iran." The panel was moderated by Omar Kader, Chairman of the board at the Middle East Policy Council, and featured Thomas Lippman, former reporter, editor, and Middle East correspondent at the Washington Post, Thomas R. Mattair, executive director at the Middle East Policy Council, and Alex Vatanka, a scholar at the Middle East ...

On Thursday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted several Tunisian Ministers to discuss the future of U.S.-Tunisian relations and cooperation. Mr. Lionel Johnson, Vice President of Middle East and North Africa Affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce moderated the discussion and expressed his pleasure at the increase of Middle East and North Africa region events recently due to the Arab Spring. For full event notes, continue reading or click here for ...

On Thursday, the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held a hearing about U.S. approaches to human rights policy in Syria and Iran. The panel included Michael Singh of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Mehdi Khalaji, a Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Alireza Nader of the RAND Corporation, Tony Badran, a Research Fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, ...

On Friday, the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center held a discussion with David Ottaway, senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, with a welcome by Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center, who opened the discussion by describing Ottaway’s new paper and how it relates Saudi Arabia to the Arab Spring.  For full event notes, continue reading. Or, click here ...

On Tuesday, the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) and the National Security Network (NSN) hosted a panel discussion with Dr. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, Geneive Abdo, fellow at the Century Foundation and the National Security Network, and Ted Piccone, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. The event was moderated by Heather Hurlburt, executive director at NSN, with a welcome by Stephen McInerney, executive director ...

On Wednesday, the U.S. Institute of Peace hosted a discussion with Dr. Esther Brimmer, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, moderated by Dr. Abiodun Williams, Vice President of the Center for Conflict Management at the U.S. Institute of Peace, with a welcome by Dr. Richard Solomon, President of the U.S. Institute of Peace. For full event notes, continue reading. Or, click here for the PDF. On Wednesday, the U.S. Institute ...

The International Foundation for Electoral Systems announced their 2011 Democracy Awards Recipients. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT.), Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and Judge Johann Kriegler of South Africa have been selected and will receive their awards on September 15 at IFES' annual Democracy Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C. In the announcement, IFES's chairman Peter Kelly said, "Senator Leahy embodies Chuck Manatt’s commitment to ensuring that everyone, regardless of their social status or country, ...

Al-Jazeera reports that Syrian security forces fired upon and killed at least 10-16 protesters in the regions around Deir az-Zor, Idlib and Deraa after Friday prayers. The crackdown came a day after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton encouraged nations around the world to increase pressure on the Syrian regime and President Bashar al-Assad. Two additional protesters were gunned down in the city of Hama, Reuters reports. Independent media coverage has been completely banned by Syrian ...

Al-Jazeera reports that rebel spokesperson Mohammed Zawawi has claimed that a NATO airstrike killed Gadhafi's son, Khamis, in the western city of Zlitan. Khamis serves as the commander of Libya's 32nd Brigade which is composed of about 10,000 men. It is regarded as one of the most powerful military units in the country, if not the most powerful. Zawawi says that Khamis was among 32 others who were killed in the attack overnight. However, ...

According to al-Masry al-Youm, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will be tried tomorrow in court, and stands accused of three crimes: "involvement in the killing of protesters during the revolution; impropriety in the sale of five villas... and corruption in gas sales to Israel, charges for which former Petroleum Minister Sameh Fahmi is currently being tried." Questions have been raised regarding the reality of Mubarak making a public appearance in court. ...

Al-Jazeera reports that the court trials for former President Hosni Mubarak and ex-Interior Minister Habib al-Adly have been merged. The Egyptian cabinet announced the decision today in an effort to further placate protesters who have accused the interim ruling military of retaining the former regime's practices. Additionally, six other high-ranking officials had trial dates set for August 3. Former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif was also charged and ordered detained for 15 days ...

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 Green Wave, a documentary about the Green Movement in Iran, was featured at the AFI Discovery Channel Film Festival in conjunction with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).  The screening was followed by a panel with Jan Kruger, producer of the documentary, Robin Wright, Jennings Randolph senior fellow and Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and was moderated by ...

On Thursday, the History and Public Policy Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center held an event on "Turkey's Elections: Great Expectations for Democratization or Business as Usual?" The event featured a presentation by Fuat Keyman, the director of the Istanbul Policy Center and professor of international relations at Sabanci University in Turkey and was moderated by Christian Ostermann, the director of the History and Public Policy Program at the Woodrow ...

Next Friday, April 29, America Abroad Media (a non-profit organization in Washington, DC that produces a monthly, hour-long documentary radio program on foreign affairs for broadcast on NPR stations across the country) is hosting a "town hall" event at American University's Katzen Center from 7:30-9am. They will be connecting DC's local WAMU radio station with a radio station in Kabul to facilitate a discussion ...

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On Wednesday, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosted a discussion focused on the issues of succession, authoritarianism and democracy in relation to Arab leaders entitled, “The Crisis in the Arab World’s Aging Leadership.” Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Director of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center introduced the speaker David Ottaway, former Cairo Bureau Chief of The Washington Post and current Senior Scholar at the Wilson Center. For the ...