Hilary Clinton

Syria Accepts U.N.-Arab League Peace Plan

The six-point peace plan proposed by the U.N. -Arab League special envoy to Syria, Kofi Ananan, in an attempt to end the conflict, has reportedly been accepted by Syrian regime. The plan stressed the need for the Syrian government and the opposition ...

POMED Notes: “Yemen, Syria, and the Gulf States”

On Friday, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University hosted the second day of its annual symposium, “The People want the fall of the Regime: The Arab Uprisings and the future of Arab Politics.” The second panel discussed “Yemen, Syria, and the Gulf States,” featuring presentations from Stacey Philbrick Yadav, director of the Middle Eastern Studies program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Bassam Haddad, Director of the ...

Dubai

“Progress vs democracy” in the Gulf

In a comment, Mishaal Al Gergawi proposed comparing democracy and development  focusing on Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.).  Al Gergawi said that Kuwait is perceived as an "aspirational beacon of political participation in the Gulf," and the U.A.E. as a ...

POMED Notes: Syria: On the Edge of Civil War

On Thursday, the Center for National Policy hosted a panel discussing choices facing the international community and the implications of an ever increasingly violent conflict in Syria. Among the panelists were Middle East Project Director Mona Yacoubian, Washington Bureau Chief of Al-Arabiyya Hisham Melham, and Professor Daniel Serwer from Johns Hopkins University. The event was moderated by Bloomberg News correspondent Indira Lakshmana. For full event notes, continue reading below or click ...

Assad Sets Date for Constitution Referendum

On Wednesday, President Bashar al-Assad announced a referendum on a new constitution to be held on Feburary 26 “as part of promised political reforms.” According to a draft seen by the AP, the reforms would allow political parties other than the Baath to be officially recognized.  Reportedly, the draft stated, “The state’s political system is based on political pluralism and power is practiced democratically through voting,” the president would be limited ...

The Tipping Point: Transitions to Democracy in the Middle East and Latin America

The Kellogg Institute for International Studies in association with the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies released a report, “Transitions to Democracy and the Arab Spring: Does Latin America Hold Lessons for the Middle East,” that examines how insights from Latin America’s democratization experience may be relevant for the Middle East today. The symposium was divided into two panels: the first explored the domestic challenges to democratization in Latin America ...

POMED Notes: The Arab Spring: Implications for US Policy and Interests

On Thursday, the Middle East Institute in concert with Freedom House hosted a discussion panel on the implications of the Arab Spring for US policy and interests in the Middle East region. The discussion panel was also charged with introducing a planned and authored by numerous scholars in cooperation with MEI entitled, The Arab Spring: Implications for US Policy and Interests. Discussants on the panel were scholars who participated in ...

POMED Notes: “A Reawakened Rivalry: the GCC vs. Iran”

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 ...

POMED Notes: “Arab Spring: Is America Getting It Right?”

On Tuesday, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a debate to be aired on BBC's The World Debate on U.S. foreign policy in response to the uprisings in the Middle East. Matt Frei, anchor for BBC's World News America moderated the event and introduced the following panelists: Marwan Muasher, Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment; Tamara Wittes, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of Near Eastern ...

King_Abdullah-Obama

Saudi’s Anti-Revolution Campaign

Neil MacFarquhar, writing at the New York Times, discusses Saudi Arabia's efforts to upend the revolutionary progress that has spread across the region.  The most recent steps include giving $4 billion in aid to Egypt's Supreme Miitary Council, working ...

Will Saudi Arabia Kill the Arab Spring

Nasr Calls on U.S. To Prevent Saudi From Killing the Arab Spring

Vali Nasr, writing for Bloomberg, states that Saudi Arabia has emerged as "the leader of a new rejectionist front that is determined to defeat popular demand for reform."   The country's leadership has made clear that they find U.S. support ...

Clinton Calls on Saleh to Transfer Power

On Saturday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wished Yemenis a joyous National Unity Day, called on Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to follow through on his commitment to transfer power and declared U.S. support for  the Yemeni people.  She reiterated calls for Saleh's departure on Sunday following reports that factions loyal to the President had encircled the UAE embassy in Sana'a and refused to allow ambassadors from the United States, ...

Marc Lynch report on new US Policy on Iran

Marc Lynch: U.S. Must Reshape Policy Toward Iran

In a new report by the Center for New American Security, Marc Lynch discusses how U.S. policy towards Iran must be reshaped in light of the regional uprisings.  Lynch argues that while the Obama administration's strategic policy can claim ...

Geopolitics and the Arab Spring

Writing in the Cairo Review of Global Affairs, Trita Parsi and Reza Marashi discuss the regional uprisings affect on the regional power-balance.  The others note Saudi Arabia and Israel's disapproval of the Arab Spring given the strategic and political implications for their own countries.  Parsi and Marashi state that while Saudi leaders understood there was little they could do to prevent U.S. supported revolts in Egypt and Tunisia, they moved ...

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Iran and the New World Order Following the Arab Spring

Simon Tisdall, writing at the Guardian, argues that the Arab spring has "punctured the illusion, cultivated by Iran, of harmonious relations with the Arab world and has instead highlighted its isolation." As unrest continues in Syria, Tisdall believes that ...

POMED Notes: “Human Rights in Bahrain”

On Friday, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hosted a hearing on the human rights situation in Bahrain.  The commission – chaired by James McGovern (D-MA) and Frank Wolf (R-VA) – requested the testimony of the following individuals: Joe Stork, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa programs at Human Rights Watch (HRW); Maryam Al-Khawaja, Head of Foreign Relations Office at the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR); ...

Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah

GCC Extends Membership Invitations

Marc Lynch, writing at Foreign Policy, discusses the implications of the recent invitations to Jordan and Morocco to apply for membership at the Gulf Cooperation Council. Lynch opens by pointing out the clashes in this invitation, most notably that ...

obama-cairo-speech

Obama to Address Arab Spring In Major Speech

In a major speech next week, President Barack Obama will outline the Administration's vision for the region in light of dramatic shifts currently underway in the Middle East and North Africa and the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. ...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sits with Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani during the U.S. - Islamic World Forum in Doha

Clinton Discusses Changes in the Arab World

In an interview with Jeff Goldberg of the Atlantic, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her belief that the transitioning governments in the region should respect its people's rights to freedom of expression, religion and dress.  She also stated ...

Kepel and Kramer Discuss the Future of the Arab Spring

During a Policy Forum at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy, chair of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at Sciences Po Giles Kepel and Dr. Martin Kramer, the Washington Institute's Wexler Fromer fellow discussed the future of the Arab uprisings.  Kepel pointed tothe Arab people's economic grievances, frustrations over rampant corruption and the expiration of the Islamist threat as reasons for the revolution.  He also noted the differences between the Tunisian ...

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