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Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak recently visited Washington for the first time since 2004. Tamara Cofman Wittes and Michele Dunne examine how he and President Obama can achieve shared goals for the Middle East. Wittes and Dunn analyze areas in which the relationship could be improved and offer suggestions for strengthening the partnership with both the citizens and government of Egypt.
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Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
President Barack Obama delivered a highly anticipated address in Cairo, Egypt on June 4 in an attempt to improve U.S. relations with the Muslim world. Brookings experts offered comments on the President’s speech.
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Sun, 31 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Tamara Cofman Wittes and Martin Indyk joined a group of Middle East experts, journalists and activists to discuss what should be said by President Obama during his trip to Egypt in June. Wittes argued Obama must redefine how America's role is viewed and Indyk stated that, among other things, a sincere commitment to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is necessary.
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Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Tamara Cofman Wittes and Andrew Masloski argue that the Obama administration should invest in the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) to advance America’s interests in a more stable, progressive and prosperous Middle East. By examining the record of MEPI, Wittes and Masloski show how it has overcome early deficits to create a small-scale, successful model of “democracy diplomacy” that integrates foreign assistance with foreign policy.
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Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Tamara Cofman Wittes writes that the selection of Egypt for President Obama’s long-awaited speech to the Muslim world was not an easy choice, but it is a significant one. Wittes believes Egypt is a crucible for the challenges facing many Muslim societies and it embodies Washington's central dilemmas in the wake of Bush's Freedom Agenda.
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Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
In this U.S.-Islamic World Forum discussion paper, Stephen Grand, Tamara Wittes, Thomas Fingar and Jamal al Suwaidi investigate new and non-traditional security challenges and how they are likely to affect U.S.-Muslim world relations.
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Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT
President Obama may enjoy a transatlantic honeymoon, but U.S.-European differences over Middle East policy—stemming mainly from the war in Iraq—leave deep scars in the relationship that he must now overcome. In a new Saban Center Analysis Paper, Tamara Cofman Wittes and Richard Youngs look beyond this highly charged deterioration in the transatlantic relationship in order to assess the real prospects for cooperation in promoting democracy in the Middle East.
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Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Brookings expert Tamara Cofman Wittes writes that the usual division of Islamists into “moderate” and “extremist” categories is less helpful than a threefold classification that suggests a distinct policy approach toward each group.
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Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Tamara Cofman Wittes writes about her recent article in the Journal of Democracy where she outlines three distinct categories of Islamism.
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Wed, 21 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Tamara Cofman Wittes discusses a new deal announced in Doha between Lebanese factions including Hezbollah. Wittes believes that this decision should force others in the Middle East to recognize that Hezbollah is a regional actor with ambitions outside of Lebanon.
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Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Wittes dissects the Bush administration’s failure to advance freedom in the Middle East and lays out a better strategy for future efforts to promote democracy.
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Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Tamara Cofman Wittes and Isobel Coleman met with business leaders, academics, journalists, and civic activists in Saudi Arabia. Among their key findings are that many Saudis welcomed the emergence of a more open atmosphere, pointing to King Abdullah’s ascension to the throne, dynamism in neighboring Gulf states, and a new “post-post-9/11” environment as key catalysts for the change. Yet, there was frustration at the unpredictability and arbitrariness of the newly expanded social and political space.
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Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Across the Muslim world, religious parties and candidates are claiming victory over secular governments with increasing frequency. From Iraq to Egypt to Turkey, Islamic influence is on the rise in politics. Tamara Wittes joins Kojo Nnamdi and guests to explore this trend and examine why these Islamic movements are winning public support.
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Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT
At a November 26, 2007 Cato Book Forum, Tamara Wittes and Christopher J. Coyne examined the problems with installing democracy.
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Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Participants discuss governance in the Muslim World in a paper prepared for the 2008 U.S./Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar.
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Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Tamara Wittes and Michael McFaul discuss the Arab world's chance of creating stability by accepting and promoting democratic governments.
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Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Charles Issawi was a leading economic historian of the Middle East and an astute commentator on history, politics, and human nature. In 1956 he published an article on the foundations of democracy and their absence from the Middle East. MESH member Adam Garfinkle offers a half-century retrospective on Issawi’s views. In the comments to this post Tamara Cofman Wittes and other members weigh in.
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Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:51:43 GMT
President Bush will host a meeting of international leaders to help revive the Arab-Israeli peace process. Research fellow Tamara Wittes says the talks are critical for the future of the entire middle east.
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Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT
Martin Indyk and Tamara Cofman Wittes argue that the United States must strengthen its international partnerships, use diplomacy, and offer security guarantees to advance U.S. interests in the Middle East and Gulf regions. Those U.S. interests include: stabilizing Iraq, revitalizing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and encouraging moderate Arab nations to enact political and economic reforms.
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Fri, 24 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT
Tamara Cofman Wittes writes that elections in Morocco are the latest step in a gradual move towards reform under King Mohammed IV. She argues that offering a vote is not enough, and that "he [King Mohammed] will have to strengthen parliament and the mainstream political parties, giving them a real capacity to act on voters' concerns and reducing his own power in the process."
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Wed, 01 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT
Interview with Tamara Cofman Wittes, CFR.org (8/1/07)
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Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT
Article by Tamara Cofman Wittes, Today's Zaman (3/22/07)
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Wed, 28 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT
A new Sunni-Shi'a fault line and a significant decline in U.S. influence frame the challenge to the next President's Middle East policy. That challenge requires both a return to balance-of-power diplomacy and a better balancing of interests and values to contain the Iraq civil war, strengthen the forces of moderation, prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power, and promote democratic reform.
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Mon, 12 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT
The Saban Center for Middle East Policy's Project on Arab Democracy and Development hosted a day-long symposium on January 16, 2007 entitled "Arab Elections: Progress or Peril?" The project is headed by Tamara Cofman Wittes, a Saban Center Fellow and the Brookings Institution's leading expert on U.S. democracy promotion policy in the Middle East.
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Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT
Three years ago, in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Bush Administration launched what is now known as the Freedom Agenda. In a Saban Center Analysis Paper, Tamara Cofman Wittes assesses what the Bush Administration's Freedom Agenda has accomplished in its first few years, and how well the policy shift it represents has become embedded in the institutions and operation of U.S. foreign policy.
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Fri, 19 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT
Saban Center Middle East Memo #9
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Sun, 19 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT
Difficult choices abound following Hamas's election victory. European governments, well aware that Palestinian society is but a few weeks away from utter poverty and near-starvation, feel pressured to find some arrangement whereby they can continue to provide financial and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian Authority.
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Wed, 01 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT
Article by Tamara Cofman Wittes, Arab Reform Bulletin (February 2006)
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Fri, 13 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT
Opinion by Tamara Cofman Wittes, Slate (1/13/06)
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Wed, 24 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMT
On September 7, 2005, for the first time in their history, Egyptians will have a choice of candidates in a presidential election. When President Hosni Mubarak, who was elected to four previous terms in 'yes-or-no' referendums, announced this historic change in February 2005, even some members of his ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) were taken aback. Yet by the time the constitutional amendment authorizing other candidates to run was voted on in late May 2005, many democracy advocates in Egypt had grown disillusioned, characterizing the competitive election scheme as a sham. Now, with voting less than one month away, ten candidates have qualified to stand but many opposition activists are calling for an election day boycott.
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Thu, 31 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT
Opinion by Tamara Cofman Wittes, The Washington Post (3/31/05)
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Thu, 03 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT
Opinion by Tamara Cofman Wittes, Slate (3/3/05)
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Wed, 02 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT
Middle East Memo by Martin S. Indyk and Tamara Cofman Wittes (February 2005)
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Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:00:00 GMT
Article by Barry Rubin, Tamara Cofman Wittes and Laith Kubba, Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal (December 2004)
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Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:00:00 GMT
Article by Tamara Cofman Wittes, The International Spectator (October - December 2004)
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Mon, 29 Nov 2004 00:00:00 GMT
Paper by Tamara Cofman Wittes and Sarah E. Yerkes, Middle East Memo (11/29/04)
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Thu, 01 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMT
Article by Tamara Cofman Wittes, PolicyReview (June & July 2004)
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Thu, 17 Jun 2004 00:00:00 GMT
Opinion by Tamara Cofman Wittes, The Daily Star (6/17/04)
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Mon, 10 May 2004 00:00:00 GMT
Paper by Tamara Cofman Wittes, Middle East Memo (5/10/04)
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Mon, 23 Feb 2004 00:00:00 GMT
Article by Tamara Cofman Wittes, The Weekly Standard (2/23/04)