PAST EVENT
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
Washington, DC
As we approach the twentieth anniversary of Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, countries such as Iran, Russia, China and Cuba are trying to learn how to prevent similar "velvet revolutions" in their own countries. On October 6, the Brookings Institution hosted a discussion on the challenges and opportunities posed by nonviolent civic movements for political change around the world. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Anouar Boukhars, September 22, 2009, Common Ground News Service
Brookings Doha Visiting Fellow Anouar Boukhars examines recent commentary that the Obama administration is distancing itself from democracy promotion in the Middle East. Boukhars finds that these claims are largely untrue, and points to examples of continued funding political reform as well as why some goals of the Bush administration needed amendment. Read More
PAST EVENT
Thursday, September 17, 2009
12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
Washington, DC
Morocco has often been hailed as a model for democratic reform in an otherwise authoritarian region. In order to understand better the progress Morocco has undergone since the 1990s, when it started on the path of democratic reform, the Saban Center’s Patkin Visiting Fellow in Arab Reform, Maâti Monjib, led a policy luncheon discussion regarding the various advances and obstacles associated with Moroccan democratization. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Michael E. O'Hanlon and Bruce Riedel, September 01, 2009, The Washington Times
Following the important August 20 elections in Afghanistan, Michael O'Hanlon and Bruce Riedel write that this is likely the final fresh start for the U.S. and NATO. With support for the war falling at home and abroad, they explore how progress should be quantified in Afghanistan and urge patience regarding the mission there. Read More
PAST EVENT
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
3:00 PM to 4:30 PM
Washington, DC
The outcome of Afghanistan's presidential election remains in doubt, but most agree that it doesn't matter who wins as much as how the victory occurs. Brookings hosted a panel of experts, moderated by Martin Indyk, to discuss the outcome of the Afghan election. The panel analyzed the result of the election and examined its impact on the future of the country and the conflict. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Tamara Cofman Wittes and Michele Dunne, August 17, 2009, The Brookings Institution
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. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jeremy Shapiro, August 13, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Jeremy Shapiro argues pundits should focus more on what the elections in Afghanistan say about the international community than what they mean for the country. He cautions that actions by international actors are often seen from the inside as rigging elections to a pre-determined outcome and concludes that if these efforts to build a democracy fail it may help Afghanistan become a terrorist state once again. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Richard Joseph, August 07, 2009, 234next.com
Following State Hillary Clinton's visit to Nigeria at the end of her 11-day tour of African nations, Richard Joseph says that Nigeria has a historic opportunity to address its myriad problems. "Nigeria and the United States," Joseph writes, "could initiate a new era of cooperation based on shared commitments to constitutional democracy, the strengthening of open, multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies and laying the foundations for sustainable and equitable growth."
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PAST EVENT
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
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The Brookings Doha Center hosted a discussion on democracy promotion and key U.S. allies in the Arab world. The panel was addressed by Roula Attar, the resident country director in Jordan for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and Anouar Boukhars, Brookings Doha Center visiting fellow. Hady Amr, director of the Doha Center, moderated the discussion. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Sameer Jarrah, July 07, 2009, The Brookings Institution
In a Saban Center Working Paper, former Todd G. Patkin Visiting Fellow Sameer Jarrah analyzes public freedoms in Jordan and points to the combination of state action and internal deficiencies within civic groups as the reasons for the stalled reform process. Jarrah argues that it is in the security interest of the Jordanian government to enable civic organizations because they can provide a counterbalance to extremist groups and serve as a productive outlet for citizen discontent. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Kevin Casas-Zamora, June 29, 2009, The Brookings Institution
The June 28 military ousting of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya capped weeks of tension brought about by his attempt to amend the constitution to enable reelection. Kevin Casas-Zamora says this coup is a step backward for democracy in Latin America and he urges the United States to both pay close attention to the situation and to show friends and foes in the hemisphere that Washington sides with democracy. Read More
PAST EVENT
Friday, June 12, 2009
9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
Washington, DC
On June 12, the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings hosted Dr. Constance Freeman, regional director for East and Southern Africa of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Nairobi who led a roundtable discussion on the recent elections in Kenya. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Cheng Li, June 04, 2009, San Francisco Chronicle
Though many believe China's drive toward democracy stagnated after the People's Liberation Army put down the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, Cheng Li argues otherwise. Li notes that while the political system is still constrained by party monopoly on power, lack of an independent judiciary and media censorship, China is making significant progress on the democratic front. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Ted Piccone, June 02, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Ted Piccone writes that the future of the Organization of American States (OAS) depends on how it manages the readmission of Cuba to the regional organization. Piccone urges member states not to depart from the organization’s core democratic and human rights principles. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Tamara Cofman Wittes, May 14, 2009, Middle East Strategy at Harvard
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. Read More