RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Shadi Hamid, November 07, 2011, The Atlantic
Shadi Hamid examines King Abdullah's recent appointment of a new prime minister, discussing whether King Abdullah is willing to give up power, or if the appointment could be a power move to slow Jordan's transition to democracy. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Shadi Hamid, May 16, 2011, The National
There are clear security reasons behind the Gulf Cooperation Council's invitations to Jordan and Morocco to apply for membership, according to Shadi Hamid. Hamid writes that while these invitations stem largely from a common interest in preserving monarchies in power, other factors- such as geography, the economic disparity between the invitees and the existing members, and the possible reaction of pro-democratic states in the region- could lead to something less than full membership for Jordan and Morocco. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Roberta Cohen, April 20, 2011, American University's Washington College of Law
On April 20, Roberta Cohen addressed American University’s Washington College of Law on the topic of protracted refugee situations, with a particular focus on the 2 million Iraqi refugees who have fled for Jordan, Syria, and other Middle Eastern countries since 2006. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Martin S. Indyk, February 07, 2011, The Brookings Institution
Martin Indyk discussed the uprising in Egypt at a recent Meet the Press at Brookings event. Indyk said that Israeli leaders are very concerned about the impact of the departure of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the peace process and also discussed how events in Egypt are impacting on broader issues in the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza, Jordan and Iran. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Shadi Hamid, February 02, 2011, POLITICO
As political unrest spreads from Tunisia to Egypt, and now Yemen and Jordan, Shadi Hamid discusses two models for democratic change emerging in recent political uprisings throughout the Middle East. Read More
PAST EVENT
Monday, January 24, 2011
12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
Washington, DC
The list of challenges facing the United States in the Middle East is daunting. From his efforts to restart the peace process to his recent calls to avoid escalation in Lebanon, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh stands as one of the most active voices in the region working to address these difficult issues. The Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings hosted Minister Judeh for a discussion of the most pressing challenges facing the Middle East today. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Samantha Constant and Mary Kraetsch, June 2010, The Brookings Institution
In an effort to shed light on the challenges that youth continue to face in the Middle East, Samantha Constant and Mary Kraetsch have created an interactive map and corresponding fact sheets that provide key statistics associated with youth issues for all 18 countries in the Middle East. In the accompanying note, they provide an overview of the data and their main findings. Read More
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 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
Elizabeth Ferris, July 02, 2009, International Association for the Study of Forced Migration Annual Conference, Nicosia, Cyprus
Recently discussion has turned to the prospects for the large-scale return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to Iraq. More than 4 million Iraqis have been displaced, either internally or externally. And while the Iraqi and US governments, policymakers in the region, and humanitarian actors assume that most will return to Iraq in the near future, Elizabeth Ferris points out that experience with other displacement crises indicates that return will be neither automatic nor straightforward. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Elizabeth Ferris, December 19, 2008, Returning Home in Iraq: Housing, Land and Property Issues, USIP Seminar
As violent incidents decrease in Iraq and as US combat troops prepare to withdraw, expectations will grow that Iraqis will return to their communities in growing numbers. In fact, UN Officials and political leaders in Iraq, the region, and the US have always expected that return will be the durable solution for Iraqi IDPs and refugees without giving serious consideration to other options. For returns to be successful, the government of Iraq and the international community need to learn from the lessons of other mass returns of displaced populations and refugees. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Navtej Dhillon, Nader Kabbani and Taher Kanaan, December 01, 2008, The Brookings Institution
Jordan and Syria have recently faced similar economic challenges such as absorbing large numbers of Iraqi refugees and fighting high inflation. Yet the global economic slowdown may have unique implications for development and reform in each country, as Taher Kanaan and Nader Kabbani reveal in interviews with the Middle East Youth Initiative’s Navtej Dhillon. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Navtej Dhillon, July 11, 2008, NOW on PBS
The Middle East Youth Initiative collaborates with NOW on PBS on a documentary about youth employment in Jordan. In a special online supplement, NOW interviews Navtej Dhillon, Brookings fellow and director of the Middle East Youth Initiative, on the challenges facing youth across the Middle East—including unemployment and delayed marriage—and the role of the international community in contributing to reform and development in the region. Read More
VIDEO
Khalid Koser and Daljit Dhaliwal, July 03, 2008
A new United Nations report finds that in the past year the number of refugees worldwide has increased from 9 to 11 million. Khalid Koser, deputy director of the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, discusses the causes behind this increase as well as possible implications if the number of refugees continues to climb.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Navtej Dhillon, Jad Chaaban and Tarik Yousef, June 26, 2008, The Brookings Institution
According to a recent study by the Middle East Youth Initiative, the region loses $25 billion a year due to youth unemployment. Navtej Dhillon, MEYI Director/Fellow, Jad Chaaban, Assistant Professor at American University of Beirut, and Tarik Yousef, Brookings Senior Fellow and Dean of the Dubai School of Government, discuss country statistics and regional policy implications. Read More