Harvard Arab Weekend: November 12-15. Register and Learn More.
Upcoming Events
November 30, 4-6pm. Ehaab Abdou will speak about Youth and Tolerance in Egypt. Starr Auditorium, HKS
December 3, 12:15-1:45pm. Dubai Initiative fellow Michael Robbins will discuss, "What Accounts for Popular Support for Islamist Parties in the Arab World?" Littauer Room 330, HKS.
December 9, 12:15-1:45pm. Dubai Initiative fellow Jennie Sowers will present her work on "Climate Adaptation and Water Resources: Policy Challenges for the Middle East". Littauer Room 380, HKS.
FEATURED PUBLICATIONS
October 30, 2009
Iran: Reform of Energy Subsidies
Monthly Review
By Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, Research Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
At long last and after decades of talking about doing something about the subsidies, there is a bill before Iran's majlis to target (but not remove) subsidies. I could not locate the bill itself but my impression is that it only addresses energy subsidies and not other subsidies such as food and medicine. So far only 5 of the bill's 14 articles have been passed, but the government already has the mandate to raise prices on energy products over the next five years
Jeannie Sowers
October 21, 2009
Damietta Mobilizes for Its Environment
Middle East Report Online
By Jeannie Sowers, Research Fellow, The Dubai Initiative and Sharif Elmusa
In 2008, Egypt's Mediterranean port city of Damietta saw escalating protest against EAgrium, a Canadian consortium building a large fertilizer complex in Ra's al-Barr. Ra's al-Barr sits at the end of an estuary, where the Damietta branch of the Nile River joins the Mediterranean. It is a prime destination for vacationing Egyptians in the summertime and the location of the year-round residences of the Damiettan elite. Fishermen ply the waters offshore. When plans for the fertilizer complex were announced, a coalition of locals feared that all three sources of income -- tourism, real estate and fishing -- would be jeopardized by emissions into the air and water. As summer temperatures climbed and the protests mounted, the government found itself caught between its contractual obligations to international investors and a well-organized local movement opposed to the project on both environmental and developmental grounds.
September 30, 2009
Partnering for Progress in the Middle East
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
BEIRUT -- At almost every international or regional gathering these days on how to fix the assorted problems and deficiencies in the Middle East, a common theme keeps popping up: What is the most effective and legitimate way for foreign parties -- governments, international agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities or companies -- to help achieve advances in areas like human rights, economic growth, social protection, democratization, or technological advancement?
AP Photo
September 30, 2009
Iran Sanctions: Who Really Wins?
The Brookings Institution
By Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, Research Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
US and Iranian representatives meet this week at a time when trust between the two countries is at a low ebb following the revelation last week of a previously undisclosed Iranian nuclear facility under construction and the test firing of Iran's long-range missiles on September 28. Meanwhile, the Obama administration's policy of engagement with Iran has emerged as little more than the old policy of "carrots and sticks."
September 21, 2009
Souvenir Photo at the UN
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
BEIRUT -- No concrete results are expected from the September 22 meeting at the United Nations among US President Barack Obama, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (I write this the morning of the 22nd in Beirut, before the meeting takes place). This marks the end of phase 1 of Obama’s intriguing foray into Arab-Israeli peace-making.
September 21, 2009
Climate Change in the Arab World
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
COPENHAGEN -- The amount and quality of available scientific data on the global impact of climate change is staggering -- as I rediscovered at a seminar organized by the Danish foreign ministry in Copenhagen this week. The debate that swirled around the issues of climate change and global warming just two or three years ago has vanished. There is much more certainty now on the nature and extent of the changes to the Earth’s climate that can be attributed to the impact of human activity, mainly the burning of fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases.
September 16, 2009
Going All the Way with Iran
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
NEW YORK -- The United State is juggling four critical and increasingly linked foreign policy issues in Palestine/Israel, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, but seems to be making little headway as we approach critical junctures in all four. A different approach seems worth pondering.
September 14, 2009
Thoughts While Flying to New York on September 11, 2009
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
NEW YORK -- I marked the eighth anniversary Friday of the 9/11 terror attack in the United States by flying from Beirut to New York -- apt symbols of their wider American and Arab societies that in so many sectors are locked in an ongoing confrontation that includes the use of violence by both sides. This day of remembrance occurred at a time when the United States was refocusing seriously on waging the hitherto inconclusive “global war on terror” in Afghanistan.
September 9, 2009
Work to Do on West-Middle East Relations
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
HAMBURG, Germany -- I had the pleasure in Hamburg this week of sharing a panel discussion with two impressive people -- Iranian lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, and former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer. The gathering, sponsored by the Korber Foundation to discuss "The Future of the Middle East,",confirmed that we have much work to do on the issue of when, and whether, powerful Western countries have the responsibility and/or the right to intervene in the internal affairs of Third World countries.
September 2, 2009
Nothing to Celebrate in Libya Today
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
If there is a moment, a place, a person, and a legacy that come together to bring sadness to all Arabs, they are upon us this week in the 40th anniversary of the September 1, 1969 revolution that brought Col. Muammar Gaddafi to power. There is nothing to celebrate today in Libya, other than a colossal waste of that country's human and natural resources over four decades.
August 31, 2009
Sensible US Courage and Hapless US Imbecility
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
BEIRUT -- If you wait long enough, sensible things always happen in America, often among the armed forces’ senior command. One example was Commander of US Central Command General David Petraeus’ recent affirmation that resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict fairly is “very central” to the mission of American troops and diplomacy in the Middle East. This would create a much more favorable regional environment for the United States and its allies, dampen the appeal of militants and terrorist groups, and remove threats to American troops.
August 26, 2009
International Law, Torture and Accountability
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
GENEVA -- The decision this week by the United States’ top legal officer, Attorney General Eric Holder, to appoint a federal prosecutor to examine abuse of prisoners held by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a small step in a much bigger task that challenges all people and governments around the world: How to apply the rules of war in a reasonable and effective manner?
AP Photo
July 2009
"An Enhanced Engagement: Moving Beyond Security Training for the Palestinian Authority"
By Naseem Khuri, Former Executive Director, The Dubai Initiative
As part of its ongoing campaign to facilitate the development of a Palestinian state, the United States has made strides in empowering security forces within the Palestinian Authority (P.A.). Yet without further training in key areas of diplomacy, governance and public communication, the U.S. cannot adequately address growing concerns of factional strife, increased suspicion of trainee behavior in the West Bank and the perception of excessive American interference in internal Palestinian affairs. Beyond ongoing negotiations with Israel and security training, U.S. policy must address core capacity-building needs within the P.A. in its struggle to govern effectively a future Palestinian state.
July, 2009
"Does Funding From Donors Displace Government Spending For Health In Developing Countries?"
Health Affairs
By Marwa Farag, Research Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
ABSTRACT: The notable increases in funding from various donors for health over the past several years have made examining the effectiveness of aid all the more important. We examine the extent to which donor funding for health substitutes for-rather than complements- health financing by recipient governments. We find evidence of a strong substitution effect. The proportionate decrease in government spending associated with an increase in donor funding is largest in low-income countries. The results suggest that aid needs to be structured in a way that better aligns donors' and recipient governments' incentives, using innovative approaches such as performance-based aid financing. [Health Affairs 28, no. 4 (2009): 1045-1055; 10.1377/hlthaff.28.4.1045]
For the full article, click here.
AP Photo
July 20, 2009
"Will She or Won't She?"
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
Hillary Clinton has articulated exciting new parameters for American foreign policy, and presumably she understands the full implications of her speech. We will find out soon if her actions follow suit.
July 15, 2009
"European Hardball"
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
An important but now vacant diplomatic space needs to be filled in Middle East mediation. The European Union can fill that space with the right policies and with the right approach. Here are three suggestions.
Photo by Jeremy Edwards
July 13, 2009
"Human Connections on a Crosstown Bus"
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
The conversation and gestures of appreciation and acknowledgment lasted no more than 10 seconds. But packed into that moment was a whole universe of human connectedness and warmth, immense dignity and professionalism.
AP Photo
July 8, 2009
"McNamara and a Lesson for Lebanon"
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
"Remembering Robert McNamara's ways half a century ago, and watching Lebanese prime minister-designate Saad Hariri's deliberations today should remind us that military power, political legitimacy and national influence are three different things."
AP Photo
June 29, 2009
"Why Do Arabs Not Revolt?"
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
Why do the top-heavy, non-democratic political control and governance systems of the Arab world persist without any significant popular opposition or public challenge?
AP Photo
July 1, 2009
"Three Cheers for Turkey"
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
The most significant development in the Middle East? The continuing civilian control of the Turkish military -- the only instance where the power of military, police, and intelligence-security agencies is being checked by democratically-elected civilian authorities.
June 24, 2009
"The Arabs' Forlorn Envy of Iranians"
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
Broadly speaking, the Arab world has maneuvered itself into a lose-lose situation vis-ŕ-vis developments in Iran -- despite different views of the Islamic Republic.
