RESEARCH
Public Administration, Management and Governance
Executing good governance through training and outreach in the areas of transparency, accountability and management is the key focus of the public management and administration components of the Initiative’s agenda for the Dubai School of Government. The two objectives of this research area are to promote partnerships and collaborations with international organizations, regional institutions and governments to encourage research, understanding and knowledge sharing on good governance, and to build capacity among the current and future leaders of Middle East governments through training programs – executive education, workshops, forums and conferences– in the areas of innovations in governance, electronic governance, government performance, leadership, negotiations, public management and administration.
Political Science and International Relations
Over the last few years the Middle East has experienced several waves of conflicts and political movements. The cascade effect of the U.S presence in Iraq, since 2003, resulted in: the rise of internal conflicts between the Sunnis, Shias and Kurds for power and access to oil resources, escalated the violence and increased the number of Iraqi refugees, and spread the conflict while adding to the economic burden of neighboring countries. Iran's nuclear program, its increasing influence in the region and the Lebanon-Israel conflict of 2006 has raised the question of regional security amongst leaders of the Middle East. Simultaneously, while some countries have begun exploring the western concept of the electoral process to encourage participation of their citizenry, others are engaging in civil wars for political power. Our fellows are working towards: better understanding the new developments in political processes adopted by various countries in the region, identifying the impacts of these political processes on the citizenry, assessing whether there are any spill-over effects into neighboring countries; observing if the leaders will work towards a more unified vision of regional security, and assessing how the US and Europe will react to the decisions made by these leaders on the issue of regional security.
Economic Policy
The rising price of oil paired with nations competing for oil resources raises several questions: how will the resource rich countries of the Middle East tackle the challenges of supplying oil to nations at odds with each other, apply oil rents to resolve the complex social, political and economic development challenges both within their country and the region, and what is the impact of the economic boom on the Middle East both developmentally and politically? The research work in this area will explore the micro and macro-development issues in context of the economic boom in the Middle East and how it correlates to the labor and financial markets in neighboring countries and regions. Related projects include, understanding the impact of youth exclusion on countries in the MENA region through an ongoing initiative launched by the DSG with the Brookings Institution and the Young Arab Leaders to promote opportunities for youth development, education, and employment, studying entrepreneurship in the region and looking at nursing labor markets in the GCC.
Gender Studies
In this area the fellows of both the Dubai School of Government and The Dubai Initiative, in collaboration with other centers at the Kennedy School are working towards a better understanding of the proximate and root causes of gender gaps in economics, politics, health, and education in the Arab world. Research foci also include the investigation of public policies affecting women, leadership, and social change in the countries of the Gulf Cooperative Council.
Despite the large body of research which documents the existence of serious gender inequalities in education, health, economic and political participation in the Arab world, there are few initiatives in the region today which define research-driven agendas for informed policy change. The aim of the Gender and Public Policy program is to support theoretically and methodologically rigorous research that conceptualizes, problematizes, and analyzes gender gaps in the Arab world while, at the same time, linking the research to agendas and instruments for informed policy action.
The Gender and Public Policy Program at the Dubai School of Government aims to contribute to the academic scholarship on gender and public policy in the Arab world while simultaneously incorporating gender perspectives on public policy into the education of future and current leaders taught and trained at the Dubai School of Government. In addition to collaborating with academic institutions, the program forges partnerships with private sector organizations, government agencies, and policy makers to act as a platform for influencing public policies affecting the lives of women.
For more information on the program, click here.
