Architect Nader Ardalan discussing sustainability in the Gulf as part of "New Arab Urbanism" on 11/2/11
Upcoming Events
February 16. Panel Discussion: A Search for Common Ground: Islamist civil society and global philanthropy in the Middle East
February 23. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States in the Arab Spring with Dr. Gregory Gause
March 19. After the Uprisings: Islamists and Governance in Tunisia and Beyond with Dr. Melani Cammett
FEATURED PUBLICATIONS
January 31, 2012
HKS Conversation Series: Can the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict be Resolved?
This spring, the Middle East Initiative is launching a seven-part seminar series on the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The series will be hosted by Middle East Initiative fellow Diana Buttu.
January 11, 2012
Call for Submissions
The new Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy is currently accepting submissions for its inaugural issue, to be published in spring 2012.
December 12, 2011
PODCAST: Mouin Rabbani, "Palestine After the UN: What Next?"
This is a podcast of Mouin Rabbani's talk "Palestine Afte the UN: What Next?" The podcast was recorded on November 30, 2011, in the Allison Dining Room at Harvard Kennedy School.
October 11, 2011
New Arab Urbanism: The Challenge to Sustainability and Culture in the Gulf
By Steve Caton and Nader Ardalan
Interpretive essays and case studies on Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
October 18, 2011
Morocco: The Path to Democracy
Has Morocco found the magic formula for a reformist path to democracy without the vagaries of revolutionary upheaval?
October 3, 2011
The Economic and Financial Impacts of the Arab Awakening
A transcript of Raed H. Charafeddine's September 29 talk "The Economic and Financial Impacts of the Arab Awakening."
REUTERS/DARREN WHITESIDE
October 4, 2011
Diana Buttu on the Palestinian bid for statehood
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
In the days before and after Mahmoud Abbas' bid for Palestinian statehood in the United Nations on September 23, MEI fellow Diana Buttu was interviewed by multiple media outlets regarding her take on the bid.
September 28, 2011
Israel and the Arab Transformation: Assessing Dynamics and New Relations
By Will Cook
The Middle East Initiative co-sponsored a lecture on Israel and the Arab Transformation by Dr. Yoram Meital on Tuesday, September 27.
September 22, 2011
PODCAST: Statehood for Palestine?
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
A discussion with Middle East Initiative Fellow Diana Buttu on the UN vote for Palestinian Statehood.
Listen to the discussion (mp3)
(Photo by Marcus Halevi)
September 20, 2011
"Arab Uprisings Shift to Political Struggles"
By James F. Smith, Communications Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Many of this year’s Arab uprisings are evolving from angry popular revolts into drawn-out political struggles to build democratic systems that will protect basic civic rights and social justice, analysts told a John F. Kennedy Jr. forum audience at Harvard Kennedy School on Monday, Sept. 19.
Marcus Halevi
September 20, 2011
Video: Inside the Arab Awakening
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
September 19, Professor Nicholas Burns led a conversation in the John F. Kennedy Forum with Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, UAE-based columnist; Rami George Khouri, Director, Issam Fares Institute, American University of Beirut; Dr. Karim Makdisi, Associate Professor, American University of Beirut; and Diana Buttu, Joint Fellow with the Middle East Initiative and Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program.
September 16, 2011
PODCAST: The Deaths of Others: The Fate of Civilians in America's Wars
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
A recording of John Tirman's discussion of his new book The Deaths of Others: The Fate of Civilians in America's Wars from September 15, 2011 at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Listen to the discussion (mp3)
September 15, 2011
Islamic Finance and Entrepreneurship: Challenges and Opportunities Ahead
By Asim Khwaja, Faculty Affiliate, Middle East Initiative, Nirvana Abou-Gabal and Bailey Klinger
An Entrepreneurial Finance Lab Research Initiative Islamic Finance Whitepaper, made possible by the Kuwait Program at Harvard.
September 14, 2011
An Academic Approach to the 10th Anniversary of 9/11
By Paul Beran
In the rightly placed memorials to the victims of 9/11 this last week, was an academic take on the 10-year anniversary by three Harvard faculty, organized by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and co-sponsored by the Middle East Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program.
Associated Press
August 23, 2011
Victory for US leadership
Boston Globe
By R. Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics, Harvard Kennedy School
With the imminent and long-awaited collapse of the brutal Khadafy regime, President Obama’s careful, persistent, and oft-criticized policy in Libya has worked.
When the protests began in Libya last winter, I shared the widespread doubts about the involvement of US military forces in a country where we had no obvious vital interests. After the Arab League invited NATO to intervene in the internal affairs of a member state, however, followed by the UN Security Council’s blessing of such an action and the prospect of a real bloodbath in Benghazi, President Obama was right to agree to commit NATO to support the rebel alliance.
July 14, 2011
The Road to (and from) Liberation Square
By Tarek Masoud, Faculty Affiliate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
It is easy now to see why Egypt’s revolution had to happen, and why
President Hosni Mubarak’s thirty-year reign had to end in the spectacular
manner in which it did. Even the most casual observer of the Egyptian
scene can recite from the expansive catalogue of ills that Mubarak had
visited upon the land...
Jay Connor, 2011
June 9, 2011
Middle East Mosaic 2011
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
The Middle East Initiative annual newsletter, Spring 2011 issue.
Charita Law, 2011
June 7, 2011
Middle East Uprisings: Options for the United States
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
On May 31, the Middle East Initiative and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace co-hosted a half-day conference about the forces shaping the Middle East and the options for the United States.
Noelle Janka, 2011
April 13, 2011
Isobel Coleman On Women, Islam, and Reform in the Middle East
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
On April 5, Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy; Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative; and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program, spoke at an event entitled Women, Islam, and Reform in the Middle East at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Noelle Janka, 2011
April 11, 2011
Islam and Muslim Societies Conference April 8 & 9
“Islam and Muslim Societies: An Analytical Examination” was the focus of a conference organized in part by the Belfer Center’s Middle East Initiative.
April 11, 2011
Video: Islam and Politics in the New Egypt
Video of panel discussion on the Muslim Brotherhood's role in the new Egypt.
Sharon Kim
April 5, 2011
Tahrir Activist Speaks Out: Egyptian journalist gives personal account of revolution
Harvard Crimson
Presenting images of children shouting “Leave, Mubarak,” and men collecting trash as a “donation for Mubarak,” freelance journalist Sahar El-Nadi—a native Egyptian—presented an audiovisual account of the Egyptian Revolution in Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday evening at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
March 31, 2011
Egypt Experts Examine Islam’s Role
Harvard Crimson
By Zidong Liu
A Harvard Crimson article on Middle East Initiative Panel Discussion "Islam and Politics in the New Egypt."
Jay Connor, 2011
March 31, 2011
For Libya, ‘no compromise’ in sight: Former envoy, analysts explore options for a volatile nation
By Katie Koch
An article by Katie Koch in the Harvard Crimson on the forum event "Libya After the No-Fly Zone: Political Change or Civil War?" A link to a video of the event is also included.
Noelle Janka, 2010
March 18, 2011
MEI Co-Hosts Event on Dissent in Arabic Literature
As part of a continued effort to respond to the on-going changes in the Middle East, the Middle East Initiative co-sponsored an event Wednesday, March 9 on political dissent in Arabic literature. The event featured four Harvard scholars discussing popular works of dissent and their relevance to current political uprisings in the Arab world.
February 16, 2011
MEI Affiliate Marshall Ganz in The Nation
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
This article in The Nation highlights HKS Professor Marshall Ganz and the Middle East Initiative.
February 10, 2011
Dr. Hugh Roberts on the recent unrest in Algeria, in light of Tunisia and Egypt
On Thursday February 3, at the Harvard Kennedy School, North African specialist Dr. Hugh Roberts spoke to students, faculty and members of the community about the complexity and causes of rioting in Algeria in January.
February 8, 2011
Video: A Panel Talk Assessing Tunisia, January 26, 2011
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
Video of a panel discussion on recent events in Tunisia with Harvard Professors Malika Zeghal and William Granara. Recorded January 26, 2011.
Janurary 27, 2011
Tunisia Panel Talk in the Harvard Gazette
The uprising in Tunisia has drawn the world’s attention, including words of support from President Obama in his State of the Union address. However, two Harvard experts on the region say it is still unclear whether the protests will lead to a truly democratic government or if another strongman will emerge to replace ousted president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
January 24, 2011
Executive Education program in Jordan hosts senior executives from across the Arab region
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
Fifty-one participants from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan convened at the Dead Sea last week for a five-day Executive Education program entitled "Leading for the Future: The Arab Region in a Changing World."
KFAS, 2010
December 20, 2010
KFAS and the Middle East Initiative Celebrate 10 Years of Collaboration in Kuwait
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
In December 2010, the Middle East Initiative and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) hosted an executive education workshop, celebration and conference in Kuwait to celebrate 10 years of partnership between the two institutions.
Noelle Janka, 2010
November 22, 2010
HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal of Saudi Arabia visits the Kennedy School
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al Faisal of Saudi Arabia visited Harvard Kennedy School on Friday, November 19th.
November 5, 2010
MEI Co-Sponsors AllWorld Network Gathering of Leading Entrepreneurs from the Middle East
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
The AllWorld Network 2010 Summit took place at the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School from October 18-22.
Sharon Wilke, 2010
October 5, 2010
Palestine Monetary Governor Visits Harvard Kennedy School
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
Palestine Monetary Authority Governor Dr. Jihad Al Wazir spoke to students, faculty and members of the community on Monday October 5th at the Harvard Kennedy School, at a luncheon sponsored by the Middle East Initiative.
September 30, 2010
Video: Fatima Bhutto Speaks At Harvard Kennedy School
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
Fatima Bhutto, niece of the late Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, spoke to students and community members at the Harvard Kennedy School on September 29, 2010
Photo by Martha Stewart, 2010
October 7, 2010
Crown-Belfer Middle East Seminar Series Launches with Turkish Foreign Minister as Keynote Speaker
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu opened the inaugural event of the Crown-Belfer Middle East Seminar Series on September 29. The series is a joint venture between Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Brandeis' Crown Center for Middle East Studies.
September 23, 2010
Harvard Kennedy School Receives $1 Million Gift from the Crown Prince Court, Abu Dhabi for Graduate Leadership Fellowship
By Doug Gavel
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University has announced a $1 million gift from the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court. The gift will be used to launch a new graduate fellowship that will support emerging leaders from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while advancing the mission of the School's Middle East Initiative, a nexus for convening policymakers and scholars on the region.
Stephanie Mitchell
September 22, 2010
Middle East Initiative Co-Sponsors Teach In on Islamic community center in Manhattan
Harvard Gazette
The Harvard Gazette covered a teach-in on Muslim community center controversey in Manhattan that was co-sponsored by the Middle East Initiative.
October 6, 2010
Video of Muslim Community Center Teach-In on 9/21/2010
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
Four videos from a teach-in on the Muslim Community Center in Manhattan, an event co-sponsored by the Middle East Initiatives. Videos feature an introduction from Paul Beran, Director of the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and discussions by Harvard professors Diana Eck, Ali Asani and Mark Tushnet.
September 13, 2010
Middle East Initiative Hosts Breakfast for Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Rifai
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
A short summary of a breakfast held for Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Rifai in August 2010, hosted by the Middle East Initiative
September 12, 2010
Middle East Initiative Fall 2010 Events Schedule
By Noelle Janka, Program Coordinator, Middle East Initiative
A list of free, public events hosted by the Middle East Initiative in Fall 2010.
