DUBAI AND THE GULF STATES
April 10, 2013
Regulating the Other: Stories from Iran, Israel and the United Arab Emirates
News
An audio recording of a panel discussion at the Middle East Initiative on citizenship and identity in the Middle East on Monday, March 11.
May 2013
"Understanding Revolution in the Middle East: The Central Role of the Middle Class"
Journal Article, Middle East Development Journal, volume 5
By Ishac Diwan, Lecturer in Public Policy, Middle East Initiative
This paper presents the outlines of a coherent, structural, long term account of the socioeconomic and political evolution of the Arab republics that can explain both the persistence of autocracy until 2011, and the its eventual collapse, in a way that is empirically verifable. The changing interests of the middle class would have to be a central aspect of a coherent story, on accounts of both distributional and modernization considerations, and that the ongoing transformation can be best understood in terms of their defection from the autocratic order to a new democratic order, which is still in formation.
April 3, 2013
"Why Are Arab ‘National Dialogues’ So Fruitless?"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
It is quite bizarre that in almost every country in the Middle East where a serious political conflict or war is underway, there is also a parallel political “dialogue” either underway or proposed. If the contemporary Arab world is an example of how political dialoguing works, then dialogue will have a very short shelf life as a serious instrument of statecraft. Just look at the evidence in the Arab region.
(Jaimee Haddad Photo)
Spring 2013
"Climate Conference Moves Forward – Slowly"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Robert C. Stowe, Executive Director, Harvard Environmental Economics Program; Manager, Harvard Project on Climate Agreements
In December, the member nations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change met in Doha, Qatar for the Eighteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-18) to discuss climate change on a global level. The Harvard Project on Climate Agreements co-hosted, with the government of Qatar, an event entitled "After Doha: Balancing Adaptation, Mitigation, and Economic Development."
Spring 2013
"Hot Off the Presses"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Susan M. Lynch, Program Assistant, International Security Program; Web Manager, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program
A survey of recent books by Belfer Center affiliates.
whitehouse.gov
March 19, 2013
"America and the Middle East-II"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
American and other foreign support for Arab autocrats and dictators for over half a century helped to create the conditions of disparity, corruption, and populist despair that ultimately sparked the uprisings and citizen demands for rights that we now witness. The Anglo-American invasion of Iraq has been the single most important stimulus for new terrorists who gravitated to occupied Iraq from many lands, eager to repel the foreign invaders, and who have since seeped out of Iraq to do their dirty deeds in other Arab countries.
February 22, 2013
Drivers of the Nuclear Power Option in Oil Exporting Countries
News
An audio recording of Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin's lecture at the Middle East Initiative on February 6, 2013. Dr. Shihab-Eldin, Director General of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, was formerly Acting Secretary General & Director of Research of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Jaimee Haddad Photos
December 20, 2012
Harvard Project Conducts Special Event at COP-18 with Government of Qatar
News
By Robert C. Stowe, Executive Director, Harvard Environmental Economics Program; Manager, Harvard Project on Climate Agreements
The Harvard Project on Climate Agreements co-hosted, with the government of the State of Qatar, a special high-level event at the Eighteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-18) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Doha on December 6, 2012. The event was titled "After Doha: Balancing Adaptation, Mitigation, and Economic Development." Participants addressed, at a high level, the state of international climate regimes and prospects for progress over the next several years.
December 2012
"A WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East: Creating the Conditions for Sustained Progress"
Discussion Paper
By Martin B. Malin, Executive Director, Project on Managing the Atom and Paolo Foradori, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
How can the states of the Middle East begin to create the political conditions for achieving sustained progress toward the elimination of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons? This paper examines the challenges and obstacles that the parties of the region will need to overcome to bring a WMD-free zone into force, and recommends near-term steps for improving regional security.
December 13, 2012
"As it Grows, Al Jazeera Risks Losing Touch"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"...[A]s the Arab Spring continues past a single season, Al Jazeera's very success is revealing some of its vulnerabilities. Its power has others wanting in on the action. As the movement towards democratic reform becomes more pervasive, the network's ownership by a conservative monarchy has become its Achilles' heel. The emir of Qatar recently placed a member of the royal family as director-general of news on Al Jazeera, a reminder to its staff of who pays the bills. In a region where conspiracy theories are rampant, the network's ownership makes it a target for reformers who feel it's mainly catering to the existing power structure."
