EGYPT
Jeannie Sowers
October 21, 2009
Damietta Mobilizes for Its Environment
Journal Article, 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.
AP Photo
August 19, 2009
"Riding an Old Path to Nowhere"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
Hosni Mubarak has sat in the White House for almost three decades stating that progress is being made towards a negotiated peace, and every time we sit through this spectacle it becomes less convincing, even just a little bit more childish.
June 5, 2009
"Obama’s Worthy Gesture"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
In his speech in Cairo, Barack Obama sought a new beginning, which we all badly need. So let's put away the Bible and Quran classes, hear from Arab, Iranian and Israeli leaders -- and get down to the tough business of forging better policies.
AP
March 6, 2009
War or Peace: President Obama’s Challenges in the Middle East
Speech
By R. Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics
The only way forward for the United States is to lead, but in a new way and with a new attitude.
AP Photo
January 23, 2009
"Good News in Washington Nuance"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
"Barack Obama's inaugural address, Hillary Clinton's confirmation testimony, George Mitchell's appointment, and Obama's remarks at the State Department are as good a start as we in the Arab world could expect from the new administration in Washington."
AP Photo
January 7, 2009
"Gaza's Impact on the Arab World"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
"As governments in existing Arab states effectively ignore what is happening in Gaza -- to judge by their political immobility -- we will continue to witness the weakening impact, control and even the legitimacy of many of those regimes. We will also continue to see the rise of non-state actors who become so strong and credible that they should be called parallel states."
AP Photo
December 30, 2008
"A Marginalized Region"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
A year-end analysis of the global status of the Arab world -- its problems and trends.
October 27, 2008
"Israeli Words or Actions?"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
"The Israeli expressions of interest in the Arab peace plan are hard to fathom in terms of their seriousness, motivation or intent."
October 1, 2008
"The Strange Failures of 'The Global War on Terror'"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
"Something is very wrong if the United States and allies are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on a global war on terror, but the main terror group targeted continues to operate, spawns many imitators and allies, and in most parts of the world is seen either to be holding its own against the United States or maintaining considerable public support or sympathy."
AP Photo
March 2008
"Six Ways Not to Deal with Hamas"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, Foreign Policy
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
How do you stop a foe whose tolerance for pain exceeds your willingness to inflict it?
Senior Fellow Chuck Freilich examines each of the alternatives.
