The International Crisis Group released a report yesterday detailing the problems which led to the revolutionary track of the Syrian people in recent months. The report states that while Syria hasn't endured a civil war like Libya and revolutionary protests haven't transpired as quickly as in Egypt and Tunisia, there has been a slow and steady rise in the people's discontent for the regime. Instead of recognizing a wide scale ...

A feature in Foreign Affairs details how attempts to repatriate laundered assets by deposed Arab regimes has "highlighted the inadequacy of current international efforts against corruption." Drawing from Switzerland's new law to maintain its reputation as a haven for legitimate financial assets, the author argues that "the United States and its allies should capitalize on such reputational sensitivities by promoting mutually enforced anticorruption standards and exposing those countries that fail to ...

On Tuesday, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a debate to be aired on BBC's The World Debate on U.S. foreign policy in response to the uprisings in the Middle East. Matt Frei, anchor for BBC's World News America moderated the event and introduced the following panelists: Marwan Muasher, Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment; Tamara Wittes, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of Near Eastern ...

Global Witness, an good governance advocacy group, obtained a leaked 2010 report of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), the country's sovereign wealth fund, which revealed that major Western banks held over $4 billion of Libyan state funds in various account types.  It notes that $19 billion were held in Middle Eastern banks, and billions more were invested in Western company stocks.  Because, citing the International Criminal Court, “Gaddafi makes no ...

Steve Coll, writing in The New Yorker, discusses the complexities associated with current U.S. policy towards Syria, in light of the recent uprisings.  Coll begins by noting that while many had hoped that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would be a reformer when he came to power, his actions over the years have proven otherwise and states that "American policy toward Syria presents mainly a record of failure."  U.S. pressure and ...

This week, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems released its new publication  "Guidelines for Understanding, Adjudicating, and Resolving Disputes in Elections (GUARDE)."  The paper hopes to educate readers on effective mechanisms for resolving election disputes and complaints through both formal and alternative resolution mechanisms. The report notes the importance international standards in adjudication of electoral complaints and discusses  legal frameworks for effective election complaints adjudication systems and offers case studies ...

On Thursday,  Amnesty International published a report on the killings, detentions, and torture that took place during the January 25 revolution.  The 123-page report details violent acts committed by security forces in dispersing peaceful demonstrators, including the use of tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, and live ammunition.  Few in the Egyptian government now dispute the facts listed in the report, but Amnesty stresses that much more must be done ...

In a new Carnegie Paper, Marwan Muasher discusses failed attempts to implement political reform in Jordan over the last decade.   Muasher argues that King Abdullah II's numerous attempts to launch political reform initiatives, since assuming the throne in 1999, have been "thwarted by a resilient class of political elites and bureaucrats" originally created by the regime to protect itself.  He highlights, in particular, elite resistance to the  Jordanian National Agenda, ...

On Tuesday, the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Forum hosted a discussion on what lessons from South Africa and Indonesia can be applied to the political transitions in the Middle East and North Africa.  Leena El-Ali, Director of the Muslim-Western Relations and the Middle East and North Africa Programs at Search for Common Ground, who moderated the event, made opening remarks and introduced the following panelists: Endy Bayuni, Visiting Fellow at ...

During a Policy Forum at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy, chair of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at Sciences Po Giles Kepel and Dr. Martin Kramer, the Washington Institute's Wexler Fromer fellow discussed the future of the Arab uprisings.  Kepel pointed tothe Arab people's economic grievances, frustrations over rampant corruption and the expiration of the Islamist threat as reasons for the revolution.  He also noted the differences between the Tunisian ...

On Tuesday, the Center for International Media Assistance at the National Endowment for Democracy and the Congressional Caucus for Freedom of the Press held a panel discussion on the challenges facing press freedom in the 21st Century.  Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy made opening remarks while  David Killion, U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO moderated the event and introduced the following panelists:  Assistant Secretary  at the Bureau of ...

Former Egyptian Interior Minister Habib al-Adly has been sentenced by an Egyptian court to 12 years in prison on money laundering and profiteering charges.  The judge in the case ordered al-Adly to return $2.3 million he had received in illegal kickbacks in the three months up to the revolution.  He also ordered $700,000 from an illegal land sale deal to be confiscated from al-Adly as well.  Al-Adly will return to ...

In remarks made at a World Press Freedom Day event, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale lauded the work journalists have done in the "pursuit of truth" and discussed the importance of protecting press freedom.  McHale discussed her recent trip to Tunisia where activists and citizens "are embracing the blessings of a free press, of freedom of association, and of free expression as vital components of an ...

Writing in the New York Times, Roger Cohen stated "Osama Bin Laden is dead -- and so is an old Middle East" and noted that the recent events in the Middle East demonstrate how the al-Qaeda leader had lost touch with Arab youth who have "move irrelevant....Facebook and Twitter turned out to be far more effective agents of change than any 'martyrdom' attack on apostates, crusaders and Zionists – the ...

On Friday, protesters in Oman continued their sit-ins in the southern towns of Salalah and Sur.  Nearly 1500 people took place in the rally in Salalah, during which protesters called for freedom of expression and greater reform following the blockade of sites by local telecom operators.  Demonstrators have also demanded a probe into corruption by high level officials.  Protests in Oman began in January and led to Sultan Qaboos Bin ...