On Tuesday, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a discussion titled hearing Palestine: Economic Challenges and Political Implications. The Palestinian economy made significant advances in recent years under Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s institution building program, yet questions remain regarding the sustainability of such progress in light of the ongoing, and seemingly long-lasting, diplomatic stalemate with Israel. The discussion featured Robert Danin, Eni Enrico Mattei Fello, Council on Foreign Relations; ...

Everette E. Dennis, dean of Northwestern University in Qatar,  published an article in the Huffington Post, expressing the need for a free and independent media to develop in Libya. Dennis writes that while Qaddafi left Libya with little societal infrastructure this has left a “blank slate,” and provides the Libyan people an opportunity to promote transparency and engage in “great debates that will shape their future” by building a free and independent ...

Amnesty International released (Arabic) its annual report charting the surge in executions carried out internationally in 2011. According to Foreign Policy, a surge in executions can be attributed to the Middle East, which saw a 50% in confirmed executions for the year 2011, bringing the total number to 558. Iraq saw an estimated 68 executions, Saudi realized 82 deaths, and Iran, the top-placer in the report, saw 360. The U.S. ...

On Friday, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University hosted the second day of its annual symposium, “The People want the fall of the Regime: The Arab Uprisings and the future of Arab Politics.” The second panel discussed “Yemen, Syria, and the Gulf States,” featuring presentations from Stacey Philbrick Yadav, director of the Middle Eastern Studies program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Bassam Haddad, Director of the ...

On Friday, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University hosted the second day of its annual symposium “The People want the fall of the Regime: The Arab Uprisings and the Future of Arab Politics.” The first panel featured discussed “Tunisia and Egypt” featuring presentations from Eric Gobe from the Centre national de La Recherche Scientifique, Dina Bishara from George Washington University, and Elliot Colla from Georgetown University. Judith ...

On Thursday, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University hosted the second panel of its two-day annual symposium “The People want the fall of the Regime: The Arab Uprisings and the future of Arab Politics.” The panel featured Mohammed Bamyeh, professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, and Asli Bali, professor of international law at the University of California Los Angeles. Osama Abi-Mershed of Georgetown University chaired ...

According to Barak Barfi, research fellow with the New America Foundation, the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) and its Executive Committee, lacking the political experience and qualified human capital, have been "hamstrung by several problems" which have obstructed the progress of transition in Libya. Questions have arose surrounding the council's "opaque decision-making" and member selection criteria, both of which, according to Barfi, have been a factor in the inability of the NTC to ...

FRIDE published a brief (English) discussing Algeria’s “deceptive quiet” during a period of revolution in the MENA region.  Algeria is due to hold parliamentary elections on May 10, and Senior Researcher Barah Mikail writes that the elections may “open the way for political change.” Mikail’s report (French) explains the “Algerian silence” from a historical perspective, the regression of the population toward the status quo of stability, and “shortcomings in European strategies. Security forces crushed ...

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon declared that Libyan authorities should investigate violations after U.N. report found both opposition and loyalist forces had committed war crimes during last years revolution. As the investigation was announced Ban Ki-Moon affirmed his support for the U.N. Support Mission of Libya to remain in the country as it deals with continued human rights abuses and a sensitive security situation. Reports of arbitrary arrests, vendetta attacks, and torture ...

In the biggest U.S. drone attack since newly elected Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi ascended to presidency, at least 25 al Qaeda-linked fighters were killed in Southern Yemen. Residents reported planes bombarding the Jebel Khanafar mountain regions which al Qaeda –linked militant captured and has controlled for over a year. The Islamist movement Ansar Al Shariah, an al-Qaeda afiilliate, has turned the police station in Azzan into its regional headquarters and claimed that the region would join ...

On Tuesday, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) hosted a panel addressing the challenges and issues that Yemen must address in order to successfully move forward into a democracy. The speakers were Elobaid Ahmed Elobaid, director of the U.N. Human Rights Training and Documentation Center for South West Asia and the Arab Region, Grant Kippen, the IFES chief of party for Yemen, and Ibrahim Sharqieh, deputy director of the ...

Jason Pack and Barak Bafi published a policy brief through the Washington Institute for Near East Policy discussing the ongoing struggle for power in a post-Qadhafi Libya. The paper discussed historical background of the conflict, current challenges and problems facing the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) and, suggested policies to rectify the current security issues. The authors argue the volatility that characterized post-Qadhafi Libya, which directly undermines the authority of the NTC,  is ...

Israel agreed to release alleged Islamic Jihad operative Khader Adnan who, at the onset of  his detention, began a hunger strike that he continued for 66 days--the longest hunger strike in Palestinian prisoner history. Adnan's legal representation reported that he had agreed to end the hunger strike after reaching an agreement with Israeli authorities guaranteeing his release in April, should "no new additional substantial evidence" emerge against him. Adnan, a baker by profession, is alleged to be ...

On Thursday, The House Committee on Foreign Affairs was in session in order to hear testimony from the presidents of the four American NGOs involved in the recent government raids in Egypt. Testimony was heard from the President of the International Republican Institute Lorne Craner, President of the National Democratic Institute Kenneth Wollack, President of Freedom House David Kramer, and President of the International Center for Journalists Joyce Barnathan.  Chairman ...

On Tuesday, The American University International Law Review hosted a symposium discussing “The Impact of the Arab Spring throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa: Building the Rule of Law and the Role of the International Community in Domestic Conflicts.” The fourth of a series of five consecutive panels addressed legal reforms and democratization in the wake of the Arab Spring. The panel featured Simon Adams, executive director of the ...

On Tuesday, The American University International Law Review hosted a symposium discussing “The Impact of the Arab Spring Throughout The Middle East and Northern Africa: Building the Rule of Law and the Role of the International Community in Domestic Conflicts.” The fourth of a series of five consecutive panels addressed legal reforms and democratization in the wake of the Arab Spring. The panel featured Rosa Brooks, professor at Georgetown University ...

On Tuesday, The American University International Law Review hosted a symposium discussing “The Impact of the Arab Spring Throughout The Middle East and Northern Africa: Building the Rule of Law and the Role of the International Community in Domestic Conflicts.” The second of a series of five consecutive panels addressed legal reforms and democratization in the wake of the Arab Spring. The panel featured Yussef Auf, Judge at the Supreme ...