POMED's Weekly Wire for April 9 is now available. This week's edition includes the following top stories: Legislation - There was no relevant legislation introduced this week Committee Hearings - There were no relevant committee hearings this week From Washington - Officials debated the strength of Assad’s regime and his adherence to the April 10 deadline to withdraw security forces From the Middle East - Human rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja’s health enters a critical phase ...

On Wednesday, The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies hosted Mohamed Younis, senior analyst at the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, to discuss Gallup’s research In Egypt since the resignation of President Mubarak in February 2011. The discussion focused on Younis’ recent publication in the Turkish Policy Quarterly on the role of Turkey in the region and the potential influence it can have on the process of democratization in ...

POMED's Weekly Wire for April 2nd is now available. This week's edition includes the following highlights: Legislation - Senators introduced a bill condemning mass atrocities in Syria Committee Hearings - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on Iran From Washington - Analysts criticized the closure of NGOs in U.A.E. and linked the decision to the recent U.S. waiver on Egypt’s military aid conditions From the Middle East - Opposition parties and human rights organizations refuted government ...

On Wednesday, the Consensus For Development Reforms and Modernization Foreign Assistance Network hosted a discussion titled Palestine: the Bush Administration’ Legacy on Global Development: Lessons for the Next Decade and Beyond.  The panelists assessed the foreign assistance policy under President George W. Bush, the reform in this sector how it has impact the aid philosophy and policy. The discussion featured Ambassador John Danilovich, former CEO, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Ambassador ...

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing on U.S. foreign policy options pertaining to Iran. The speakers were the Honorable Thomas R. Pickering, former under Secretary of State for political affairs and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, General James E. Cartwright, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Mr. Karim Sadjadpour, senior associate at the Middle East Program Carnegie Endowment for International ...

On Wednesday, The Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) and the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East co-hosted a panel discussion focused on Egypt’s ongoing transition and U.S. policy options. The panel featured Shana Marshall, research fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Maikel Nabil, an Egyptian blogger and activist, and Michele Dunne, Director of the Hariri Middle East Center at the Atlantic Council. For the ...

POMED's Weekly Wire for March 26 is now available. This week's edition includes the following top stories: Legislation - Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) signed onto the Bahrain Arms Sale Resolution Committee Hearings - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a nomination hearing for ambassadors to Libya and Tunisia From Washington - Secretary Clinton waives conditions on Egypt’s military assistance From the Middle East - Bahrain’s government and opposition disagree on the progress of reforms In Case You Missed It - ...

On Thursday, the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University hosted a discussion entitled ‘The Rise of Islamist Parties in the New Middle East’. The panel featured Dr. Jocelyne Cesari, Director of the Harvard Islam in the West Program and Dr. Nathan Brown, professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Aaron Lobel, President of America Abroad ...

On Thursday, the Center for Contemporary Arabic Studies (CCAS) at Georgetown University held its 2012 Annual Symposium, titled “The People Want the Fall of the Regime: The Arab Uprisings and the Future of Arab Politics.” The panel titled “Economics, Youth, and Technology in the ‘Arab Spring’” featured Joel Beinin of Stanford University, Adel Iskandar of Georgetown University, and Marwan M. Kraidy of the University of Pennsylvania and the American University ...

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 ...

On Thursday, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University hosted the first 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 Professor Lisa Wedeen of the University of Chicago, Professor Eva Bellin of Brandeis University, and Joseph Sassoon of Georgetown University. The panelist discussed authoritarian politics in the Arab world, addressing ...

On Wednesday, the Middle East Institute hosted a discussion on the impact of the elections on the future of Iran's nuclear program, and the outlook for the forthcoming negotiations aimed at de-escalating U.S.-Iranian tensions. The speakers were Seyed Aliakbar Mousavi, a visiting fellow at the University of Maryland and former Member of Parliament in the 6th Parliament of Iran, and Geneive Abdo, the director of the Iran Program at The ...

On Tuesday, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings hosted members of the U.N. Human Rights independent international Commission of Inquiry for Syria to discuss the findings of their recently released report. Paulo Pinhiero, the chairman of the commission, along with commissioners Yakin Erturk and Karen AbuZayd provided an overview of their investigation and described the current human rights situation in Syria. Senior Brookings Fellow Ted Piccone, deputy ...

On Wednesday, the Reserve Officers Association, in conjunction with the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), hosted an event examining Iran, Syria, and the ramifications that their relationship has for U.S. regional strategy. The event featured Jay Solomon, foreign affairs correspondent of the Wall Street Journal, and Daniel Brumberg, USIP’s senior adviser in the Center for Conflict Management. The event was moderated by Steven Heydeman, the senior adviser for Middle East ...

On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs conducted a hearing assessing the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) budget priorities in fiscal year 2013. The witness was the Honorable Rajiv Shah, administrator to USAID. Ilena Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) presided over the committee. For full event notes, continue reading below or click here for the PDF Ilena Ros-Lehtinen opened the hearing, saying that over the last year not much has changed ...

On Monday, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings hosted a discussion on U.S. policy options in Syria. Panelists included Senior Fellow Daniel Byman, director of research for the Saban Center For Middle East Policy; Senior Fellow Michael Doran; Senior Fellow Kenneth Pollack; and Fellow Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center who appeared live from Doha Via video feed. Senior Fellow Tamara Cofman Wittes moderated the ...

POMED's Weekly Wire for March 19 is now available. This week's edition includes coverage of the following highlights: Legislation - Senator Wyden (D-OR) introduced a bill to condemn violence against journalists in Syria From Washington - Experts debated diplomatic and military options in Syria From the Middle East - Egypt opened registration for presidential candidates In Case You Missed It - The Middle East Institute examined Russian support for Syria To read the full Weekly Wire, click here.  

On Friday, the Brookings Institution hosted a panel discussion on the prospects of US-Egypt relations. Discussants included Shadi Hamid, Director of Research at the Brookings Doha Center, Khaled Elgindy, Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Tamara Cofman Wittes, Director of the Brookings Saban Center for Middle East Policy. Daniel Byman, Director of Research at the Saban Center, moderated the discussion. For the full text of the event notes, continue reading ...