POMED Notes: “Subcommittee on Middle East and North Africa Hearing: Elections in Iran: The Regime Cementing its Control”
On Tuesday, June 18, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing titled “Elections in Iran: The Regime Cementing its Control.” Mr. Alireza Nader, Senior International Policy Analyst at RAND Corporation, Dr. Suzanne Maloney, Senior Fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, and Mr. Karim Sadjadpour, Senior Associate at the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, testified. The subcommittee’s ...
June 19, 2013
Category: Committee Meetings, Congress, Congressional Hearing Notes (House), Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Elections, Human Rights, Iran, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Israel, Reform, Saudi Arabia, Secularism, Syria, UN Security Council, US foreign policy, US politics, Women, Youth
POMED Notes: “Turkey and the Arab Spring”
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosted a panel on Thursday, June 13, 2013 from 3-5pm on Turkey’s role in and response to the Arab Spring protests, political transitions, and revolutions. The panel was hosted by Christian Ostermann, director of the History and Public Policy Program (HAPP) and the director of the European Studies (ES) program at the Wilson Center, and featured Bülent Aras, Chairman of the Turkish Foreign ...
June 17, 2013
Category: Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Economics, Egypt, EU, Event Notes, Gulf, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kurdish Region, Libya, Political transition, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey
“U.S. Strategy in the Middle East: An Address by Senator John McCain”
At an event hosted by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution on June 6, 2013 at 2:15pm, Senator John McCain gave his first public remarks on the conflict in Syria and his thoughts on wider Middle East policy for the first time since he visited Syria last month. Brookings Institution Vice President and Director for Foreign Police Martin Indyk provided introductory remarks and Senior Foreign ...
June 7, 2013
Category: al-Qaeda, Civil-Military Relations, Conflict, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Foreign Aid, Hezbollah, Iran, Islamist movements, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, NATO, Palestine, Political Islam, Political transition, Sectarianism, Secularism, Syria, Turkey, UAE, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: “Subcommittee on Middle East and North Africa Hearing: A Crisis Mismanaged: Obama’s Failed Syria Policy”
On Tuesday, June 5, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing titled “Obama’s Failed Syria Policy.” Mr. Tony Badran, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Ms. Danielle Pletka, Vice President of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and Dr. Jon Alterman, Director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, testified. The committee’s chairman, Rep. ...
June 6, 2013
Category: al-Qaeda, Civil-Military Relations, Conflict, Congress, Congressional Hearing Notes (House), Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Foreign Aid, Gulf, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Islamist movements, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, NATO, Palestine, Political Islam, Protests, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Uncategorized, US foreign policy, US politics
POMED Notes: “The Middle East and North Africa FY 2014 Budget: Priorities and Challenges”
On Wednesday, May 22, 2013, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa held a hearing to discuss the FY 2014 budget with regards to the Middle East and North Africa. The Honorable Beth Jones, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, and Alina Romanowski, Acting Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of the Middle East at the U.S. Agency ...
May 28, 2013
Category: Civil Society, Congress, Congressional Hearing Notes (House), Egypt, Foreign Aid, Iran, Iraq, Israel, NGOs, Palestine, Political transition, Reform, Syria, US foreign policy, US politics
Sec. Kerry to Travel to the Middle East
From May 21 to May 27, Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to the Middle East. His visit will begin in Oman, and then he will move to Jordan, Israel, the West Bank. In Jordan, Kerry will ...
POMED Notes: “Turkey’s Troubled Politics: Rising Influence and Eroding Freedoms”
On Friday, April 26th, the Project on Middle East Democracy held an event titled “Turkey's Troubled Politics: Rising Influence and Eroding Freedoms.” It featured Howard Eissenstat, Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern History at St. Lawrence University, and Yigal Schleifer, an independent journalist, analyst, and author of The Turko-file. Susan Corke, Director for Eurasia Programs at Freedom House, moderated. For full event notes continue reading, or click here for a PDF. Susan Corke opened the ...
April 26, 2013
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Category: Civil Liberties, EU, Israel, Journalism, Kurdish Region, Reform, Syria, Turkey, US foreign policy
State Department Human Rights Country Report: Israel/Occupied Territories
The State Department's annual human rights report on Israel and the occupied territories focused their findings on Israel and Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and had an annex to the report for their findings on the occupied territories including areas subject to ...
April 26, 2013
Category: Civil Liberties, Featured, Human Rights, Israel, Palestine, US foreign policy
Reps Introduce Bill Promoting Palestinian Leadership
Congressmen Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL) introduced a resolution in Congress to prevent a takeover of the Palestinian Authority by Hamas and to promote responsible Palestinian leadership. The bill urges President Mahmoud Abbas to prevent a ...
POMED Notes – FY14 Department of State Budget Hearing
The United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs questioned Secretary of State John Kerry at the FY14 Department of State Budget Hearing on Thursday. Subcommittee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) presided. For full event notes continue reading or click here for the PDF. In Senator Leahy's opening statement, submitted for the record, he said that, "We do not want a Democratic foreign policy or a Republican ...
April 21, 2013
Category: Civil Society, Congress, Congressional Hearing Notes (Senate), Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Foreign Aid, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Reform, Syria, US foreign policy
Kerry Discusses Syria and Peace Process During Visit
Secretary of State John Kerry visited Turkey, the West Bank, and Israel this weekend. It is his third visit to the region since taking office in February. While in Istanbul, Kerry urged Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to ...
PKK Leader Orders Ceasefire; Turkey, Israel Normalize Relations
The imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, called on Thursday for a truce in its decades-long insurgency in southeast Turkey. He also urged the group's militants to withdraw from Turkey. His statement was received with cheers at ...
POMED Notes: “U.S. Policy in the Middle East on the Eve of President Obama’s Trip”
The Center for American Progress held an event on Tuesday, March 19th, titled “U.S. Policy in the Middle East on the Eve of President Obama’s Trip.” It featured a keynote address by Sandy Berger, chair of the Albright Stonebridge Group and former National Security Advisor, and a panel discussion including Berger and Rudy deLeon, Senior Vice President for National Security and International Policy, Center for American Progress; Martin Indyk, Vice ...
POMED Notes: “Obama to the Middle East: Implications and Expectations”
Ahead of President Obama's upcoming trip to Israel and Jordan, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy held a policy forum titled "Obama to the Middle East: Implications and Expectations" on Tuesday, March 18, 2013. It featured Ambassador Dennis Ross, Counselor to the Washington Institute and former National Security Council member under President Obama, Michael Singh, Managing Director at the Washington Institute, and David Makovsky, Director of Project on the ...
March 18, 2013
Category: Diplomacy, Egypt, Human Rights, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Syria, US foreign policy
Bail Denied for Palestinian Hunger Striker
Palestinian hunger striker and Israeli prisoner Samer Issawi appeared before an Israeli court on Tuesday and was ultimately denied a release on bail. Issawi, who has refused food for 211 days, has now appeared before the court three times regarding his release and each ...
POMED Notes: Confirmation Hearing for Secretary of Defense Nominee Chuck Hagel
On Thursday, January 31, 2013 the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services conducted a confirmation hearing on the expected nomination of Charles T. Hagel to be Secretary of Defense. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) presided. Continue reading for full notes, or click here for the PDF.Senator Carl Levin opened the hearing by welcoming Senator Hagel and noting that if confirmed, he would become the first former enlisted man and the first veteran of the ...
Israel Boycotts U.N. Human Rights Council Review
On Tuesday, Israel became the first country to ever boycott its U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) review. The council requires all U.N. member states to participate in a Universal Periodic Review every four years. Israel did not attend its scheduled ...
POMED Notes: “Elections in Israel”
The Project on Middle East Political Science sponsored a panel discussion entitled “Elections in Israel” on Thursday (1/24). Moderated by Dr. Marc Lynch of George Washington University, the event featured four professors: Ilan Peleg of Lafayette College, Yoram Peri of the University of Maryland, Jonathan Rynhold of George Washington University, and Gershon Shafir of the University of California-San Diego. For full event notes continue reading, or click here for the PDF. Speaking first, ...
Democratic Leadership on House Foreign Affairs Finalized
Representative Ted Deutch (D-FL) won the ranking member spot on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa in an unexpected maneuver on Tuesday. Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA), the third ranking Democrat on the committee, ...
January 17, 2013
Category: Congress, Featured, Iran, Israel, Uncategorized, US foreign policy, US politics