POMED Notes: Who Will the Millennium Challenge Corporation Choose?
December 4th, 2008 by Tariq
On Tuesday December 2nd, the Center for Global Development’s Senior Fellow Steve Radelet held a talk entitled, “Which Countries Will the Millennium Challenge Corporation Choose for Fiscal Year 2009?” As the title suggests, Radelet used the same criteria the MCC uses to come up with a list of likely selection candidates. The Millennium Challenge Corporation will make the official decision on December 11th, 2008.
In his opinion, the following countries will be selected: Jordan, Morocco, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Honduras, Lesotho, Malawi, Moldova, Mongolia, Senegal, Tanzania, Indonesia, Zambia, Benin, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Philippines, Timor-Leste, Armenia, El Salvador, Georgia, Namibia, Vanuatu, and possibly Colombia.
For POMED’s notes on this event, click here.
Posted in Foreign Aid, Jordan, Morocco, US foreign policy | Comment »
Introducing POMED’s Country Pages
October 29th, 2008 by Stephen
If you haven’t already seen them, be sure to check out the new country pages here on POMED’s website. POMED’s research team has assembled a valuable collection of resources organized by country. For now, there are POMED country pages for five countries of the region: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Turkey. There will be more pages covering additional countries soon to come. Each page contains essential background information on the country, links to a variety of reports and resources in both English and the local language (Arabic or Turkish), as well as a POMED country backgrounder paper covering the state of government, political reform, opposition groups, and U.S. policy and assistance toward the particular country. In addition, each page contains the latest updates on recent developments in the country in question, updated daily. We hope these pages will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in following political developments and the state of reform in these countries, and we look forward to expanding the project to cover many other countries of the region.
Posted in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, POMED, Publications, Turkey | Comment »
Arab Reform Bulletin Update
October 9th, 2008 by Jason
Carnegie’s Arab Reform Bulletin has a new update out, and as usual it’s full of excellent material. Presidential succession in Palestine; Tzipi Livni’s coalition-building prospects.
Amaney Jamal and Mark Tessler analyze data from an extensive new survey on Arab views of U.S. democracy promotion efforts. They find that the rise of anti-Americanism in the region has not undermined Arab popular support for democracy.
Also, POMED Director of Research Shadi Hamid writes about the Muslim Brotherhood of Jordan and its surprising improved relationship with the regime of late.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Elections, Israel, Jordan, Palestine | Comment »
Torture in Jordan
October 8th, 2008 by Jason
A new report by Human Rights Watch states that torture continues to be “routine and widespread” in Jordanian jails, even two years after King Abdullah called for reforms to stop it once and for all. Thought torture was criminalized last year, few if any cases have been prosecuted. The report calls for nations which provide aid to Jordan to condition part of their assistance on the establishment of investigation and prosecution mechanisms.
Posted in Human Rights, Jordan | Comment »
Peace and Reform in the ‘Arab Center’
September 15th, 2008 by Jason
In the Daily Star, Rami Khouri reviews Marwan Muasher’s new book The Arab Center: The Promise of Moderation. Muasher writes about the two core failures of the Arab ‘center’ (Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia) this decade: to successfully engage the U.S. and Israel in making peace; and successfully undertaking Arab political, economic, and social reform. Khouri echoes Muasher’s call for peace and reform to move forward together, with consistent and sustained support from the U.S.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Jordan, Reform, Saudi Arabia, US foreign policy | Comment »
‘Islamic Democracy’ in the Arab World
September 12th, 2008 by Jason
Der Spiegel has an in-depth look at the current state of democracy in the Arab world. The 7-part series surveys Kuwait, Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, and the Gulf, as well as analyzes the history of the fusion between Islam and democracy.
The authors reject the notion that democracy is somehow incompatible with Islam or Arab culture, and they conclude that “giving the peoples of the Islamic world a voice in shaping their own destinies will help make their lives easier, the region more predictable, and the West more secure.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Gulf, Islam and Democracy, Jordan, Kuwait, Political Islam, Tunisia, Turkey | Comment »
The Jordan/Hamas Detente
September 2nd, 2008 by Jason
Saad Hattar at Bitterlemons cogently analyzes the impact and timing of Jordan’s recent rapprochement with Hamas. He argues that the combination of lame-duck administrations in Washington and Israel, and Mahmoud Abbas’s perennial fragility atop Fatah, has led Amman to strengthen diplomatic and security ties with Hamas, and even to consider resurrecting the old notion of the ‘Jordan option’ if prospects for a Palestinian state continue to dwindle.
Posted in Hamas, Israel, Jordan, Mideast Peace Plan, Palestine, Political Islam | Comment »
Signaling New Changes in the Region
August 25th, 2008 by Sarah
Rami Khouri in The Daily Star argues that the recent talks between Jordan’s Intelligence and Hamas signal that both sides are “making preliminary moves to adjust to changing circumstances.” Resuming normal relations with Hamas is a dramatic change in Jordan policy and “may also hint at underlying changes in Palestine and in the Hamas-Syrian-Hizbullah-Iran camp.”
Posted in Diplomacy, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Jordan, Syria | Comment »
Iraq and Regional Diplomacy
August 18th, 2008 by Adam
Ben Lowenberg and Rami Hassan at the Center for American Progress have a good analysis of the regional implications of the visit to Iraq by King Abdullah of Jordan. The two authors see this trip as beneficial to Iraq’s regional standing, as “It is in Iraq’s interest to see this type of diplomatic engagement with its neighbors increase—support from its neighbors will be necessary to build on the recent declines in violence in Iraq and help stabilize the region.” They also say the U.S. can help reintegrate Iraq into the region’s power structure by using its leverage with the GCC states to get them to work with Iraq more closely.
In a further sign of Iraq’s warming ties with the rest of the region, it was announced that Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora will visit Iraq this week for diplomatic and economic talks.
Posted in Diplomacy, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon | Comment »
