POMED Notes: “The Role of New Media in Promoting Reform in the Middle East: The Case of Lebanon”
March 5th, 2010 by Josh
The Project on Middle East Democracy and the Safadi Foundation USA hosted an event to discuss the implications of “connection technologies” for U.S. foreign policy. The year 2009 witnessed an explosion of Internet-based activism in the political cultures of the Middle East. The Use of information and communication technology (ICT) has been a transformative tool in strengthening civil society and expanding the outreach of independent voices. What types of U.S. assistance are needed to empower young reformers committed to non-sectarian politics? What is the role of ICT in promoting inter-faith dialogue and peace building? To answer things questions, Mona Yacoubian, Director of the Lebanon Working Group at USIP, moderated a discussion featuring Jared Cohen, a member of Secretary Clinton’s Policy Planning Staff at the Department of State. Elias Muhanna, the other expected panelist and publisher of the widely-read blog www.qifanabki.com, was unable to attend due to the recent birth of his daughter.
For full notes in PDF, click here. Otherwise, continue reading below the fold.
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Posted in DC Event Notes, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, Hamas, Hezbollah, Lebanon, NGOs, Reform, Sectarianism, Technology, US foreign policy | 1 Comment »
POMED Notes: “U.S. Policies and Programs for Global Development: USAID and the FY 2011 Budget Request”
March 3rd, 2010 by Josh
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing this morning to address President Obama’s FY2011 budget request for global development and international aid. USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah provided testimony about particular goals and objectives for USAID moving forward, and answered the committee’s questions regarding a variety of development trends and projects.
For POMED’s notes in PDF, click here. Otherwise, continue below the fold.
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Posted in Afghanistan, Congressional Hearing Notes (House), Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, Hamas, Iraq, Palestine, US foreign policy | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Promoting Security through Diplomacy and Development: The Fiscal Year 2011 International Affairs”
February 26th, 2010 by Josh
In a hearing on the administration’s recently released budget request, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs invited Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to give testimony on particular budgetary items relating to U.S. diplomatic and development efforts abroad. Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) opened the hearing with an affirmation of the value of investing in international diplomacy; not only to promote American values, but also as a method of prevention in order to mitigate the forces that cause international instability. Berman pledged to work with his colleagues to maintain or even increase the overall level of funding – approximately 1 percent of the entire Fiscal Year 2011 federal budget request – but ranking Republican committee member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) disagreed, using the poor economic environment as the basis to call for “selective freezes.” In particular, she questioned the wisdom of unconditionally funding the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), both of which she accuses of stealing hundreds of millions in foreign aid.
Click here for POMED’s notes in PDF, or continue reading below.
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Posted in Afghanistan, Congressional Hearing Notes (House), Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Elections, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Hamas, Hezbollah, Human Rights, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Morocco, Multilateralism, Palestine, Protests, Sudan, Syria, US foreign policy, Western Sahara, Yemen, sanctions | 1 Comment »
POMED Notes: Foreign Policy Priorities in the President’s FY2011 International Affairs Budget
February 25th, 2010 by Chanan
The Senate Committee of Foreign Relations hosted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss the FY2011 International Affairs Budget for the Department of State. Senator John Kerry (D-MA), chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, commenced the hearing by thanking Secretary Clinton for her hard work and travels. Citing a range of issues from the need to fight HIV/AIDS to the importance of supporting diplomats in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, Kerry acknowledged that he “can’t think of a time in our history when we’ve had a greater need for energetic diplomacy to make the case for America globally.”
For POMED’s notes in PDF, click here. Otherwise, continue below the fold.
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Posted in Afghanistan, Congressional Hearing Notes (Senate), Egypt, Foreign Aid, Human Rights, Iran, Iraq, Oil, Saudi Arabia | 1 Comment »
POMED Notes: “Briefing on International Religious Freedom”
February 4th, 2010 by Josh
Congressman Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on International Operations, Human Rights, and Oversight, sponsored a public briefing to discuss the status and future of U.S. international religious freedom policy. Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, Senior Program Manager of Human Rights and Religious Freedom at Freedom House, moderated a panel of three speakers: Knox Thames, Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; Brian Grim, Senior Researcher at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life; and Thomas Farr, Senior Fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Congressman Joseph Cao (R-LA) joined briefing as well to ask a few questions of the panelists.
Click here for POMED’s notes in PDF, or continue reading below the fold.
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Posted in DC Event Notes, Diplomacy, Egypt, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Human Rights, US foreign policy | 1 Comment »
POMED Notes: “America and the Iranian Political Reform Movement: First, do No Harm”
February 3rd, 2010 by Josh
The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held a hearing to address the prospects of developing U.S. policy tools that will avoid harming Iran’s opposition movement. Four witnesses provided expert testimony: Geneive Abdo, Director of the Iran Program at The Century Foundation; Mehdi Khalaji, Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Fariborz Ghadar, Distinguished Scholar and Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and J. Scott Carpenter, Keston Family Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
For POMED’s notes in PDF, click here. Otherwise, continue below the fold.
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Posted in Congressional Hearing Notes (House), DC Event Notes, Democracy Promotion, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Islam and Democracy, Multilateralism, Protests, Reform, Technology, US foreign policy, sanctions | Comment »
Afghanistan: Reconciliation, Reintegration, & Mediation with the Taliban?
February 2nd, 2010 by Jessica
Following the Afghanistan conference in London, President Hamid Karzai returned to his country optimistic, as reported in an article for The Christian Science Monitor. Outcomes of the conference included an increase in governmental control of Western aid from 20% to 50% and NATO support for Taliban engagement, with $140 million pledged towards the dual goals of reconciliation and reintegration. The $140 million was announced by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as, “an international trust fund to finance this Afghan-led peace and reintegration program to provide an economic alternative to those who have none.” The fund is slated to provide Taliban fighters with jobs on the condition that they renounce extremism. The U.S. has pledged to support this approach as long as the aforementioned conditions are met, in addition to embracing democracy. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have also jointly agreed to fund debt relief from major creditors up to $1.6 billion dollars.
During the conference, President Karzai called on Saudi Arabia to help with Taliban reintegration efforts. Following the London conference, Karzai met with Saudi leaders in a bid for assistance with the Taliban. An article for the Huffington Post reports the conditions under which Saudi Arabia will act as an intermediary between the current Afghan government and the Taliban. The Saudi position was made clear by Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal at the London conference, “So long as the Taliban doesn’t stop providing shelter for terrorists and [Osama] bin Laden and end their contacts with them, I don’t think the negotiations will be positive or even able to achieve anything. They must tell us that they gave this up, and prove it of course.” While Karzai is amenable to discussions with the Taliban, he remains adamant in his decision to expel members of Al Qaeda from the reconciliation efforts, saying that terrorists have no role in the future of Afghanistan.
The Taliban are not without their own requirements for accepting Karzai’s invitation to begin negotiations, recently reiterating their demand for the withdrawal of foreign troops before peace talks begin. Additionally the Taliban have demanded that in return for peace talks mediated by Saudia Arabia, the U.S. must immediately halt plans to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. Karzai maintains that these conditions are unrealistic.
Posted in Afghanistan, Foreign Aid, Saudi Arabia, Taliban, United Nations, al-Qaeda | Comment »
Obama Administration Unsupportive of Middle East Democracy?
January 29th, 2010 by Jessica
Steven Stanek and Matt Bradley, in an article for The National, comment on the Obama Administration’s committment to democratic reform in the Middle East. Stanek and Bradley compare former President Bush’s approach of democracy promotion through the use of military force to President Obama’s more relaxed stance. The authors comment that democracy promotion is rarely mentioned by President Obama in discussions of foreign policy. They underscore this view by referring to recent cuts in funding for democracy promotion in Egypt and Jordan.
The article also quotes Marina Ottaway, director of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endownment for International Peace, as vocalizing disappointment, stating, “Certainly there has not been a lot of emphasis on democracy promotion.” Ottaway recommends that the president engage the Arab countries in discussions of political reforms and the best way to enact these reforms while respecting the culture of the region.
In her speech last month at Georgetown Univeristy, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the Administration’s approach to democracy promtion as one of of “principled pragmatism,” utilizing tatics that reflect the “realities on the ground.” While strong statements have been made by various members of the administration, Stanek and Bradley report, other parties are concerned that U.S. strategic aims will overshadow moral and ideological considerations.
In another article for The National, foreign correspondent Matt Bradley explores the ramifications of President Obama’s budget cuts to funds earmarked to support democracy in Egypt in Fiscal Year 2010. He reports that such cuts will remove programs aimed at teaching people from smaller impoverished towns, many of them women, the importance of democracy. Citing POMED’s July 2009 report, Bradley states that proposed cuts will also most strongly affect those organizations that remain unregistered with the Egyptian government, an act that many speculate will prove detrimental to democracy promotion in the long run.
While the article does offer criticism, there are those who voice support of Obama’s policy agenda. Bradley quotes former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Richard Murphy as saying, “I think it’s the more realistic, pragmatic approach to say that there’s a limit to the number of friends we’ve got in this world, and let’s work with them and hope to inspire them with our own example.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Foreign Aid, Jordan, US foreign policy | 1 Comment »
POMED Report: “Strategies for Engaging Political Islam”
January 29th, 2010 by Josh
Political Islam is the single most active political force in the Middle East today. To offer insights into this critical issue, the Project on Middle East Democracy partnered with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung to bring together scholars and experts from the Middle East, the United States, and Europe. Moderated by Nathan Brown, Director of George Washington University’s Institute for Middle East Studies, guests discussed the topic “Strategies for Engaging Political Islam: A Middle East, U.S. and EU ‘Trialogue.’” Panelists included Ruheil Gharaibeh, Deputy Secretary-General of Jordan’s IAF; Mona Yacoubian, Special Adviser to the Muslim World Initiative at the United States Institute of Peace; Zoé Nautré, Visiting Fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations; and Shadi Hamid, former research director and current vice-chair of POMED’s Board of Directors, and also currently the Deputy Director of the Brookings Doha Center.
To read the full report, which draws upon the participants’ observations and recommendations, click here. Otherwise, continue reading below the fold.
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Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Elections, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Multilateralism, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Islam, Reform, Reports, US foreign policy | Comment »
Afghanistan: The London Conference Begins
January 28th, 2010 by Josh
The much anticipated London Conference got underway this morning, with delegations from more than 60 countries gathering to tackle issues of Afghan security, governance and development, and regional support.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown opened with remarks on the collaborative effort to bring Afghanistan greater stability and prosperity. To perhaps assuage concerns over the recent rise in troop levels, Brown affirmed that “the increase in our military efforts must be matched with governance and economic development — a political and civilian surge to match and complement the current military surge.” Along those lines, he announced an initiative to train “12,000 sub-national civil servants in core administrative functions in support of provincial and district governorships by the end of 2011.” He further noted significant increases in British and German foreign aid directed toward Afghan agriculture development and infrastructure.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai hailed the conference as an opportunity to develop an “Afghan‑led, Afghan‑owned initiative” that ensures peace and stability in Afghanistan. To achieve that goal, he advocated a six-point framework: 1) peace, reconciliation and reintegration; 2) security; 3) good governance; 4) fight against corruption; 5) economic development; and 6) regional cooperation.
Among the agreed-upon conference outcomes were: Targets for significant increases in the Afghan Army and Police Force supported by the international community; the establishment of an independent Office of High Oversight and an independent Monitoring and Evaluation Mission to tackle corruption; a civilian surge to match the military surge; and an enhanced sub-national government to improve delivery of basic services to all Afghans.
A full and comprehensive summary of the day’s discussions can be found here.
Posted in Afghanistan, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Multilateralism, Taliban | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Assessing ‘A New Way Forward’: One Year of the Obama Administration in the Middle East”
January 21st, 2010 by Josh
The Project on Middle East Democracy hosted an event to analyze President Obama’s first year in office and present ideas for a more substantive engagement in democracy promotion moving forward. In his inaugural address on January 20, 2009, President Barack Obama declared, “To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.” This vision of a “new way forward” became a theme of the Obama administration’s interactions with the Arab and Muslim world during its first year. President Obama further articulated this vision in his major speech in Cairo, in which he identified seven major challenges that the U.S. and the Muslim world must confront together: violent extremism, the Arab-Israeli conflict, nuclear nonproliferation, democracy, women’s rights, religious freedom, and economic development. Now, on the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s inauguration, we gather to assess the Obama administration’s first year and to examine further opportunities for the administration to implement its vision of a new beginning with the Arab and Muslim world.
POMED’s Executive Director Andrew Albertson provided opening remarks and introduced the keynote speaker, Senator Robert Casey, Jr (D-PA). Daniel Brumberg of the U.S. Institute of Peace then moderated a panel of six speakers, each of whom participated in one of POMED’s three regional conferences in Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan: Mohammad Azraq, 2010 Leaders for Democracy Fellow in Jordan; Karim Bayoud, Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections; Cole Bockenfeld, International Foundation for Electoral Systems; David Linfield, Fulbright Fellow in Jordan; Bassem Samir, Egyptian Democratic Academy; and Jessica O’Higgins, International Student Exchange Programs.
Albertson moderated the second panel, which consisted of: Adel Abdellatif, Arab States Bureau, UN Development Programme; Michele Dunne, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; and Steven Kull, Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA). Congressman Tom Perriello (D-VA) provided closing remarks.
For POMED’s notes in PDF, please click here. Otherwise, continue reading below the fold.
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Posted in DC Event Notes, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Elections, Foreign Aid, Human Rights, Islamist movements, Jordan, Kurds, Lebanon, Legislation, Political Parties, Public Opinion, Publications, Reform, sanctions | 1 Comment »
POMED Notes: “Freedom in the World 2010″
January 12th, 2010 by Josh
Freedom House hosted an event to coincide with the release of its report, “Freedom in the World 2010,” which marks the latest edition of Freedom House’s annual assessment of political and civil rights in every country throughout the world. In a year of intensified repression against democratic reformers, the state of freedom experienced a global erosion with major setbacks in Latin America, Africa, the former Soviet Union, and the Middle East. According to Freedom House, 2009 represents the fourth consecutive year in which setbacks have trumped gains, the longest pattern of decline in the nearly 40-year history of Freedom of the World. The event featured an in-depth discussion of the changes, trends, and important events relating to freedom and democracy in 2009 and the challenges those trends pose for American foreign policy.
For POMED’s notes in PDF, please click here. Otherwise, continue reading below the fold.
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Posted in DC Event Notes, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Iraq, Reform, US foreign policy | Comment »
Yemen: Will Further Diplomatic Engagement Reap Dividends?
January 11th, 2010 by Josh
A recent New York Times report highlights the challenges U.S. administration officials face when allocating foreign aid resources for Yemen. Though increasingly of strategic importance, Yemen’s comparatively modest share of the foreign aid pie “illustrates how much the United States is stretched on the foreign policy front, and how hard it is to extend its resources beyond the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The article quotes Edmund J. Hull, American ambassador to Yemen from 2001-2004, who expresses his frustration with current U.S. policy. “I don’t think we have a strategy for Yemen,” he says, “I think we have some responses.” Building upon this criticism, Micah Zenko of the Council on Foreign Relations asks “why more wasn’t done sooner,” a question the Times begins to address by pointing out the dearth of State Department Yemen experts relative to other regional countries. Hull surmises that U.S. policy-makers “took their eye off the ball,” resulting in a “reversal and downward trend in relations.” But administration officials may be cognizant of the limits of U.S. power, the Times notes, perhaps demonstrated by Secretary Clinton’s development speech last week (see our post here) in which she acknowledged the long odds for progress in states like Yemen.
In related news, Harper’s Magazine published an interview with Gregory Johnson – a former Fulbright Fellow in Yemen and currently a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton — in which he is asked to characterize the Obama administration’s policy toward Yemen. Though Johnson concedes that “there is a great deal that we don’t yet know” about the Obama administration’s approach, he laments the last few years of U.S. policy toward Yemen as “a dangerous mixture of ignorance and arrogance.” Expounding upon this critique, Johnson remarks that “U.S. diplomats in Yemen are mostly concerned with risk prevention—the idea that you want to avoid any risk whatsoever—rather than risk management, which means actually solving problems that create risk.” Like Edmund Hull, Johnson believes the U.S. “needs to come up with a strategy” that takes a more “multi-faced approach and a more nuanced approach” in order to help cultivate a more stable political environment.
Posted in Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, US foreign policy, Yemen | Comment »
Clinton: A Mutually Reinforcing Agenda
January 7th, 2010 by Josh
In a speech yesterday at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laid out the administration’s desire to seek a “a safer, more prosperous, more democratic and more equitable world.” However, the Secretary inextricably linked the prospects for third-world democratic reformation to the success or failure of economic development, asserting that “we cannot advance democracy and human rights when hunger and poverty threaten to undermine the good governance and rule of law needed to make those rights real.” The United States is compelled to pursue global development, according to Clinton, as a prerequisite to progress on multiple strategic fronts, which includes the strengthening of democratic institutions and governance. “Development, democracy, and human rights can and must be mutually reinforcing,” she said, “so those who care about making human rights a reality know that development is an integral part of that agenda.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Human Rights, US foreign policy | 2 Comments »
Egypt: Is Obama Prioritizing Democratic Reforms?
January 4th, 2010 by Josh
This morning, the Washington Post editorialized that President Obama and his foreign policy team lack a firm commitment toward democratic reforms in Egypt. The paper singled out comments by U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to argue that the Obama Administration, unlike its predecessor, “appears to have put democracy promotion in the region on a back burner.” The Post further laments the administration’s foreign aid budget priorities, noting that “funding for democracy programs in Egypt has been cut by 60 percent,” as detailed in POMED’s July report, The Federal Budget and Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2010.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Foreign Aid, Human Rights, Reform, Reports, US foreign policy | Comment »
Afghanistan: Who Will Head the U.N. Mission?
December 22nd, 2009 by Jason
Laura Rozen explores who will replace Kai Eide as the head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. She reports rumors that Swedish diplomat Staffan de Mistura is the “top contender” for the position and is an American favorite. At the same time, there are reports that French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner has expressed interest in the job, but other sources explain Kouchner is looking to serve as an E.U. envoy equivalent to Richard Holbrooke. In a follow up post, Rozen discusses the idea to have a “dual-hatted U.N./NATO chief in Afghanistan.”
Ann Friedman observes the difference in opinion between Afghan and U.S.-based women’s rights groups. While Afghan-based groups tend to call for an American withdrawal, U.S.-based groups believe that military intervention can be used to promote women’s rights. But for Friedman, “it doesn’t matter whether U.S. military intervention can be a force for humanitarianism because, in Afghanistan, it never has been and won’t become one.”
Max Boot responds to a video from Guardian films that “presents a dire picture of the Afghan National Army.” According to Boot, the video has been overblown because “we can’t expect many Third World militaries to meet the standards of the 21st century US. armed forces.” In short, “the Guardian clip presents a slice of reality, not all of reality. It should not be dismissed, nor should it be given the last word.”
M.J. Rosenberg of TPMCafe points to an Al Jazeera English video about the difficult choices U.S. soldiers face in delivering medical care to Afghan nationals. Finally, Doctors Without Borders lists Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen among its annual list of the year’s worst humanitarian crises.
Posted in Afghanistan, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Human Rights, Military, Taliban, US foreign policy, United Nations, Women | Comment »
AfPak: Corruption and Graft
December 18th, 2009 by Jason
Simon Tisdall argues corruption is a larger and more difficult problem than most people realize. He cites Lorenzo Delesgues of Integrity Watch who observes that some USAID programs lose up to 90 cents on the dollar to corruption and fraud.
Juan Cole relays several articles from Afghanistan translated by the USG Open source Center on economic development. Among many other topics, there are articles concerning a fatwa against poppies, the growing role of China, and obstacles to trade with Pakistan.
In addition, Cole discusses a recent travel ban on Pakistan’s interior minister due to charges of graft. While some analysts have fed into the “hysteria” of a coup, Cole interprets the development instead as “an outbreak of the civil rule of law.” He argues “the rule of law is more important for the structural integrity of Pakistani society and politics than the back door deals of the Musharrafs, Bushes, Rices, and Cheneys.”
However, Omar Waraich in Time calls the renewal of the corruption case against President Zardari “bad news” for the U.S.
Posted in Afghanistan, Foreign Aid, Judiciary, Military, Pakistan, Taliban, US foreign policy, United Nations | Comment »
Afghanistan: Delayed Troop Deployment
December 15th, 2009 by Jason
The Christian Science Monitor reports that all 30,000 troops of the Afghan surge will not finish deploying until November, several months after the initially announced timeline. President Obama is expected to conduct an evaluation of the new Afghan strategy that December, leaving only a month for the surge to take full effect.
In an op ed for the Telegraph, President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia explains why his country has decided to send nearly 1,000 troops to Afghanistan, although it is not yet a NATO member. As a nascent democracy that has had success battling corruption, Georgia has a lot of relevant experience to offer in Afghanistan, argues Saakashvili.
George McGovern asks “why do we send young Americans to risk life and limb on behalf of such worthless regimes?” Finally, Juan Cole highlights the increasing militarization of aid in Afghanistan.
Posted in Afghanistan, Foreign Aid, Military, Multilateralism, Taliban, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »
Secretary Clinton: Major Human Rights Speech at Georgetown
December 14th, 2009 by Jason
Secretary Clinton delivered an important address (PDF transcript) on the Obama administration’s approach to human rights today at Georgetown University.
Reinforcing the message of President Obama’s Nobel speech, Clinton affirmed “the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are not only the source of our strength and endurance, they are the birthright of every woman, man, and child on earth.” As such, Clinton defined America’s mission as “expanding the circle of rights and opportunities to all people - advancing their freedoms and possibilities.”
Furthermore, a just society must not only respect civil and political freedoms, but also protect its citizens from the “oppression of want - want of food, want of health, want of education, and want of equality in law and fact.” In fact, “democracies that deliver on rights, opportunities, and development for their people are stable, strong, and most likely to enable people to live up to their potential.” As such, Clinton asserted “supporting democracy and fostering development are cornerstones of our 21st century human rights agenda.”
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Posted in Afghanistan, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, EU, Egypt, Foreign Aid, Human Rights, Iran, Iraq, Journalism, Judiciary, Multilateralism, NGOs, Technology, US foreign policy, Uncategorized, United Nations, Women | 3 Comments »
POMED Notes: “Yemen Headlined: Contemporary Myths and Empirical Realities”
December 13th, 2009 by Jason
The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations hosted a panel discussion on the current political, economic, and security situation in Yemen. The panel participants included Ambassador Barbara Bodine of Princeton University, Dr. Christopher Boucek of the Carnegie Middle East Program, Gregory Johnsen of Princeton University, Ambassador James Larocco of the National Defense University, and Dr. Mustafa Alani of the Gulf Research Center. The National Council’s president Dr. John Duke Anthony moderated the event.
For POMED’s full version of the notes in PDF, please click here. Otherwise, keep reading below the fold.
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Posted in Congress, DC Event Notes, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Elections, Foreign Aid, Human Rights, Military, Oil, Saudi Arabia, US foreign policy, Yemen, al-Qaeda | Comment »
