Presented by the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) and
the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013
2:00 – 3:30 pm
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Choate Room
1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW

As Yemen’s political transition moves forward with the start of its National Dialogue, the country’s leaders continue to struggle with a humanitarian crisis, a foundering economy, and ongoing instability and violence. These challenges not only hamper Yemen’s transition, they also threaten key American interests: stability in the Arabian Peninsula, the disruption of terrorist networks, secure waterways, and the flow of oil. If the Obama administration is to foster a stable, secure, and sustainable partner in Yemen, it must move beyond its current counterterrorism approach and embrace a long-term strategy that prioritizes helping the Yemeni government address the very factors that allow extremist ideology and instability to spread: the absence of basic social services, a worsening food shortage, and chronic unemployment. The U.S. government has made some positive changes in the last four years, but more can and must be done to set U.S.policy on the right course.

The Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and the Project on Middle East Democracy lead the Yemen Policy Initiative, which calls on the Obama administration to reevaluate U.S. policy in Yemen and to prioritize long-term investments in political, economic, and human development in order to promote stability in Yemen and protect US security interests. At the event, the initiative will release a letter to President Obama outlining policy recommendations, with support from a diverse group of foreign policy experts including former diplomats, analysts, and journalists.

Please join us for a discussion of these issues with:
Hafez al Bukari
Director
Yemen Polling Center
Steven Heydemann
Senior Adviser for Middle East Initiatives
U.S. Institute of Peace
Danya Greenfield
Deputy Director, Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
Atlantic Council

Moderator: Stephen McInerney
Executive Director,
Project on Middle East Democracy

For a written summary of the event from the POMED Wire, click here.