Over the last several decades, the Arab world’s strategic utility to the U.S. remains a key pillar of U.S. foreign policy. U.S. policy toward the Arab region has been guided by a set of geostrategic priorities that have privileged authoritarian regimes over Arab citizen aspirations for democracy and economic dignity. Unfortunately, the normalized justifications for these policies continue to reinforce…
The pandemic caused a global surge in domestic violence. For victims with few options, abuse has become the new normal.
AMMAN, Jordan — By the time Umm Zeid caught the coronavirus in September, the Jordanian mother of three had spent 18 months losing a battle with what has become known as a shadow pandemic: domestic violence. Since the first wave of lockdowns, Umm Zeid has suffered in her small home in a city in northeast Jordan. In her 30s, she…
Iraqis opt for less religious strife
An election born of the 2019 protests reveals a distaste for religious-based parties and a preference for clean, secular rule. In the decade before the pandemic, social hostilities involving religion were on the decline around the world, according to the Pew Research Center. In the Middle East, a region long riven by religious strife, a 2019 poll by the Arab…
Kais Saied plans to transform Tunisia. It may go bust first
The president rules by decree as the economy seizes up Before he sent a tank to bar the doors of parliament, Kais Saied was a law professor who preached fealty to the constitution. It may seem a contradiction, but contradictions helped propel Mr Saied (pictured) to the Tunisian presidency in 2019. He was a populist with a patrician manner, a…
More violence, less income: Arab women bear the brunt of COVID-19, study finds
A new survey by Arab Barometer adds numbers to the narrative that COVID has led to a harsher reality for women in the Middle East and North Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic has turned Heba Mordaa’s life upside down. “Ever since the lockdowns started in March 2020, my work has been deteriorating,” the 29-year-old manicurist and mother of three in Beirut says. “At first,…
As Tunisia risks losing its democracy, the US takes a ‘wait and see’ approach
As Tunisia risks losing its democracy, the US is expressing concern about the country’s stability and political institutions but not taking any specific actions yet. It all depends on how things evolve in the coming days, writes Brooke Anderson. Over the weekend, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke with Tunisian President Kais Saied to express his support for the…
Tunisia’s democracy in the balance after president’s power grab
Tunisia’s decade-old democracy hangs in the balance after President Kais Saied removed the prime minister and suspended Parliament on Sunday. Why it matters: Tunisia was the lone democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring. It remains the only democracy in the Arab world. But the country’s politics have been deadlocked amid an economic crisis and its worst COVID-19 wave, leading…
Mofeed-19: Interview with Amaney Jamal, PhD.
The Program on Arab Reform and Democracy (ARD) at CDDRL, in partnership with the Arab Studies Institute, is pleased to announce the launch Mofeed-19, a 19-minute video podcast that discusses research efforts pertaining to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Arab world. The podcast is part of the Mofeed-19 Project, an initiative that builds foundational resources for understanding how…
Shifting Political, Economic and Social Trends in MENA Post-Covid19
Join Dr. Sahar Khamis and her two guests, Dr. Abdul-Wahab Kayyali and Ms. Salma Al-Shami, in her program “The Bridge” this Friday, June 25th, from 8 to 9 a.m. (EST), LIVE on “U.S. Arab Radio” and Facebook simultaneously, as they discuss a very timely and important topic, namely: the shifts in the political, economic, social and media landscapes in the MENA region (Middle East…
Is the Middle East on the mend?
It is unlikely to last, but it is hard to remember the last time the Middle East has been as calm, relatively speaking, as it is today. Consider where we were just over a year ago. Some 3 million displaced Syrians huddled together in Idlib province, the last rebel-held territory, as the world feared the humanitarian catastrophe likely to result…