Middle East and North Africa
Tunisia's Jebali on Traumas of Transition
Jun 19, 2013
Hamadi Jebali was Tunisia’s first prime minister after the 2011 Jasmine Revolution. Often compared to Nelson Mandela, he spent 17 years in prison for his involvement with the Islamist Ennahda movement. Jebali reflects on post-revolution achievements and failures and future challenges in two interviews and a public appearance. more
Iran Election Update
Jun 18, 2013
The Middle East Program offers the latest news on the Iranian presidential election of June 2013, based on a selection of Iranian news sources. The Iran Election Update is a daily summary of up-to-date information with links to news in both English and Farsi. It includes the latest developments and analysis of news about the upcoming election. more
Iran’s Surprising Election: Has the Reform Movement Been Reborn?
Jun 17, 2013
With just about everyone expecting the need for a runoff, it came as a significant surprise when moderate presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani captured more than 50 percent of the vote. A late surge of enthusiasm and some key endorsements gave Rouhani the victory and seems to have given new life to Iran’s reform movement. Haleh Esfandiari, the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program Director, provides context. more
Tunisia's Jebali on Traumas of Transition
Jun 19, 2013Hamadi Jebali was Tunisia’s first prime minister after the 2011 Jasmine Revolution. Often compared to Nelson Mandela, he spent 17 years in prison for his involvement with the Islamist Ennahda movement. Jebali reflects on post-revolution achievements and failures and future challenges in two interviews and a public appearance.
Iran Election Update
Jun 18, 2013The Middle East Program offers the latest news on the Iranian presidential election of June 2013, based on a selection of Iranian news sources. The Iran Election Update is a daily summary of up-to-date information with links to news in both English and Farsi. It includes the latest developments and analysis of news about the upcoming election.
Iran’s Surprising Election: Has the Reform Movement Been Reborn?
Jun 17, 2013With just about everyone expecting the need for a runoff, it came as a significant surprise when moderate presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani captured more than 50 percent of the vote. A late surge of enthusiasm and some key endorsements gave Rouhani the victory and seems to have given new life to Iran’s reform movement. Haleh Esfandiari, the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program Director, provides context.
Change May Be Greater Than Anyone Expected
Jun 17, 2013By choosing the candidate least identified with the recent policies of the ruling system, a majority sent a strong message to the Supreme Leader and the regime, writes Haleh Esfandiari, in the New York Time's "Room for Debate" section.
Vision, Innovation, and Action to Address Child Marriage
June 17, 2013 // 2:00pm — 4:30pm
Over the past decade, nearly 58 million girls were married before the age of 18. Child marriage is a truly global problem: In Africa, 42 percent of girls are married before turning 18, but it is also prevalent in parts of Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (in South Asia, for instance, 46 percent of girls are married). Child brides often start childbearing early, leading to complications and producing high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality among girls in developing countries. Married girls are often forced to leave school, negatively affecting their ability to work and provide for their families. The panelists will describe current policies and programs working to support young women and delay marriage whenever possible.
The Future of Religious Minorities in the Middle East
June 17, 2013 // 2:00pm — 4:00pm
Turkey and the Arab Spring
June 13, 2013 // 3:00pm — 5:00pm
Members of the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s Strategic Research Center will discuss Turkish Foreign Policy in the Middle East in the context of the Arab Spring. They will try to shed light on the factors that influenced Turkey's response to the democratic uprisings of the last three years, with special emphasis on the Syrian case. The Strategic Research Center is the Ministry's in-house think-tank to establish channels of communication between policy makers and the academic and research community. It also works as a consultative body to provide foreign policy decision makers with scholarly assessments of relevant issues and reviews Turkish foreign policy with a future perspective.
Rouhani's Surprising Election
Hassan Rouhani’s surprising first round victory in the presidential elections represents a significant shift in the Iranian political landscape. In a field of candidates dominated by conservatives, Rouhani ran as a moderate. He questioned the necessity of the expanding security state and the constant oversight of student and civil society associations by the security agencies. He spoke of the need for greater freedom of press and speech, and devoted attention to women’s rights issues. Whether he will succeed, or whether he will initiate a change of direction only to be blocked by yet another rightwing backlash, remains to be seen.
Morocco: “Advanced Decentralization” Meets the Sahara Autonomy Initiative
The pace of reform in Morocco has been extremely slow since the enacting of the new constitution. Yet, buried in the maze of reports and studies that accompany any change in Morocco, a significant development is taking place: the program of “advanced regionalization” promoted by the king is transforming the 2007 proposal to grant a degree of autonomy to the Western Sahara into a one-size-fits-all system in which all Moroccan regions would enjoy more self-government, with the Western Sahara treated like any other region.
Backdraft: The Conflict Potential of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation
Amid the growing number of reports warning that climate change threatens security, one potentially dangerous – but counterintuitive – dimension has been largely ignored. Could efforts to reduce our carbon footprint and lower our vulnerability to climate change inadvertently exacerbate existing conflicts?
Wilson Forum - Strategic Options for Iran: Balancing Pressure with Diplomacy
Former senior national security officials, military officers, and experts with decades of Middle East experience present a balanced report on the strategic options for dealing with Iran.
Wilson Forum - The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth
Mark Mazzetti, Former Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar and National Security Correspondent for The New York Times, discusses his new book, The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth.
Wilson Forum - Allies at Odds: Obama, Netanyahu, and The State of U.S.- Israeli Relations
On an all new episode of Wilson Forum the state of the U.S. – Israeli relations and the current relationship between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu is discussed.
Aaron David Miller
Historian, analyst, negotiator, and former advisor to Republican and Democratic Secretaries of State on Arab-Israeli negotiations, 1978-2003.
Aaron David Miller is currently the Vice President for New Initiatives and a Distinguished Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Between 2006 and 2008, he was a Public Policy Scholar when he wrote his fourth book The Much Too Promised Land: America's Elusive Search for...
Abbas Sibai
Co-Founder, Aie Serve
Abbas Sibai is from Beirut Lebanon, part of Leaders of Democracy Fellows Program at Maxwell School, Syracuse University NY. He is passionate about creating new initiatives related to active youth participation, environment and health issues. Lately he developed "Live Love Beirut" a crowd s...
Ahmed Mansour
President, The International Quranic Center
EducationB.A. Arabic Languages, College of Arabic Language, Al-Azhar University; M.A. (1975) and Ph.D. (1980) Islamic History, College of Arabic Language, Al-Azhar UniversityExperienceFounder and President of the International Quranic Center, Springfield, VA, 2006-presentCo-founder and Interim Presi...