On Thursday, Project on Middle East Democracy, in coordination with the National Security Network and the Foreign Policy Initiative, held a panel event titled The Unfinished February 14 Uprising: What Next for Bahrain? The event began with opening remarks from Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) then moved onto a panel discussion. Panelists included Joost Hiltermann, deputy program director at the International Crisis Group, Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies ...

On Wednesday, the Brookings Institution hosted a discussion about the state of the Egyptian revolution. Panelists included Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Tamara Wittes, Woodrow Wilson Center Fellow Robin Wright, Director of Research at the Brookings Doha Center Shadi Hamid, and Brookings Institution Vice President for Foreign Policy Martin Indyk. The moderator was David Gregory from NBC’s Meet the Press. For full event notes, continue reading below. ...

The Kellogg Institute for International Studies in association with the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies released a report, “Transitions to Democracy and the Arab Spring: Does Latin America Hold Lessons for the Middle East,” that examines how insights from Latin America’s democratization experience may be relevant for the Middle East today. The symposium was divided into two panels: the first explored the domestic challenges to democratization in Latin America ...

On Thursday, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a panel on the transitional steps that Libya needs to take towards democracy. The speakers were Azza Kamel Maghur, a Libyan lawyer and democracy advocate, and Fadel Lamen, president of the American Libyan Council. The event was moderated by Marina Ottaway, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.   For full event notes, continue reading below. Or, click here for ...

Bahraini detainees and human rights activists convicted of involvement in anti-government demonstrations have begun a hunger strike today. The 14 prominent activists and opposition leaders began the strike "in solidarity with pro-democracy protests and in protest against the brutal crackdown," said the leader of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), Mohammed al-Maskati.  The hunger strike was initiated in protest of Bahrain’s interior minister, Lt. Gen. Sheik Rashid bin Abdullah Al ...

Representatives Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced a resolution with David Dreier (R-CA), Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and David Price (D-NC) applauding Tunisia's peaceful "Jasmine Revolution." The resolution praised Tunisia's peaceful "Jasmine Revolution" as "the first of several movements throughout the Middle East and North Africa and inspired democracy and human rights activist throughout the region and around the world." The elections on October 23, 2011 were considered "the first competitive, multi-party democratic election of the ...

On Friday, the Women's Foreign Policy Group hosted a panel on the relationship of the United States and Egypt by examining what the ruling leadership of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) means for the future of Egyptian society, and U.S. policy. The speaker was Michele Dunne, director of the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. The panel was moderated by Patricia Ellis, president of ...

In December, 2011, IREX, in partnership with the Centre for Law and Democracy, published the report Freedoms in Iraq: an Increasingly Repressive Legal Net, detailing five pieces of legislation affecting the freedoms of assembly and expression in Iraq. The Journalists Rights Law is the only one passed into law as of August 2011, while the other four – the Commission of Media and Communication Law, Informatics Crimes Law, Political Parties Law and ...

It has been confirmed that the Iranian Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Web site designer Saeed Malekpour. A Canadian resident, Malekpour was detained in 2008 while visiting his family in Iran after being accused of "anti-government agitation" and "insulting Islam".  Other recent victims of those accused of similar crimes include Simien Nematollahi, a contributor to a pro-Sufi website accused of "anti-government propaganda."  Iranian officials have arrested and prosecuted violators ...