On Wednesday, the New America Foundation hosted a panel event to discuss a within approach of the upheaval in Egyptand the perspective that can be expected by the newly-elected Parliament. The panel was organized in the framework of the launch of Ashraf Khalil’s book Liberation Square: Inside the Egyptian Revolution and the Rebirth of a Nation. The panel included Ashraf Khalil, Cairo-based independent journalist, Foreign Policy and Rob Malley, director of the ...

On Tuesday, the Berkley Center for Religious Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University hosted a discussion on the book Silenced: How Apostasy & Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom Worldwide. The speakers were the authors Paul Marshall, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute Center for Religious Freedom, and Nina Shea, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and director of the Center for Religious Freedom. The discussion was moderated ...

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 ...

On Thursday, the Center for National Policy hosted a panel on the recent dispute between the U.S. and Iranian government, and whether Tehran's desire to develop a nuclear program will end diplomatically or militarily. The speakers were Dr. Afshon Ostovar, a Middle East analyst for the Center for Naval Analyses Strategic Studies, Mattew Kroenig, a Stanton Nuclear Security fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and Alireza Nader, a senior ...

On Wednesday, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a panel on encouraging Arab innovation across the Middle Eastand North Africa (MENA).  As political freedoms continue to grow, can that innovation translate into economic growth and a true knowledge economy? The speakers were Inger Anderson, vice president of Middle East and North Africa for the World Bank and Rami Khouri, director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and ...

On Tuesday, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in the United-States (IISS-US) hosted a round table followed by a discussion. The round table dealt with the Arab World perspective regarding the upheaval in Syria, particularly from the Gulf approach. The lecturer was Mr. Emile Hokayem, Senior Fellow for Regional Security at the IISS-Middle East in Manama, Bahrain. The moderator was Mr. Andrew Parasiliti, Executive Director, IISS-US and Corresponding Director, IISS-Middle ...

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 ...

Thomas Lippman, reporting for the New York Times, said, "Saudi women shatter the lingerie ceiling." The Ministry of Labor enforced a Saudi royal decree, issued last summer, mandating sales personnel in women's apparel and cosmetic shops to be female. Saudi Labour Minister, Adel Faqih, declared, "this is an order from the King ... All preparations are under way to fully implement this decision." The Ministry of Labor reported that more than 28,000 women ...

E.U. leaders formally banned imports of oil from Iran, and other economic sanctions, in response to its continued nuclear programme. The decision to continue with sanctions was ratified by all 27 member states. The embargo aims to take an estimated daily 2.6 million barrels of Iranian oil off the international market, with all existing contacts to be phased out by July 1. E.U. Foreign Policy Chief, Catherine Ashton, said in response to the recent embargo "I ...

On Thursday, Freedom House held an event discussing the release of their annual Freedom in the World report. Presenting his research and findings was Arch Puddington, vice president for research at Freedom House. Additionally present on the panel was Robert Kagan, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Suzanne Nossel, executive director of Amnesty International USA, Daniel Brumberg, professor of government at Georgetown University and senior advisor at the U.S. Institute ...

On Thursday, the New America Foundation’s Middle East Task Force and National Securities Studies Program hosted a presentation analyzing the political crisis in Iraq following the U.S. military’s withdrawal in December of 2011. On the panel was Douglas Ollivant, a senior National Security Studies Fellow at the New America Foundation and former Director for Iraq at the National Security Council; Joel Rayburn, a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army and ...

On Wednesday, the Hudson Institute’s Centre for Religious Freedom hosted a lecture offering an analysis of the potential implications of the Arab uprising in the short- and longer-term. The discussion panel raised questions on: the rise of the Islamists; the impact on religious minorities in the region; and general changes expected on geopolitics in the region. Discussants on the panel included Walter Russell Mead, Professor of Foreign Affairs and Humanities at Bard ...

POMED’s Weekly Wire for December 12 is now available. This week's edition includes coverage of Ambassador Ford's return to Syria, and the State Department's official launch of a “virtual embassy” for Iranians. Bashar al-Assad also conducted an interview with Barbara Walters as violence continued throughout Syria. Additionally, the SCAF announced that it would appoint an advisory council to oversee the drafting of the constitution, while a unity government was formed in Bahrain. ...

POMED's Weekly Wire for November 7 is now available. This week's edition includes coverage of continued violence in Syria, as well as of an elderly opposition member who was reportedly beaten to death in Bahrain. The expanding political role of Qatar was widely discussed, and Egyptian activists faced further mistreatment from the SCAF. In Washington, more members of Congress signed on to the resolution to halt the proposed $53 million ...