Since 2012, the Stimson Center, in partnership with the George C. Marshall Foundation, has explored the dynamics of the Arab spring, and how the processes of peaceful change and transition have affected the wider region.  The project Pathways to Progress: Peace, Prosperity, and Change in the Middle East is the focal point of our efforts, identifying key components of the Marshall Plan and the post-World War II transformation of Europe that may be relevant to today’s Arab world.  In 2015, the project is focused on assessing prospects for improved regional economic cooperation, and on identifying smart strategies for economic growth as a source of political stability.  Engaging like-minded public policy thinkers and private sector actors, the project seeks to highlight new thinking and creative solutions in the region, promoting an active dialogue between the United States and the Arab world in which new ideas and innovative thinking flow in both directions.

Arab Transitions Analysis

 

 

Revisiting Marshall: Private Sector Development in the Middle East March 3, 2015
By Ellen Laipson with Kevin Wheeler

Revisiting Marshall: Hope for Private Sector Growth in the Middle East March 3, 2015
By Ellen Laipson and Rob Havers

The Marshall Plan still resonates in the Arab world November 20, 2014
By Ellen Laipson and Rob Havers

Tunisia’s Path to a New Order November 4, 2014
By Ellen Laipson

Tunisia’s Democratic Growing Pains October 23, 2014
By Ellen Laipson 

Libyan Medical Tourism in Tunisia August 6, 2013
By Bridget Joyce

Egypt’s Chaos Need Not Derail the Abrab Spring July 12, 2013
By Ellen Laipson and Mona Yacoubian

Picture Perfect: The economic integration of North Africa July, 2013
By Ghazi Ben Ahmed and Ellen Laipson

Can Egypt Become the Next India? June, 2013
By Mona Yacoubian

Private Sector, Civil Society Push for REI in the Maghreb April 11, 2013
By Mona Sadek

Jordan’s Forgotten Youth Problem March 19, 2013
By Que’Nique Mykte’ Newbill

The Latest Front in a Long War  March 7, 2013
By Chester Crocker and Ellen Laipson 

It’s What Happens After Jordan’s Elections That Really Matters February 01, 2013
By Mona Yacoubian

Parliamentary Elections in Jordan – Change or More of the Same? January 21, 2013
By Que’Nique Mykte’ Newbill 

Economic Ties Can Save Africa’s Arab Spring, January 14, 2013
By Ellen Laipson and Ghazi Ben Ahmed

Innovative Startups Present New Promise For Arab Transitions, December 5, 2012
By Que’Nique Mykte’ Newbill and Dina Shahrokhi

Why Syria may be the cataylst for Jordan’s Arab Spring, November 2, 2012
By Que’Nique Mykte’ Newbill

Engagement, not withdrawal, is needed in Arab World, September 21, 2012
By Mona Yacoubian

More Arab Transitions Analysis…

 

 

Arab Transitions News

Mona Yacoubian is quoted in the New York Times on the status of the Arab transitions – August 14, 2013 Click here to read more.

Mona Yacoubian is quoted in Inter Press Service News story on U.S. policy toward Egypt – August 15, 2013 Click here to read more.

Geneive Abdo is quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald on recent developments in Egypt – August 2, 2013 Click here to read more.

Geneive Abdo is quoted on the Egyptian crisis The National – July 9, 2013 Click here to read more.

Genieve Abdo is quoted on NBC News on the impace of cutting aid to Egypt – July 8, 2013 Click here to read more.

Geneive Abdo is quoted in the Toronto Star on divisions in Egypt – July 8, 2013 Click here to read more.

Mona Yacoubian served as an international election observer as part of the National Democratic Institute’s observer mission for Jordan’s January 23rd Parliamentary elections. Click here to read more.

Ellen Laipson was one of the panelists at the Wilson Center’s “Defining American Priorities in the Middle East” on November 20, 2012. Click here to watch.

Ellen Laipson spoke at the Middle East Institute Conference on “U.S.-Mideast Diplomacy in Transition: New Era, New Principles” on November 14, 2012. Click here to watch.

Ellen Laipson was one of the panelists on an Al Jazeera post-election show on the topic of “What’s Next” on November 7, 2012. Click here to watch.

Mona Yacoubian participated in KQED Radio’s public affairs program Forum to discuss the aftermath of recent unrest in the Middle East and the broader Muslim world and its implication for the ongoing Arab transitions. Click here to listen.

Mona Yacoubian was quoted by Reuters on September 17, 2012, about the U.S. approach to the growing number of foreign jihadi fighters in the Syrian crisis. Click here to read the article.

Mona Yacoubian discusses the continuing crisis in Syria on Encounter, a VOA news radio program on September 14, 2012. Click here to listen.

More Arab Transitions News…

Arab Transitions Publications

The Arab Spring and Climate Change
February 2013, Stimson Center

“The Arab Spring and Climate Change” does not argue that climate change caused the revolutions that have shaken the Arab world over the past two years. But the essays collected in this slim volume make a compelling case that the consequences of climate change are stressors that can ignite a volatile mix of underlying causes that erupt into revolution.

 

 

 

Seismic Shift: Understanding Change in the Middle East,
May 2011, Stimson Center

The momentous events sweeping the Arab world since late 2010 raise important questions about the art and science of analyzing political and societal events. In an age of information surplus, which creates the illusion that one can easily know what is happening anywhere in the world, big surprises still occur. Societies change, governments make choices that have consequences, and the political life of a country or a region is transformed.

 

Arab Transitions Events

Prospects for Greater Economic Integration in the Maghreb,” with Ghazi Ben Ahmed, November 26, 2012

Aiding the Arab Transitions: US Economic Engagement with Egypt,” October 3, 2012

Religious Dimensions of the Arab Springs,” with Dr. Aref Ali Nayed, October 1, 2012

Tunisia’s Current Political Trends and the Future of US-Tunisian Relations,” with Sheik Mourou, September 27,2012

Economic Consequences of the Arab Spring,” with Francis Ghiles, April 20, 2012

Arab Countries in Transition: An Update on International Support One Year after the Deauville Partnership,” April 9, 2012

More Arab Transitions Events…

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