event
Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

Political Transformations in the Middle East and North Africa

Wed. April 29th, 2015
Beirut

The Carnegie Middle East Center held a special conference celebrating the center’s tenth anniversary at the Phoenicia Hotel in Beirut, Lebanon, on April 29, 2015. Former and current Carnegie-affiliated scholars and regional policymakers discussed and evaluated political transformations in the Middle East and North Africa and provided insights into the major challenges ahead.

Since its inception in 2005, the Carnegie Middle East Center has provided high quality, timely analysis of the major challenges facing the region, through papers, articles, and events. This unique conference assembled the Carnegie Middle East Center’s distinguished network to consider recent developments and share recommendations for the future of the region.

Agenda

9:00–9:40 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks

  • Lina Khatib, director, Carnegie Middle East Center
     
  • Marwan Muasher, vice president for studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
     
  • Paul Salem, vice president, Middle East Institute

9:40–11:00 a.m.
Ten Years of Transformation in the Middle East

  • Moderator: Yezid Sayigh, senior associate, Carnegie Middle East Center
     
  • Amr Hamzawy, former member of the People’s Assembly and professor of public policy at the American University of Cairo
     
  • Salam Kawakibi, deputy and research director, Arab Reform Initiative

11:00–11:15 a.m.
Break

11:15 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
The Future of Policymaking

  • Moderator: Maha Yahya, senior associate, Carnegie Middle East Center
     
  • Jihad Azour, managing director of Inventis Partners and former minister of finance of Lebanon
     
  • Marwan Muasher, vice president for studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

12:45–2:30 p.m.
Lunch

2:30–3:30 p.m.
The Divergent Legacy of the Arab Spring

  • Moderator: Marwan Muasher, vice president for studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
     
  • Mohamed Kerrou, cofounder, L'Observatoire Tunisien de la Transition Démocratique
     
  • Amatalalim Alsoswa, managing director, Executive Bureau for the Acceleration of Aid Absorption and Support for Policy Reforms

3:30–3:45 p.m.
Break

3:45–4:45 p.m.
Security and Conflict in the Middle East

  • Moderator: Lina Khatib, director, Carnegie Middle East Center
     
  • Faleh Abdel Jabbar, director, Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies
     
  • Christian Koch, director, Gulf Research Center Foundation
     
  • Yezid Sayigh, senior associate, Carnegie Middle East Center

4:45–5:15 p.m.
Closing Remarks

  • Lina Khatib, director, Carnegie Middle East Center
Political ReformSecurityForeign PolicyMiddle EastNorth AfricaEgyptGulfLevantMaghreb
event speakers

Amatalalim Alsoswa

Jihad Azour

IMF

Mr. Jihad Azour is the Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund where he oversees the Fund’s work in the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Caucasus.

Amr Hamzawy

Director, Middle East Program

Amr Hamzawy is a senior fellow and the director of the Carnegie Middle East Program. His research and writings focus on governance in the Middle East and North Africa, social vulnerability, and the different roles of governments and civil societies in the region.

Faleh Jabbar

Salam Kawakibi

Arab Reform Initiative

Mohamed Kerrou

Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Center

Kerrou was a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center specializing in development, gender studies, and political change, with an emphasis on Islam and civil society in Tunisia and the Middle East.

Lina Khatib

Director, Middle East Center

Khatib was director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. Previously, she was the co-founding head of the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.

Christian Koch

Marwan Muasher

Vice President for Studies

Marwan Muasher is vice president for studies at Carnegie, where he oversees research in Washington and Beirut on the Middle East. Muasher served as foreign minister (2002–2004) and deputy prime minister (2004–2005) of Jordan, and his career has spanned the areas of diplomacy, development, civil society, and communications.

Paul Salem

Director and Senior Associate, Middle East Center

Salem was director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, Lebanon. He works and publishes on the regional and international relations of the Middle East as well as issues of political development and democratization in the Arab world.

Yezid Sayigh

Senior Fellow, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

Yezid Sayigh is a senior fellow at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, where he leads the program on Civil-Military Relations in Arab States (CMRAS). His work focuses on the comparative political and economic roles of Arab armed forces, the impact of war on states and societies, the politics of postconflict reconstruction and security sector transformation in Arab transitions, and authoritarian resurgence.

Maha Yahya

Director, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

Yahya is director of the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, where her research focuses on citizenship, pluralism, and social justice in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings.