Article
Marina Ottaway, Omar Hossino
REQUIRED IMAGE
Paper
Women's Rights and Democracy in the Arab World
Published on Feb 7, 2004
Source: Carnegie
Summary
The U.S. government has made the promotion of women's rights and the empowerment of women a central element of its new campaign to modernize and democratize the Arab world. This new focus is widely supported, but its popularity has generated confusion about the actual conditions of women in the Middle East and the problems they face; about the relationship between women's rights and democracy; and about what an outside intervenor like the United States can accomplish. This paper seeks to clarify some of these issues.
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This is the fourth in a series of papers that frame key issues relating to democracy promotion policies and programs in the Middle East. Also in the series:
About the Author
Marina Ottaway is senior associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law Project. Among her most recent publications are The Right Road to Sovereignty in Iraq (Policy Brief no. 27) and Democracy Challenged: The Rise of Semi-Authoritarianism (Carnegie Endowment, 2003).
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About the Author
Marina Ottaway
Former Senior Associate, Middle East Program
Before joining the Endowment, Ottaway carried out research in Africa and in the Middle East for many years and taught at the University of Addis Ababa, the University of Zambia, the American University in Cairo, and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.
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Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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