experts
Yezid Sayigh
Senior Fellow, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

about

Yezid Sayigh is a senior fellow at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, where he works on the comparative political and economic roles of Arab armed forces, the impact of war on states and societies, and the politics of authoritarian resurgence. Previously, Sayigh held teaching and research positions at King’s College London, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford, and headed the Middle East program of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. Sayigh was also an adviser, negotiator, and policy planner in the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks with Israel 1991-2002 and advised on Palestinian public institutional reform until 2006.

Sayigh is the author of numerous publications, including most recently Civilians in Arab Defense Affairs: Implications for Providers of Security Assistance (2023), Throwing Down the Gauntlet: What the IMF Can Do About Egypt’s Military Companies (April 2022); Retain, Restructure, or Divest? Policy Options for Egypt’s Military Economy (2022), Praetorian spearhead: The role of the military in the evolution of Egypt’s state capitalism 3.0 (2021); Owners of the Republic: An Anatomy of Egypt’s Military Economy (2019); Dilemmas of Reform: Policing in Arab Transitions (March 2016); Crumbling States: Security Sector Reform in Libya and Yemen (June 2015); Missed Opportunity: The Politics of Police Reform in Egypt and Tunisia (March 2015); The Syrian Opposition’s Leadership Problem (April 2013); Above the State: The Officers’ Republic in Egypt (August 2012); “We serve the people”: Hamas policing in Gaza (2011); and Policing the People, Building the State: Authoritarian transformation in the West Bank and Gaza (2011). He is the author of the award-winning Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949-1993 (Oxford, 1997).

education
PhD, War Studies, King’s College London , BSc, Chemistry, American University of Beirut 
languages
Arabic, English, French

All work from Yezid Sayigh

filters
232 Results
In The Media
in the media
What Was Possible Before October 7th and What Remains Possible Now

Israel still doesn’t have a clear and coherent political end goal.

· October 7, 2024
New Yorker
commentary
What “Day After” for Israel?

The Jewish state has joined Arab countries in seeing its foundational social contract displaced by “forever wars.”

· October 7, 2024
In The Media
in the media
Israel–Hezbollah: What’s Different This Time?

A conversation about how these confrontations are different from previous conflicts.

· October 3, 2024
The Inside Story Podcast
In The Media
in the media
Israel Keeps Up Lebanon Attacks as Allies Push for Cease-Fire

A conversation about the evolving situation between Israel and Hezbollah.

· September 27, 2024
Bloomberg News
Smoke rising from among houses
commentary
Israel’s and Hezbollah’s Default Option: Keep Fighting

Political calculations on both sides make a ceasefire unlikely.

· September 26, 2024
commentary
Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi Is on the Back Foot

A resignation suggests that Egypt’s president has accepted defeat in the struggle to privatize military-owned companies. 

· August 26, 2024
In The Media
in the media
What Are the Prospects for a Gaza Ceasefire Deal?

Israeli forces continue attacks as attention moves to talks in Egypt.

· August 20, 2024
The Inside Story (Al Jazeera)
research
The Military and Private Business Actors in the Global South: The Politics of Market Access

The interaction of national armed forces and private business sectors offers a useful lens for viewing the politics of numerous countries of the so-called Global South. A rising trend of military political activism—often accompanied by military commercial activity—underlines the importance of drivers and outcomes in these relationships.

· August 19, 2024
commentary
Setting Up an Arab Civil War

The Biden administration’s plan for the “day after” in Gaza would be disastrous without the promise of Palestinian statehood.

· May 27, 2024
In The Media
in the media
Why is the West divided over Palestinian statehood?

More Western states are recognising Palestine, but as long as the US opposes Palestinian independence and sovereignty, “things will get worse for all of us”, says Yezid Sayigh, senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center.

· May 26, 2024