Carnegie Expands Democracy and Rule of Law Project

Source: Carnegie

Jessica T. Mathews, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, announced today that the Democracy and Rule of Law Project is expanding to include new experts and new missions, particularly the study of democracy in the Middle East. Amy Hawthorne, Daniel Brumberg, and Mustapha Kamel Al-Sayyid have joined the project and will contribute a wealth of expertise in Middle East political and social change, democratization, human rights, and Islam. Thomas Carothers, vice president for studies who returns to become full-time director of the project, is overseeing the expansion.

"With the new U.S. interest in promoting democracy in the Middle East, the timing of this initiative couldn't be better. These scholars' expertise in the region, combined with the project's unparalleled expertise in democracy promotion worldwide, will enable Carnegie to make important contributions to debates on how U.S. policymakers can promote democracy in the Arab world," Mathews said.

Amy Hawthorne, associate, is a Middle East specialist with expertise in political change and democracy promotion. Prior to joining the Endowment, she was a research fellow in Arab politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where she focused on U.S. policy toward democratization in the Arab world and political developments in the region. Hawthorne previously designed and managed democracy promotion programs for the Middle East as a senior program officer at the International Foundation for Election Systems. As a Fulbright scholar in Cairo, she was among the first Americans to be affiliated with the Women's College of al-Azhar University, the Arab world's most eminent seat of Islamic learning.

Daniel Brumberg, visiting scholar, is an expert on political and social change in the Islamic world. He will be at Carnegie for a year, on leave from his position as associate professor at Georgetown University. He previously held fellowships at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Georgetown University, and the International Forum on Democratic Studies. Brumberg is the author of Reinventing Khomeini: The Struggle for Reform in Iran (University of Chicago Press, 2001) and many articles on political and social change in the Middle East and wider Islamic world.

He also wrote a recent Carnegie Endowment policy brief entitled "End of a Brief Affair? The United States and Iran." He has advised the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the National Democratic Institute, and Freedom House. With a grant from the MacArthur Foundation, Brumberg is currently pursuing a study of power sharing in Algeria, Indonesia, Kuwait, and other countries.

Mustapha Kamel Al-Sayyid, visiting scholar, is an expert on the politics of the Arab world. He is professor of political science and director of the Center for the Study of Developing Countries at Cairo University, and he also teaches at the American University in Cairo. He previously taught at Harvard University and was a visiting scholar at the University of California Los Angeles. His areas of specialization include the politics of development, foreign aid, human rights, and civil society. A prolific writer in Arabic, English, and French, Al-Sayyid has published extensively on civil society, political change, and ideology. His articles have appeared in World Policy, Middle East Journal, Washington Quarterly, and Maghreb-Mashreq. Al-Sayyid will be a visiting scholar at the Endowment through the summer.

The Democracy and Rule of Law Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a leading source for independent research, writing, analysis, and discussion on democracy promotion. It analyzes efforts by the United States and other international actors to promote democracy worldwide. It also examines the state of democracy, looking at patterns of success and failure in democratic transitions. The project is part of the Carnegie Endowment's Global Policy Program.

For more information, visit www.ceip.org.

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