BEIRUT—The Carnegie Middle East Center announced today the appointment of Maha Yahya as a senior associate. Her research will focus on issues of citizenship, pluralism, and social justice as major components of political reform in the Arab world.
“I look forward to engaging with Arab activists and decisionmakers on how Arab countries can meet their citizens’ demands for social justice and a new social contract,” Yahya said.
Yahya joins the Carnegie Middle East Center from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, where she worked on the challenges of democratic transitions, social justice, and participatory development. Her areas of expertise include socioeconomic development, postconflict reconstruction, and citizenship issues.
Yahya is a principal author of The Promises of Spring: Citizenship and Civic Engagement in Democratic Transitions (UN-ESCWA, 2013); a principal author of The Lebanon National Human Development Report: Toward a Citizen’s State (UNDP, 2009); and co-editor of Secular Publicities: Visual Practices and the Transformation of National Publics in the Middle East and South Asia (University of Michigan Press, 2010). She holds two doctorates in the social sciences and humanities from the Architectural Association in London and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, respectively.
“I am thrilled that Maha Yahya has joined our team,” said Lina Khatib, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center. “Her expertise will be an invaluable addition as we continue to expand our top-quality research and policy analysis of the critical issues facing the Arab world.”
Press Contact: Joumana Seikaly | +961 70 821 751 | jseikaly@carnegie-mec.org
The Carnegie Middle East Center is a public policy think tank and research center based in Beirut, Lebanon. It was established in November 2006 by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.