Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Rafiah Al Talei is the acting editor-in-chief for Sada in Carnegie’s Middle East Program.
Rafiah Al Talei is the acting editor in chief for Sada in Carnegie’s Middle East Program, where her research focuses on civil rights, women’s issues, and political developments in the Gulf. She has over twenty-five years of experience in Omani and international media networks, and most recently held the position of senior producer in the Public Liberties and Human Rights Center at Al Jazeera Media Network.
Al Talei also has held fellowships at Stanford University, Syracuse University, and the National Endowment for Democracy. She has conducted research on women’s issues with Freedom House and with the International Council for Research and Exchange (IREX). She is a former candidate for parliament in Oman (Majlis Al-Shura) and frequently speaks on media freedom and women’s empowerment in the Gulf.
The recent eruption of protests in Oman has highlighted the efficiency of dynamic citizen journalism, which utilized social media platforms to freely cover events and express opinions, in contrast to the shackled state-owned media, which appeared to be lagging and unable to provide accountable reporting of events.
As the Biden administration attempts to promote democracy and human rights in the Middle East, it will confront the deep-seated belief among Arabs that U.S. policies are unfair to their central causes and biased in favor of the ruling elite of their countries.
The Sultanate of Oman’s policies toward women are inconsistent, not particularly progressive, and do not enjoy strong government support.
The law of the Oman Council bolstered the government’s control not only in the unilateral decisionmaking process but also granting it the right to reject any proposed law submitted by the Council.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman says that the time has come to pressure Saudi Arabia and the UAE to withdraw from Yemen so that the country can resume to the peace process and restore a Yemeni state.
Sada is an online journal rooted in Carnegie’s Middle East Program that seeks to foster and enrich debate about key political, economic, and social issues in the Arab world and provides a venue for new and established voices to deliver reflective analysis on these issues.
Sign up to receive Sada updates in your inbox!
Stay connected to Sada with a new smartphone app for Android and iOS devices