دمکراسی و اصلاح

On September 24, 2005, Hala Mustafa, Ibrahim Karawan, and Khairi Abaza addressed The Washington Institute's Weinberg Founders Conference. Dr. Mustafa is editor-in-chief of the Egyptian political quarterly al-Dimuqratiya (Democracy) and a former visiting fellow at the Institute. Dr. Karawan is director of the Middle East Center and a professor of

On September 24, 2005, Robert Blackwill and Samuel Berger addressed The Washington Institute's Weinberg Founders Conference. Ambassador Blackwill is president of the international consulting firm Barbour, Griffith, and Rogers. Previously, he served in the Bush administration as deputy national security advisor for strategic planning, presidential envoy to Iraq, and U.S

When The Washington Institute was founded in 1985, the Middle East was a critical front in the Cold War, Ayatollah Khomeini was at the vanguard of the Islamic revolution, the Arab-Israeli peace process was stagnant, and America was still reeling from the ignominy of withdrawing its Marine contingent from Lebanon

In her Senate nominating testimony last week, Undersecretary of State-designate for public diplomacy Karen Hughes characterized America's challenge to win allies and understanding around the globe as a "struggle of ideas." Here's a story of what happened when one bright idea -- ahem, my bright idea -- offered as a

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, America's most politically powerful pianist, delivered a virtuoso performance in Cairo on Monday. She struck just the right notes in a speech calling on Arab states to implement a long list of democratic reforms. Two days earlier in Ramallah, however, Rice's tune was uncharacteristically flat

On April 19, 2005, Reuel Marc Gerecht and Robert Satloff held a policy debate at The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Mr. Gerecht is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of The Islamic Paradox: Shiite Clerics, Sunni Fundamentalists, and the Coming of Arab Democracy (2004). Dr

What do Georgia, Ukraine, and Lebanon have in common? Their publics have said no to fear. They would not be silenced or intimidated as they rejected the fraudulent elections and corrupt governments imposed on them. Iraqi Shiites and, to a lesser extent, the Kurds could be added to this list

When Bashar al-Asad assumed power in 2001, there was widespread optimism that he would, by virtue of his British education and Western outlook, modernize the Syrian government and expand individual and political rights. Yet, after a short period of preliminary change, dubbed the "Damascus Spring," Asad proved unwilling or unable

The United States is facing an extraordinary moment of challenge in the Middle East, one that demands an integrated U.S. strategy built on a set of three pillars: security, reform, and peace. The security agenda is the most pressing, but it alone is not sufficient. If the United States wants