Research Library

Tweets by legislative candidates from four major political parties in Turkey are examined to compare their policy positions with those of party supporters. Journal of Representative Democracy: http://bit.ly/2UrQURQ

Fellow for the Middle East A.Kadir Yildirim and undergraduate intern Meredith McCain explore survey data on the goals, outcomes and beneficiaries of the Arab Spring protests.

Who speaks for Islam and who holds religious authority in the Middle East? These questions strike at the heart of the relationship between religion and politics in the Muslim world, for whoever can legitimately claim religious authority has an opportunity to shape the extent to which religion is politicized in the region. Our study examines this issue by identifying the channels of influence between religious leaders who claim to hold Islamic authority and individual Muslims across the region. The findings depict a complex religious space in the Middle East that reflects its citizens’ nuanced approach toward religion and the religion-politics relationship.

Edited by A.Kadir Yildirim The briefs in this collection explore how the Arab Spring process reshaped social, religious, political and economic pluralism. The research aims to shed light on the state of pluralism and to document the extent to which inclusive policies were implemented. This work is part of a two-year project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York on “Building Pluralistic and Inclusive States Post-Arab Spring.”

Edited by A.Kadir Yildirim Contributors: Daniel L. Tavana, Courtney Freer, Hamad H. Albloshi and Tahani Al Terkait The briefs in this collection examine the countervailing dynamics of pluralism and inclusion in Kuwait since the onset of protests in 2010, paying particular attention to the political, religious, social and gender dynamics in Kuwait. The reports are based on a May 2018 workshop held in Kuwait by the Baker Institute in partnership with the Alsalam Center for Strategic and Developmental Studies. This work is part of a two-year project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York on “Building Pluralistic and Inclusive States Post-Arab Spring.”

Turkey's recent elections brought an unexpectedly strong win for President Recep Erdogan. Even so, opposition parties have a rare opportunity to influence policymaking, writes Middle East Fellow A.Kadir Yildirim in the Baker Institute Blog:  https://bit.ly/2txuhMm

This report analyzes the dynamics of the PJD’s role in Morocco’s changing political landscape and examines whether the promise of inclusive politics is borne out by the evidence. In doing so, it pays attention to the PJD’s relationship with the monarchy, its strategy to address constraints posed by the king, and its engagement with the electorate.

The briefs in this collection examine Ennahdha’s future and its place in Tunisia’s evolving political landscape, paying particular attention to shifts in the relationship between religion and politics.

A multi-pronged policy that engages both secular and nonviolent Islamist parties may produce a foreign policy agenda that more successfully advances short- and long-term U.S. objectives in the Middle East, writes research scholar A.Kadir Yildirim.

Islamist parties throughout the world have routinely disregarded environmental concerns in their discourse and actions. However, Islam as a religion places strong emphasis on environmental protection. Thus, it is puzzling that environmental policy is all but absent from most Islamist platforms, writes Middle East Center research scholar A.Kadir Yildirim.